VOLUMETRIC VERSUS TRADITIONAL READY-MIXED CONCRETE GETS MOBILE
The market for volumetric mixing trucks is expanding quickly with an estimated 1.1 million cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete, foamed concrete and screeds currently being delivered annually by approximately 320 vehicles in the UK alone.
There are many reasons for such rapid growth; the main ones include the ease with which a business can be set up, the relatively low capital costs, the daily volumes that can be achieved without wastage, and the fast payback on investment.
The cost of operating volumetric mixing businesses is very competitive compared with traditional batch delivery, particularly for loads of less than 3m3. Profitability depends on factors such as plant efficiency, the number of deliveries per truck per day and the local market, but the flexibility to deliver up to eight 1m3 orders from a single visit to the depot provides a significant advantage over batch mixing, which may require a truck to return to the depot for each load.
Volumetric mixing
While volumetric mixing trucks currently hold a very small share of the UK’s annual 22.5 million cubic metres ready-mixed concrete market, some estimates expect the volume of concrete delivered by these trucks to reach 10% of the market over the next few years. This could just be the start of a significant impact on the market share currently enjoyed by the major players in the concrete sector.
The reasons for this success are straightforward: volumetric mixer trucks are self-contained batching units capable of producing up to 10m3 of ready-mixed concrete or 14m3 of foamed concrete by batching the required proportions of cement and aggregates using volumetric principles rather than weight. The cement feed is fixed, while the volume of fine and coarse aggregate is controlled using adjustable feed gates. A combination auger-paddle bladed screw is used in the mixing unit with replaceable wear blades. And crucially, because they are only mixing and selling what the customer needs, ingredients that aren’t sold today remain in the truck to sell tomorrow.
Concrete delivery
A range of mixes and consistencies can be supplied from the same vehicle, allowing the choice of mix to be changed on site, if required, from a database of mix designs/formulations stored in the truck itself. The concrete is also mixed on site so consistency is better and, because it is also fresh, the working life of the concrete is extended without additives. This faster and more flexible service is often perceived by customers as better than they would get from the traditional ready-mixed supplier.
Prices for volumetric deliveries are not necessarily significantly lower than traditional supplies, but the fact that customers only pay for what they need and there are no part load charges, produces a perception of added value. Volumetric mixer trucks can be classed as Special Vehicles, thus operating outside ‘construction and use’ regulations, and are therefore not restricted to gross vehicle weight limits. This means an LGV or ‘O’ licence may not be required.
Planning for the Olympics 2012
A statement by the London Olympic Delivery Authority claims that its biggest challenge is building the right team to oversee construction work, which will create a great opportunity for mobile concrete batching plants to support the hundreds of companies that will supply millions of cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete to construction contracts leading up to the Olympics in 2012. Building work on the biggest single construction project in Europe will not start until 2008, but the next two years will be spent laying power lines for facilities at the site near Stratford, London, which include the main stadium, aquatic centre and the Olympic village. Although high-volume static batching plants will be erected locally, mobile batching units will be cost-effective and efficient for operations such as back-filling, where precise quantities of concrete can be mixed in the vehicle, on-demand with no delays and no waste.
Ends
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