How AI can help curb overspending in cement industry

When planning and implementing a digital strategy, taking that important holistic approach means moving the process from typically siloed and discrete functions to one where all processes are connected, via developments in Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and then automated. The key to successful digitalisation is data, collected directly from connected equipment and processes or derived from soft sensor models. At a time when rising demand and input cost inflation have led to a spike in cement prices across India, technology may come to the rescue by helping to substantially lower the production cost of the commodity. It is then possible to move towards autonomous operations-optimisation and asset management functions happening largely without human intervention and within a secure environment. In this guest article, ABB’s Sandeep Ramprasad explains that with the Covid-19 global pandemic creating major disruptions around the world, this is perhaps an opportune time for the cement industry to embrace digital technologies and harness big data to improve productivity, availability and quality across value chains. Read the article here.