Axians supplies logistics portal for Heidelberg sand and gravel works
Published by Emily Thomas,
Deputy Editor
World Cement,
“An exceptionally good cooperation and an outstandingly good result.” Those were Alexander Müller's closing words when HeidelbergCement AG put its new Logistic Portal into operation. Alexander is the responsible and leading IAS team member for the entire VAS® roll out project for the Heidelberg Sand and Gravel works in Germany.
Together with the senior HeidelbergCement staff member in charge, the entire roll out team put together a unique project.
Especially in times of COVID-19, the going live of such an important a powerful and centralised logistics solution meant a well thought out and planned execution of the project.
The initial logistics portal created specifically for HeidelbergCement AG went live back in 2015. The project team at that time had created an online tool that updated the entire ordering process in the bulk materials industry.
It was not only a relief for HeidelbergCement. It also offered several advantages for the customers.
With the further development of the portal and the new challenges the project team had to face in 2020, they bettered their former performance many times over.
The team had to deal with three areas in particular:
- Optimisation of automation processes especially for sand and gravel for shorter gate to gate times
- Development and implementation of a special ‘all in one’ mask for faster manual handling of trucks
- Development and implementation of a wheel loader application for the online and off-line case.
One of the top priorities of that project was to integrate the three challenges mentioned above into the software solution in the best possible way. Above that, the harmonious integration, successful synchronisation and synergy utilisation of the two divisions, cement and aggregates.
This was achieved by means of a VAS ® template.
Due to the highly restricted handling in 2020, the project team had to deal with the following challenge:
How could the sand and gravel plants go into operation without the team being on site whilst guaranteeing that everything was to run well at the end?
As part of the further consistent digitisation and optimisation of HeidelbergCement AG, an integrated material flow management system will be introduced to achieve significant savings in logistics costs throughout the group. Based on the existing development process, HeidebergCement AG was able to provide a very performant remote access, which enabled all plants to go live smoothly.
Various plants worldwide in the cement, aggregates (sand and gravel) and cement business areas are currently being equipped with the VAS® solution from Axians Industrial Applications & Services GmbH.
Axians IAS GmbH was selected by HeidlbergCement AG as a suitable partner and preferred supplier due to its international experience as a hardware-independent IT specialist in an industrial environment and its flexibility in connecting to SAP.
Today, HeidelbergCement AG not only offers its customers a portal to cover the cement processes. It also has a dedicated solution for its sand and gravel plants.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/product-news/18022021/axians-supplies-logistics-portal-for-heidelberg-sand-and-gravel-works/
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