Argos ranked as fourth most innovative company in Colombia

“This recognition fills us with pride and motivates us to continue advancing in our main purpose which inspires not only innovation, but all our actions: we are convinced that it is possible to help materialise more dreams of housing and a better infrastructure for millions of people. With our wonderful human talent, we will continue to be at the forefront of our industry with important future commitments to continue delighting our customers, expanding the boundaries of the business model, respecting our world and maximising efficiency,” Juan Esteban Calle, CEO of Argos.

For Argos, innovation is the basis for its contribution to the well-being of society, the centre of its business sustainability and a catalyst for the competitive strategy that it has chosen. This is how, among others, it managed to move away from commoditisation, to continue adding value to its customers with a reinforced proposal of increasingly specialised products and solutions and to advance with firm steps and concrete actions in its commitment with an operation that is increasingly responsible with the environment.

The generation of more than 25% of the income from innovation, the start-up of the new clay thermal activation line for the production of Green Cement, the launch of more than 140 products in Colombia during 2019, a diverse culture that promotes the creation and implementation of new initiatives, ten patents that support its value proposition and the Argos Innovation Centre as a meeting point between the challenges of the industry and the solutions of the academy are part of Argos' innovation legacy.

This ranking assesses the relevance of innovation within its organisational strategy, its corporate culture and its management system, while measuring its influence on the number of new products and services and the percentage of income and savings derived from the innovation, among others.

Some innovative initiatives of Argos that leverage its leadership:

• New clay thermal activation line at its Rioclaro Plant, in Antioquia, which allowed it to change the traditional formula with which cement has been made for decades. Thanks to the incorporation of clays, the use of clinker is reduced, which makes the cement friendlier to the environment. During the production process, CO2 emissions are reduced by up to 38 percent and energy consumption is reduced by 30%.
• With its Construyá project, and with the help of financial partners and hardware customers, Argos enables unbanked people from strata 1, 2 and 3, to obtain credit financing for the acquisition of construction materials for repair, remodelling and building for their homes and businesses. In 2019, about 23 000 families benefited with 20,000 million pesos in loans.
• In order to streamline and optimise the delivery of its products, the company launched the digital referral service through Argos ONE, a platform focused on the automation of internal processes, the development of artificial intelligence models and the orchestration of the customer experience process. Currently, more than 70% of Argos customers in Colombia are buying cement through this digital solution.
• In the middle of the containment phase of COVID-19, the cement company has implemented prevention initiatives to contribute to the social fabric and mitigate the spread of the virus. It has supported more than 1 100 hardware stores in the country with the development of digital media to allow them to adapt itself to the new reality of commerce; it has offered nearly 8000 hours of virtual training to its customers; has delivered 23 000 masks and biosecurity kits to hardware dealers and builders in the country, and has donated (through the A Call to Empathy campaign of the Grupo Argos Foundation) more than 15 000 food safety packages to workers informal construction activities, among other actions that reaffirms its leadership in reactivating the sector.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/21082020/argos-ranked-as-fourth-most-innovative-company-in-colombia/