AUSTIN, Texas‹ April 16, 2003‹Capitol Aggregates, Ltd. (Capitol Cement) has completed installation of Pavilion Technologies' control and optimization solution on a multiple grade cement mill, the first such implementation in North America. With this technology, Capitol Cement expects to increase production by an average of 10 percent, with as much as 14.5 percent on some grades. By producing more prime product, Capitol Cement anticipates increased revenue potential.
"We are extremely pleased with the results Pavilion's team delivered in such a short time," said Tom Spaits, plant manager for Capitol Cement. "We are achieving significant production increases without capital investment in additional equipment."
"The success we achieved has encouraged us to install Pavilion's solutions at our other mills," said Max Frailey, vice president of Capitol Cement. "The expected financial benefits make it easy to extend the application."
Cement manufacturing is a capital-intensive industry. This type of production performance management solution allows companies to maximize the return on their existing assets, delivering a significant bottom line impact without significant capital investment.
"Companies that tie business strategies to real-time production processes will exploit their operational flexibility and profit potential," said Pavilion COO Doug Johnson. "Capitol Cement chose Pavilion to increase productivity, product quality and profit. We are dedicated to providing these benefits to an industry that creates our basic economic infrastructure around the globe."
Initial reports indicate Pavilion's intelligent cement mill solution could deliver the following benefits to Capitol Cement:
… Increased production rate by as much as 14.5 percent;
… Increased capacity utilization;
… Reduced transition times and off-spec product between grades;
… Reduced specific power consumption by 4 percent;
… Increased product consistency by 30 percent, and
… Decreased overall maintenance costs.
Pavilion's cement mill solution is powered by the multi-variable, model predictive capability of Pavilion's Process Perfecter® optimization and control software. This project marks the most sophisticated control project in the cement industry, using Process Perfecter software to automate and optimize grade changes and to predict fineness in real-time.
