Nominee
COMMANDassurance
Category
Innovative Product or Service
Description
COMMANDassurance uses direct contact, in-drum technology to measure concrete properties throughout the delivery process so that you aren’t relying on driver’s perception of the materials. Sensor data — including slump, temperature, volume, water additions, W/C ratio, drum rotation, and direction for each load — goes into the cloud and is readily available in real time to all who need it. Soon, measuring air-content in real-time will be available, giving complete and unparalleled visibility into concrete properties.
The ability to trace concrete properties can reduce cement usage per yard through tighter water control, and therefore reduced standard deviation of compressive strength. Doing so can also reduce energy costs regulating fresh concrete temperatures by knowing the exact adjustment required to achieve the desired placement temperature.
Sensor data provides visibility into the properties of the materials, removing materials waste and saving time that would be wasted adjusting slump. Accurate returning volume, extra water, and temperature data helps to enable the reuse of returned materials. Dispatchers are presented with this data when making the next ticket for a truck and can decide its reuse – eliminating costly material waste.
This sensor data transforms trucks virtually into a rolling lab, offering insights that help reduce out-of-specification issues. Once the driver leaves the plant, data is transmitted to their tablet via a probe – a durable and reliable sensor system installed in the drum. Having this information in-transit to the job site reduces fuel usage through reduction in truck mixing time, as well as reducing idling time on the jobsite while quality control testing is performed.
There are further instant fuel savings when the materials can be mixed at a lower speed. Eventually, producers will have the insight required to make the decision to reduce the speed of the RPM while mixing and being transported to the jobsite. Once the materials hit a fully mixed status, the driver is notified, and drum speed can be reduced so that unnecessary gas and carbon is not being emitted.
Evidence
COMMANDassurance can:
• Reduce time spent in the plant – 2-3 minutes on average
• Reduce driver training cost and turnover
• Reduce driver injuries
• Increase quality and consistency
• Reduce time on the jobsite – 3-5 min on average
• Reduce Waste, saving thousands per year through reuse of leftover concrete
• Reduce driver onboarding and training cost by an average of $1, 250 per driver
Customer Testimonials:
“One of the most surprising things about COMMANDassurance was how accurate it is, because with any new system, you always expect some inherent margin of error. When our QC did plant or load checks, the system would be within a quarter of an inch on slump, and it accurately tracked temperature of the concrete. That has come in handy because it allows us to make early calls on whether we need to add stabilizer, retarder, ice, chilled water – it gives us the real-time information that allows us to make those adjustments quickly.”
- Chris Dennis, Production Manager at Knight’s Companies
“The data is instantly available to our QC team. All historical records are maintained, and I can tell you what happened a month ago or even four months ago on a specific truck. From a data standpoint, it's outstanding.”
- Ryan Cupps, Operations Manager at Lauren Concrete
“With COMMANDassurance, we discovered a lot of our trucks were in the yard five to 10 minutes after materials reached fully mixed status. A fully mixed truck costs between $1.25 and $1.50 a minute, which equates to over a dollar a yard on a 10-yard load. Eliminating wasted time in the yard alone helps to pay for the system and also improves our trucks.”
- Brad Burke, Technical Services Manager at Permian Basin Materials
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