Q4. How can CEMEX provide additional value to its bagged cement customers? To its bulk

cement customers?

Supply Chain

Characteristics

Bagged Cement

Supply Chain

Bulk Cement

Supply Chain

Agile Medium

Medium flow of information with customers.

Medium level of development of collaborative relationship

with suppliers.

Low

No flow of information with customers.

Medium level of development of collaborative relationship with

suppliers

Adaptable Low

Limited use of intermediaries in logistics services.

High concern about final consumers.

Medium

High use of intermediaries in logistics services.

Medium concern about final consumers.

Aligned Low

Limited flow of information with suppliers and customers.

Limited use of supply contracts sharing risk, costs or

gains.

Low

Limited flow of information with suppliers and customers.

Limited use of supply contracts sharing risk, costs or gains.

Bagged Cement

Introduction of Smaller packages

Cement is usually available in bags of 100 kgs. About 40-50 percent of total Mexican cement

consumption was by self-constructors, using bagged cement. At the micro-level, a homeowner

project (repairs, sidewalk, etc.) currently used bags. Therefore for this purpose they may not

require a complete bag of cement therefore providing smaller SKUs makes sense for these kind

of customers as they will be more readily accepted by the customers. It will also prevent

customers from delaying their buying decisions and help in boosting sales.

One true integrator as opposed to multiple suppliers

Complete integration, turnkey projects and one single contact are terms that have become of great importance for producers in all industries. Companies that get involved in

bagging operations and focus on maximizing throughput, which minimizes production costs

per unit, should consider an equipment supplier that can provide not only the bagger, but also

the dosing equipment (feeder/scale) and the conveying, palletizing and stretch wrapping

systems. Only a handful of suppliers do the complete manufacturing and are able to integrate

entire bagging lines from A to Z

Improving the packaging of the bag

It is a very common occurrence that cement bags are covered by concrete dust: inevitably, the

wholesalers displays and the customers car trunks become dusty. Once solution to the problem is the usage of polyethylene bags. They also help in increasing the shelf life of the

bagged product. The use of polyethylene bags for concrete products is totally new to the

industry. In fact, it is not easy to bag a dusty product at high temperatures (140170 C) with heat sealable polyethylene bags. The reason is that poly bags must be strong enough to resist

high product temperatures but at the same time not be too thick, which would hinder the sealing

process.

Specialised Cement as per application type

Advancements in cement products, often developed or supported by cement companies, have

helped reduce disturbance associated with construction. For instance, self-leveling and self-

compacting concretes can significantly reduce noise associated with concrete applications.

Therefore adding more value to the bagged cement buyer

Improvement in the product

Some currently available products can extend the life of existing structures, e.g., magnesium

phosphate cement composites and polymer concrete applied to surfaces. In addition, concrete

can be formulated for a longer lifetime. Such practices reduce infrastructure-development costs

and decreasing, on a lifecycle basis, resource use and emissions.

Bulk Cement

Life Cycle Analysis

Use of lifecycle analysis and other analysis techniques to better understand the relative impacts

of various possible resource productivity improvements.

Usage of Rail or Pipeline Transport instead of trucks

For bulk cement it can be beneficial and more cost effective to use train or pipeline transport

for transporting the material over large distances. Fixed costs are high, due to rights of way,

construction and installation, but the variable cost is relatively low; and generally, this

encompasses routine maintenance and ongoing inspection/security. On operational

characteristics, the dependability is excellent; but this mode can only be used in very limited

situations and prone to the danger of bunkering.

Mobile Testing Laboratory

The company will take a revolutionary step by introducing Mobile testing laboratories to

provide concrete testing facility to customers at their construction site. Mobile testing

laboratories consisted of latest concrete strength testing equipment. This facility can be started

with a view to provide satisfaction to the customer regarding the quality of the product.

Moreover looking at the marketing aspect civil engineers from the technical cell keep on

visiting construction sites to promote their product by providing them knowledge about their

product and latest construction practices.

Implement Pull Replenishment Across The Value Chain.

To deal with pressure on costs and services, leading supply chain organizations implement pull

replenishment strategies across their entire value chains from customers to vendors. Doing so

requires a solid information infrastructure, regular inventory calibration, and the removal of

artificial demand distortions.