Comprehensive tyre solutions optimises business operations for Cemex
Continental has been successfully supporting multinational building materials company, Cemex with comprehensive tyre solutions for more than a decade – relying on Continental’s tyre expertise for its entire fleet. The company benefits from the partnership with Continental in many ways.
“At Cemex, we put health and safety at the forefront of everything we do and as well as enhancing vehicle safety and reducing downtime, our partnership with Continental has also significantly improved our fleet’s efficiency,” says Carl Milton, cement logistics manager, UK at Cemex.
“We entered into an open-book relationship with the brand, and ever since, the benefits just keep coming. From lowering our overall driving costs to enhancing the durability and performance of our vehicles, the results are clear.”
The tyres on Cemex’s vehicles have a tough job to do. Sharp, jagged rocks and bumpy road surfaces are part of everyday life for them. Vehicle breakdowns due to flat tyres had previously been a major problem for Cemex.
“Just like many other fleet operations, vehicle downtime was initially the biggest hurdle for us to overcome – much of this time lost was caused by issues relating to tires,” says Milton.
Continental is now the exclusive tyre supplier to Cemex in the UK, equipping the entire fleet with new and retreaded premium tyres.
Since its founding in 1906, Cemex has become a market leader in ready-mix concrete. Today, it is one of the leading suppliers of building materials such as asphalt, mortar, and screed. Cemex is committed to achieving carbon neutrality through innovation and research and development. Its 2,200 employees manage 22 quarries and 138 mixing plants in the UK.
The sites are supplied by a cement fleet of 54 vehicles and 72 tanks, an aggregate fleet of more than 120 dump trucks and 26 trailers, and a fleet of modern ships for the delivery of marine aggregates. The collaboration with Continental started in 2011 when Cemex chose retreaded tyres from Bandvulc, a Continental brand, for its vehicles. At that time, Cemex was already one of the first companies to use the ContiConnect digital tyre pressure monitoring system.
Equipping the fleet with the ContiConnect tyre pressure monitoring system has changed the company’s overall workflows. Sensors in the tyres continuously measure inflation pressure and temperature.
The tyre data is then sent in real time to the display in the driver’s cab and directly to fleet management for remote monitoring via the web-based tyre management platform. ContiConnect proactively sends a warning in the event of deviations. Four Yard Reader stations at the Cemex plant yards also provide additional control of the fleet’s tyre data.
The collaboration between Continental and Cemex has been strengthened over the years by their joint successes. The collaboration also includes test series for new tyre models.