For some manufacturers who want to invest in concrete batching plant, before investing, most of them want to understand the whole process of building a concrete plant and the matters that need attention.
Because from doing market research and site selection in the early stage, to choosing the concrete plant model and configuration, to maintenance and management in the later stage, all these require a lot of preparation and decision from the investors. If there is a whole process to refer to, it may help these investors to make a more appropriate decision.
This article will sort out the whole process of building a concrete batching plant from seven aspects.
Market research & analysis
Before you decide to invest, you first need to research and analyze the local market situation. This includes:
- Understanding of local policies and regulations on the concrete industry, as well as the planning of infrastructure construction in recent years;
- To estimate the total local demand for concrete;
- Know who your target customers are;
- Understand the number and scale of existing local commercial concrete batching plant;
- Evaluate your own personal funds and consider the various investments in the early stage and the return on investment of the entire project in the later stage.
These factors will give you a comprehensive understanding of the local market, and you can decide the size of the concrete mixing plant you want to invest in based on your customer base and the demand for concrete.
Related resource preparation
The main raw materials used to produce concrete are stone, sand, cement, additives, etc. So, in the early stage, you need to find a good supplier of these raw materials and compare the quality and price of raw materials from different manufacturers. That is because this will determine the quality of the concrete you produce and your cost.
Moreover, establish your own sales channels for commercial concrete and make a good synergy between upstream and downstream industries.
And then you have to recruit the appropriate personnel. You need to recruit experienced technicians and supervisors. Although most of the concrete mixing plants nowadays are controlled automatically, you still need professionals for setting the concrete ratios and supervising the whole workflow. You can create a professional team of your own company.
Decide on your concrete plant’s location
The site selection of the concrete batch plant is also a very important issue. You need to take into account factors such as site area, transportation distance and traffic situation.
When considering the site area, in addition to the area occupied by the concrete mixing plant itself, special attention should be paid to the stacking area of aggregates. Concrete production needs to consume a large amount of sand and gravel aggregates, so the aggregate stacking area should be large enough to meet the needs of production consumption.
The conveying distance includes both the distance from the concrete plant to the raw material supply and the distance from the concrete plant to the main use market. Generally speaking, the best conveying distance for a mixer truck is about 15km.
Moreover, it is necessary to fully consider whether the traffic around the concrete batch plant is convenient and whether it is convenient for transport vehicles to enter and exit.
In addition, the site should be chosen as far away from residential areas and city centers as possible to reduce the pollution to the city. Also, considering the need of drainage, the site should be chosen in a high and flat place as far as possible to avoid serious impact on production when water accumulates during heavy rain.
The selection of concrete batching plant
When choosing a concrete batching plant, you should not only consider its model, but also its related configuration.
Select the model of concrete batch plant according to the size of the production scale:
- The annual output is less than 200,000 cubic meters, and the productivity of the concrete plant is generally not less than 90 cubic meters per hour;
- For an annual output of 200,000 to 300,000 cubic meters, the productivity of the concrete plant is generally 120 cubic meters per hour;
- The annual output is more than 300,000 cubic meters, and the productivity of the concrete plant is generally 150 to 200 cubic meters per hour;
- The number of working days calculated here is 300 days per year and 8 hours per day;
- If your project requires a concrete volume of 70 cubic meters per hour, then you should choose a concrete plant with a theoretical production rate of 90 cubic meters per hour instead of 75 cubic meters per hour. This is because the actual production rate of a concrete plant will generally be less than the maximum theoretical production rate.
There is also the configuration of the concrete mixing plant to consider.
The concrete mixer is the core of the whole concrete plant, so when you choose a mixer, you should look at whether the brand of the concrete mixer configured by the manufacturer is reliable. If you have special needs, you can also ask the manufacturer to configure other famous brands of mixers for you, for example, the mixer of SICOMA.
In addition, you should also configure the cement silo with the right output according to the amount of cement and the batching machine with the right number of bins according to the type and proportion of aggregates.
The selection of supporting equipment
In order to ensure the orderly operation of the whole production and sales chain, you also need to purchase some auxiliary equipment, for example, wheel loaders, concrete mixer trucks, concrete pumps, concrete reclaimer, etc.
Generally speaking, the mixing plant will be equipped with 1 or 2 loaders, which are mainly used to feed the batching machine.
It should also be equipped with 10 to 20 mixer trucks of more than 8 cubic meters (take the mixing plant with an annual output of 300,000 cubic meters as an example) to transport the finished concrete to the customer's site. The number of mixer trucks is closely related to the distance of transportation and the output of concrete.
Of course, you can also consider buying some concrete pumping equipment and renting them out to customers who buy your concrete but don't have pumping equipment. This can also add extra revenue to your overall project, as there are still many customers who have a need to rent concrete pumping equipment.
In addition, you can also consider adding a concrete reclaimer. It is mainly used to separate, collect and reuse the sand, stone and mud in the waste after cleaning the mixer truck. This can effectively solve the problem of concrete pollution and save valuable building material resources.
Consider the site layout
When planning the construction site, you need to consider the layout of the concrete mixing plant, post-maintenance of the concrete plant, vehicle transportation, and environmental protection needs.
- The piles of different aggregates should be separated by walls, and the materials being used should be stored separately from the new ones to avoid mixing. Moreover, the ground of the sand and gravel yard should be hardened to facilitate loading of wheel loaders and to prevent debris such as mud from entering the material.
- Most of the materials in the concrete batching plant are transported by large vehicles, so it is necessary to ensure that the vehicles run smoothly and do not interfere with each other. The best solution is to use two doors for incoming and outgoing materials. The main road in the site should be wide, and space should be reserved for large vehicles to turn around and make a U-turn.
- A certain access should be reserved around the main components of the concrete mixing plant to facilitate maintenance at a later stage.
- The entire construction site should be an inclined plane, especially, the road surface should have a certain slope to ensure that the rainwater can flow away quickly. If it is on a flat road, there will be water on the road. After the water accumulates, the road will sink more easily under the rolling of heavy-duty vehicles, forming a vicious circle, and the road will be damaged in a short period of time.
- Build 1 or 2 reservoirs to ensure that they store enough water to clean the machine. The main mixer machine and mixer truck should be cleaned immediately after work to avoid damage to the machine caused by concrete solidification.
Purchase and install your concrete plant
After the preliminary preparations are completed, you can consider finding the right concrete plant manufacturer. Whether online or offline, you will find many batching plant manufacturers. The best way to find a reliable manufacturer is to visit their office and factory, but, because people are now affected by the epidemic, travel is greatly restricted, so how to communicate online to determine the strength of a manufacturer?
First of all, you can browse the manufacturer's website to see their products, shipping news and the company's related introduction. After roughly understanding whether the products they offer are what you need, you can first get in touch with them for further communication on the configuration details and prices of the products. In the process of communicating with the sales staff, you can not only judge whether they are professional or not, but also see whether their service is attentive and sincere.
Also, you can get a more detailed understanding of this manufacturer through some other platforms, such as, Facebook, Youtube, Linkedin, etc. Of course, the service provided by the manufacturer is also an important factor that you need to consider. Finally, buy a concrete batching plant from a manufacturer that you think is strong and reliable.
Regarding the installation, commissioning and maintenance of the concrete plant, generally speaking, this is the service provided by the manufacturer. So, if you are looking for a concrete plant manufacturer that is closer to you, it will be more convenient for them to provide you with the corresponding services.
If you still have any questions about the construction of the concrete batching plant, welcome to contact us for further communication!