Volumech is the UK arm of Cemen Tech, a US-based manufacturer of volumetric concrete mixers. Volumech UK‘s Country Manager, Brandon Hess, speaks to Construction Plant News on the benefits of their products.
Explain who you are, and your role in the company.
I am the UK Country Manager for Volumech and run all of our operations here on the ground. I’m also the International Sales Manager for Cemen Tech covering Asia-Pacific, Africa and Europe.
Can you introduce Volumech and its recent milestones?
After having local representation for about 25 years, Cemen Tech felt it was time to come and set up ourselves in the UK. We did this in autumn 2019 and in January 2020, we acquired Volumech, which has been a long-standing independent operation in the UK. In January 2021 we also acquired Contech as our technical services division which now comes under Volumech.
What are Volumech’s footprint and capabilities in 2022?
Our three depots are in Gloucester, Wolverhampton and Stockport and we’ve got about 20 people on the ground in the UK who almost all work with customers and on equipment directly. We’ve got everything you’d expect from a mainline equipment dealer, with sales, spare parts and service, and our more technical service offering as well.
What are the benefits of volumetric concrete mixers over typical methods?
Flexibility. They allow you to control the quantity you’re using to an exact amount so you’re not wasting any materials and it’s always fresh concrete. You can also produce quantities of your choice to be able to go from one job on site to another. For example, you can go put 1m3 of C25 in one area onsite and then drive down the road to do a C35 curb mix with the same materials from the same truck. It allows you a lot of flexibility in what you’re doing.
Can you talk a little more about the sustainability of using volumetric mixers? Is it a much greener alternative?
The biggest benefit using a volumetric mixers is that it eliminates wasted material. You’re only producing only what you need. With conventional methods, you often end up going back to the depot with 2m3 of concrete that has to get washed out or dumped in a pile in a corner of the site somewhere. Over the course of your operation, there are substantial carbon savings by eliminating that waste and reducing the number of loads you’re having to do.
What are the cost savings using a volumetric mixer?
This obviously varies a bit by application and customer, but for companies that are consuming concrete for their own uses, e.g. civil contractors or utility companies who are consuming it in fairly large quantities, you can end up looking considerable cost savings. We usually see around 40% to 50% of a lot of these types of customers producing the concrete themselves – but conventional methods can mean significant overhead costs, like setting up a full batch plant with a batch operator and needing a certain minimum number of barrel trucks to make it profitable and efficient. With a volumetric mixer, you can put it on the road and start taking care of your own needs straight away.
How common are volumetric concrete mixers in the UK?
Approximately 12% of the concrete poured in the UK comes off volumetric mixers. They’re becoming more and more prevalent across the UK.
What sets Volumech apart from its competitors?
It’s our desire to truly professionalise the industry and work with customers that have the same goal as we do.
We’re trying to help a lot of the customers who want to do things better and do things properly, for example, we’ve invested in the technical services division so that we can provide true, expert support and advice, like helping companies become BSI compliant, helping improve their mix designs and to find new applications as well, so when they have new opportunities come up they don’t have to say no or guess and hope it works out. We can help them analyse the material they’re using for that application and do it right. We’re not interested in just today; we’re interested in trying to build the industry for the next 5 to 10 years.
What does Volumech do to develop the market for volumetric concrete mixers?
The mixers that Cemen Tech build have a huge focus on innovation and technology. They’re constantly making mixers easier to use and more accurate so that we can make them more accessible to more companies and be used for applications that require higher levels of precision too. It’s really a combination of what we’re doing on the ground with the education around the concrete and then the product that we’re bringing to market that’s undoubtedly more accurate than anyone else’s out there.
What are Volumech’s main aims over the next 1-5 years?
We really want to be a positive force for innovation and change in how concrete is poured in the UK and make sure customers that are running Cemen Tech mixers are the most successful volumetric operators in the UK.
What is the biggest opportunity for Volumech over this same period?
Overall, the construction sector in the UK is going to continue to be healthy for the next several years. With things like High Speed 2 that’s going to absorb a lot of capacity for a lot of operators, there’s going to be a lot of gaps in the market for people looking for better ways to source concrete or consider making it themselves instead of continuing to face supply problems.
