TECHNICAL FORUM

I Bespoke benchmarking
by Dr Michael Clark, UK Some 10 years have passed since International Cement Review and
Whitehopleman launched an independent cement industry benchmarking
service. In this month’s Technical Forum, Dr Clark looks back at the
progress made in recent years and also maps out the intended evolution of
the service.

A
decade ago International Cement Some cement companies have their
Review and Whitehopleman factories performance benchmarked
joined forces to offer an annually, allowing them to track the
independent cement industry progress of their improvement efforts
benchmarking service. The intention was from year to year. Some of those can
to allow cement companies to compare demonstrate significant improvements
the performance of their factories with over the intervening 10 years. More than
their peers around the world, identifying one has been able to use this to assist
which aspects of their performance them in raising capital for their expansion
Benchmarking can help
were good, bad and indifferent, and in plans. Other cement companies only find the best upgrade
that way to enable them to focus their have their cement factory performance
upgrade efforts where they would be benchmarked in alternate or every
most effective. By quantifying the range few years. They find that the pace of This has precipitated the extension of
of performance the targets for such performance improvement is such that the benchmarking service to provide
improvement efforts could be realistically there is insufficient change from one year ‘bespoke benchmarking’.
set. to the next to make annual benchmarking
After three years International Cement worthwhile. Bespoke benchmarking
Review decided that it must concentrate In the course of the last 10 years The aim of bespoke benchmarking is for
its efforts on the magazine, CemNet the cement industry around the world a cement company to be able to tailor
website and the Cemtech Conferences has changed significantly and the the benchmarking to focus on whichever
and Exhibitions, so for the last seven benchmarking service has tried to keep aspects of their factories’ performance are
years the benchmarking service has been pace with this change. The best example their particular concern. Key performance
the sole responsibility of Whitehopleman. came in 2002 with the launch of the benchmarking provides comparisons
Cement factories from around the world cement sustainability index, which in sub- across a range of performance indicators,
have participated in this benchmarking study five on key performance indicators while bespoke benchmarking provides a
service allowing an unrivalled database stated in its conclusions that: “At a more detailed comparison of a particular
of the performance of more than 350 minimum, it would be possible for cement aspect of operations, be it energy
cement factories to be built up. companies to participate in an industry efficiency, equipment productivity,
From the outset performance was benchmarking exercise carried out by an reliability and maintenance, manpower
measured and compared across six external and independent body...”. organisation and productivity, quality and
aspects of the operation of a cement In response Whitehopleman extended quality control or sustainability.
factory: its data collection forms to gather such This ability to benchmark in much
• safety sustainability information. greater detail is also intended to address
• manpower productivity However, extending the another occasional criticism of the key
• energy efficiency Whitehopleman key performance performance benchmarking, which has
• equipment productivity benchmarking was not without its issues. been provided in the previous 10 years.
• equipment reliability The data collection forms necessarily That being that much greater detail
• environmental performance. became much more complicated. Not is required to identify the underlying
A seventh, ‘quality’ was compared all cement companies were interested in reasons for performance variation
to set in context the other aspects of comparing these aspects of performance, between cement factories and items of
performance. and some could not provide the data equipment. For example to explain the
Energy efficiency and equipment to complete the forms. Some were variation in thermal energy consumption
productivity are to some extent even put off from participating in the between cement kilns it is necessary to
dependent on the fineness and the service. This was not desirable as the consider the moisture content of the raw
chemical and mineral composition of the value of the benchmarking comparisons materials, the number of stages of the
raw mix, clinker and cement produced. increases as more factories participate. preheater, the preheater exit temperature,

FEBRUARY 2009 ICR 39

the oxygen content of the preheater exit the performance of the kilns and mills process capability index for each product
gases, the presence or otherwise of a of a cement company. There is a good produced from the factory is calculated
bypass, the proportion of the kiln inlet reason for this. Minimising variability and compared. The areas where variability
gases diverted through such a bypass, the is the key to controlling and assuring should be reduced are highlighted,
fuels used to fire the kiln, the kiln main cement quality and also to minimising the leading to increased output, sales and
burner type, the percentage of primary costs and maximising the output of the revenue, reduced manufacturing costs and
air delivered through the main burner, the cement manufacturing process. Within the improved final product quality.
refractory lining in the different sections process considerable expense is incurred So, in conclusion, bespoke
of the kiln, the cooler type, the cooler to provide consistent, low variability benchmarking is intended to address some
exhaust temperature and the clinker exit inputs to the kiln. This contributes to of the issues which have arisen during the
temperature. maximising the clinker output from the 10 years which Whitehopleman has been
Collecting and comparing this kiln and minimising the thermal energy providing international benchmarking
amount of data is beyond the scope of consumption of the kiln. Low variability in comparisons for the industry around the
key performance benchmarking. Key clinker is also the basis for low variation in world. Those cement companies who wish
performance benchmarking will tell a the cement produced and sold from the to have an annual or periodic comparison
cement company whether the thermal cement factory. Large amounts of data of key performance indicators across the
energy consumption of their kiln is out have to be analysed in order to measure range of cement factory performance will,
of line with similar such kilns, but not the this variability throughout the process. If of course, be able to do so. Those who
reasons for that abnormal performance. this were attempted in key performance would like a more detailed comparison
The much greater detail provided by benchmarking the data collection forms of a particular aspect of the operation of
bespoke benchmarking points to the would again become unwieldy and the factories or equipment will also be
underlying reasons for that abnormal cement companies might be put off from able to do so. Whitehopleman’s intention
performance. participation. Bespoke benchmarking remains to develop and provide whatever
In key performance benchmarking measures and compares variability benchmarking services their cement
quality is only considered in contextual throughout the cement manufacturing industry clients around world so require.
way to provide some explanation of process to the final cement where the ___________________________________ I

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