Expanding Your Business by Adding

Volumetric Concrete Mixer to Your

Concrete Delivery System

Prepared by Eng. Habtamu Sedie

Introduction

Nearly every facet of the construction industry uses concrete, from

building major highways to decorative landscaping. No matter how
small or large the job, the traditional method of concrete delivery has
remained the same—drum mixers bring in a load from the batch
plant. Sometimes, they arrive late. Sometimes, they bring too much or
too little. Other times, the quality varies from batch to batch.

The truck-based volumetric mixer has solved these and many other
problems. It is essentially a batch plant on wheels that produces a
high-quality, custom-made mix at the jobsite. This type of mixing
involves two basic principles:

 Having all the materials needed to provide a customized mix at

the pour site
 Using advanced technology to ensure a precise mix and exact
quantity with every pour

The volumetric mixer provides a fresh pour every time, eliminating

time spent waiting for the drum mixer and worrying about hot loads
or overages. On-demand volumetric mixing is less costly, more time
efficient, more versatile and offers a better return on investment.
1. Reasons To Add Volumetric Mixers To Your Concrete
Delivery Business

Adding volumetric mixers, also referred to as mobile mixers, to your

concrete delivery business delivers several benefits to your operations.
You’ll see these benefits by adding volumetric mixers to your fleet:

Say goodbye to hot loads. If the finishing crew hasn’t arrived, or

more forming needs to be done, don’t panic. Mobile mixers produce
fresh concrete on site when you need it, so you never waste a batch.

Deliver the exact amount. With mobile mixers, customers receive

exactly what they ordered.

Eliminate short-load fees. Because mobile mixers are versatile, they

can be used for a variety ofapplications: set up a mobile batch plant
for large jobs, pour a quarter yard for a fence post at one job, and then
travel to another job to pour three yards for a sidewalk repair.

Stop waiting on drum trucks. When workers consistently have to

wait around for ready mix trucks to arrive, lost profits quickly add up.

Easily change mix designs. Mobile mixers are more versatile than
ever. They can mix and pour one batch of concrete and easily switch
mix designs to support any client need. They also offer many admix
systems, fiber and color choices, and multiple speed cement options.

Clean up is easy. Have you heard of someone chipping out cured

concrete in a barrel truck? Add a mobile mixer to your fleet to avoid
that nightmare with quick clean up.

Weekend deliveries. Using drum trucks ties you to the plant’s

schedule. But owning a mobile mixer lets you create your own
schedule, with no batch plant operator needed, allowing you to
schedule weekend deliveries without hassle.

Deliver concrete to rural and remote areas. Once water hits the
powder, a chemical reaction starts and the small window in which the
concrete can be used. This causes limitations if drum trucks need to
travel long distances to job sites. Mobile mixers allow you to provide
quality concrete to clients in rural and remote areas.

Go green. Barrel trucks must constantly run to keep the drum

running and the concrete moving. With mobile mixers, you simply
shut off the truck until concrete is needed. They also require less
water during cleanup, as you only wash out the mixing auger
assembly rather than the whole barrel of a drum truck.

Mix specialty concrete. Specialty concrete and technologies such as

latex-modified concrete and fast-setting cements and polyester
concrete demand mobile mixers for best placement and quality.

2. Owner Your Schedule

Because construction schedules can vary so much, customers like the

ability to have all the concrete they need on-site when they’re ready to
use it, rather than waiting for the ready-mix truck. With volumetric
mixers, contractors can perform flat work and move to several
locations in a day without worrying about aging or wasted materials.
This flexibility is the primary differentiator between ready-mix and
volumetric trucks. A cusromer may pour a sidewalk that needs fiber,
or they may need flowable fill or lean concrete for utility work. A
backyard patio may need color tint. Chances are, this won’t all be
done at one time, but it can be done at different sites on the same day
with a volumetric truck.
2.1 Benefits For Your Business

➢Increase profits by paying less for concrete, have better control over
your schedule and employee time.

➢Expand the type of concrete applications you can offer as part of

your business with one mixer unit or do multiple jobs without
having to come back to the plant between jobs.

2.2 Benefits For Your Customers

➢Eliminate complaints about shortages and overages by mixing fresh

on-site in the amount required.

➢Handle short loads, emergencies or weekend jobs with a mixer that

is flexible and can be used for any size job on shot notice

3. Build the Bottom Line

Sand, stone, cement and water are all in separate compartments of

the volumetric mixing truck, so the mix is always fresh. Some mixers
offer the ability to make up to five types of concrete in one truck—
standard, fiber reinforced, lean or self-consolidating concrete (SCC),
gunite and color mixes. This replaces the need to have separate ready-
mix deliveries and trips back to the batch plant, as well as
customization at one or multiple jobsites. The volumetric mixer can
also dispense flowable fill materials in addition to standard concrete
mixes.

4. Explore Other Benefits

 Further time flexibility—You can set up at the site and start
pouring within minutes, as concrete can be mixed in off-hours.
High-speed mixing with an auger solution means faster clean out
as well.
  Quality—Volumetric mixers allow production of a fresh mix one
pour at a time. Current technologies allow all the variables to be
programmed ahead of the pour so that there is no operator error.
The water to cement ratio is always correct, so no water has to be
added to the solution. A number of third-party tests have proven
that the strength of concrete from volumetric mixers matches or
exceeds concrete from drum trucks.
 Less waste—A drum truck has 60 to 90 minutes before it has to
dump the load. After that, it can be turned away from a jobsite,
and concrete is wasted, as is the fuel and labor used to transport
it. Volumetric mixers not only reduce wasted materials, such as
sand, rock and cement powder; they also reduce the amount of
water needed for mixing and washing down, and having fewer
batch plants and drum trucks on the road reduces emissions.

5. Plan for the Future

Concrete will always be in demand. Investing in labor and time-

saving technology like volumetric mixers can be a good
diversification strategy if you’re looking for more profit down the
road.