1.

Product Selection & Design

Businesses
“The largest cement producer in India and one of the top producers of cement worldwide is
UltraTech Cement Limited. Additionally, it is the biggest producer of white cement and
Ready Mix Concrete in the nation.”
“The company's combined capacity* for grey cement is 116.75 million tonnes per year
(MTPA). In India, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sri Lanka, UltraTech Cement
have 23 integrated plants, 1 clinkerization unit, 26 grinding units, 7 bulk terminals, 1 white
cement plant, 2 wall care putty factories, and more than 100 RMC plants. In addition,
UltraTech Cement is India's biggest exporter of cement and clinker, supplying markets in the
Indian Ocean region, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. (*Including the 2 MTPA expected
to be operational by September 2020)”

Products
“From the foundation to the finishing touches, UltraTech offers a variety of solutions to
address the needs of the building industry. This comprises building supplies, a wide range of
additional building solutions, White Cement, Common Portland Cement, Portland Pozzalana
Cement, Portland Blast Furnace Slag Cement, and Ready Mix Concrete. Under the names
"UltraTech, UltraTech Premium, and Birla Super," cement is offered for sale. Birla White is a
brand name for white cement, UltraTech Concrete is used for ready-mix concrete, while
Xtralite, Fixoblock, Seal & Dry, and Readiplast are used for new-age building goods. A
variety of basic building supplies are offered by UltraTech Building Solutions, a retail outlet
that serves the end user.”
“One of India's main industries, the cement sector's output, and services are essential to the
country's expansion and development. The challenge for cement companies is to balance the
growing demand for its products with its effect on the society and the environment, by
developing sustainable solutions for the industry. Being the largest manufacturer of grey
cement, Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) and white cement in India, as well as one of the top
cement manufacturers worldwide, Ultratech is driving thought and practice leadership in the
sustainability space. The SDGs offer a formal framework to further the wonderful work that
has already been done. The company is doing in that space. So, while driving growth,
company contributes in a meaningful manner to the SDGs - some directly, while others are
addressed in some way as the goals are interconnected.”

Regular Customer Engagement

“Through our multi-channel stakeholder engagements, we understand the expectations of our
customers, professionals, retailers, and distributors and build a long-term relationship.”

Continuous Innovation
“Providing a wide range of goods and services with the approach of continuous innovation
for improved process parameters, offers top-notch quality and lower environmental impacts.”

Responsible Value Chain 

“UltraTech is committed to driving sustainability across its entire value chain. The company
belief that this will add to profitability and prosperity both for the company and for the
stakeholders.”

Benchmarking and Beyond 

“All products comply to national and international standards and are benchmarked to the best
practices to evolve and adapt to the ever-changing environment.
Sustainable thinking and Life cycle approach comes as standard feature to each of the
products as hallmark of brand UltraTech. The company can produce 102.75 Million Tonnes
Per Annum (MTPA) of grey cement on a combined** annual basis. This capacity not only
helps manufacture more products to build infrastructure and sustainable cities (SDG 9 and
11), but also catalyses the development and employment in rural India where the cement
plants are primarily located (SDG 1, 2, 8 and 10). By developing a green product portfolio,
innovating on our industrial by-product recycling measures and introducing sustainable
technologies in our processes, we are also contributing towards lowering the carbon footprint
of our products (SDG 12 and 13). As we expand, it becomes increasingly important for us to
implement our sustainability commitments more quickly in order to meaningfully support the
SDGs. We have adopted four mechanisms which help us accelerate.”

 
2. Quality

“The raw materials' chemical and mineral composition, intermediate products, and finished
products must be identified in order to make high-quality cement. To achieve flawless quality
control, samples must be taken, processed, and analysed at every stage of the manufacturing.
Quality checks are performed throughout the whole manufacturing cycle, from the extraction
of raw materials through the finished good, using a variety of tools designed for sample
preparation. The typical sample preparation procedure includes preliminary size reduction,
sample division, and fine size reduction before the sample may be sent for additional tests.
Elemental analysers using combustion technology are ideally suited for the fast, accurate and
reliable determination of carbon and sulphur in cement. There is no additional sample
preparation required besides size reduction. Elemental analysers measure the concentrations
of carbon and sulphur from ppm levels up to 100%.”

Sample Division
“To get a representative portion sample, the material must be further separated after pre-
crushing. The part sample's qualitative makeup must closely resemble the original sample's in
terms of quality. The total amount, the homogeneity, and the maximum grain size contained
determine how many and how much portion samples should be taken. Given that random
sampling has a 20% error rate, it is not recommended. The use of a sample divider allows the
error rate to be reduced to 0.5%. A synchronised feeder that automatically feeds material
offers predictable results while making operation simple. The dividers separate the sample
into 1-3 or 6-10 representative part samples and accept feed sizes up to 10 mm.”

Fine-Grinding
“Now, the part sample can be pulverised in a ball mill or a vibrating disc mill to sizes of 100
m and less. This mill can produce grind sizes as tiny as 100 m and smaller in as short as 30 to
40 seconds, and it is frequently used to prepare samples for XRF examination. The grinding
results ought to be incredibly repeatable. The sample that has been ground up can now be
examined using XRF or elemental analysis. For an XRF study to be trustworthy and
insightful, solid, high-quality pellets are a critical prerequisite.”

Determination of the particle size

“Vibratory sieving involves moving the sample in three dimensions, superimposing a circular
motion on top of a vertical tossing action. This combined motion spreads the sample material
evenly across the entire sieve region.”
“A 3-dimensional movement is inappropriate for sieve cuts of powdered solids that have a
propensity to clump together. Thus, the Air Jet Sieving Machine is used to screen
agglomerating particles in the 10 m to 4 mm size range. A spinning stream of air is used to
move the material on the sieve: A vacuum created by a vacuum cleaner attached to the
sieving machine draws in fresh air through a revolving slit nozzle while creating a vacuum
inside the sieving chamber. The sieve mesh is struck by the accelerating air stream. as it
passes through the nozzle's small opening, scattering the particles. The air jet above the mesh
is dispersed over the entire sieve surface and is drawn in slowly through the sieve mesh. As a
result, the smaller particles are carried through the mesh holes and into the vacuum or,
alternatively, a cyclone.”
Measurement of Carbon and Sulphur Concentration
“Cement's carbon and sulphur content must be accurately determined as part of the quality
control procedure. The cement may be destroyed if the sulphur level is too high due to the
chemical reaction of sulphuric acid. Typically, the carbon content is verified as CO2, while
the sulphur content is reported as SO3. Typically, elemental analyzers burn the sample and
measure the gases that are emitted. Cement is a common example of an inorganic sample that
is often burned in an induction furnace at temperatures up to 2200°C.”

 
3. Location

“For grey cement manufacturing, UltraTech Cement has 18 strategically located functioning
plants in various parts of the country. Grey cement production capacity for the company is
116.8 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). These plants are located as follows”

1. Adityapuram, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan

2. Bhogasamudram, Tadipatri Mandal, Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh
3. Awarpur Cement Project, Taluka: Korpana, District: Chandrapur, Maharashtra
4. Village Baga, P.O - Kandhar, Tehsil: Arki, District: Solan (H.P.)
5. Post Budawada Mandal-Jaggiyapet, District Krishna, Andhra Pradesh
6. Jaypee Puram, P.O. Jaypee Puram Rewa - (M.P)
7. Post : Dalla Distt Sonebhadra Uttar Pradesh
8. P. O. Kovaya Taluka: Rajula, District: Amreli, Gujarat
9. Village & Post: Hirmi, Taluka: Simga, Baloda Bazar - Bhatapara, Chhattisgarh
10. P B No. 10 Village: Babarkot, Taluka: Jafrabad, District: Amreli, Gujarat
11. V & P. O. Mohanpura, Tehsil: Kotputli Dist. Jaipur, Rajasthan
12. Aditya Nagar, Malkhed Road, Tehsil: sedam District: Gulbarga, Karnataka
13. Aditya Nagar, Malkhed Road, Tehsil: sedam District: Gulbarga, Karnataka
14. Grasim Vihar Village, PO Rawan, Dist. Baloda Bazar Bhatapara Chhattisgarh
15. Reddipalayam PO, District: Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu
16. Village: Vayor, Taluka Abdasa, District: Kutch, Gujarat
17. Jaypee Vihar, Majhigawan P.O. Bharatpur, Sidhi
18. Vikram Nagar, P.O - Khor Tehsil: Jawad, District: Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh

For the purpose of this study regarding Process and Capacity design, we have considered
plant no. 18 i.e. Vikram Cement Works plant located in Khor village of Neemuch, Madhya
Pradesh. 
Fig. 01 – Vikram Cement Works, Khor, District Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, India
In the report, the sections of Location and Process and Capacity design have been
consolidated into one to discuss the strategic location of the plant from the point of view of
the manufacturing process. This strategic location has been discussed in further detail in the
section that follows. 

 
4. Production Process and Capacity Design

“The production of cement at UltraTech Cement is started from quarrying the raw material.
The main raw materials are limestone, pond ash, sand stone and gypsum. Site Exploration of
suitable deposits, for the raw material has three main aims:-
 Verifying the quality of the raw materials.
 Establishing the range of variation in quality of the raw materials throughout the
working life of the deposit.
 Verifying the workable reserves of raw materials.”

Fig. 02 – Site picture of Inward Raw Material flow at UTCL Plant

Quarrying
“Quarrying is the process of safely and economically breaking rock, transferring the resulting
material to a factory, and then further reducing its size there.”

Quarrying of raw materials involves:

1. Haulage
2. Crushing
3. Site restoration
4. Mining and removal of Overburden
5. Drilling and Blasting
6. Loading

“In UltraTech Cement, the quarry site is located 7 km from the production site, resulting in
significant transportation expenses. In order to transport the raw materials (such as limestone,
sandstone, and gypsum, among others), a cross-country conveyer belt with a 1000 ton/hr
capacity is required.”
“Belt conveyors are used to move solid objects and bulk commodities quickly over long
distances, such as those between cement mills and crushers (up to 6.4km). Additionally, raw
materials and other bulk materials can be moved quickly and in huge quantities using a belt
conveyor.”
“Two of the most important raw materials required to create cement are sandstone and
limestone, both of which are easily accessible. The preliminary geological survey of the raw
materials research revealed that the deposit of the aforementioned materials is more than
adequate for the whole plant life for an 8,000 tpd clinker production capability. Limestone
and sandstone are temporarily kept in vertical silos or twin silos once the necessary raw
materials have been brought to the plant site. Additionally, limestone from vertical silos is
kept in a sizable circular yard with a 50,000 tonne storage capacity.”
Fig. 03 – Conveyor belt to transport raw material to the production facility

Stacker and Reclaimer machinery

Stacker –“Crushed limestone is delivered to it by a belt conveyor. It is made up of a portable
carriage that travels alongside the suggested stock stacks. This mobile carriage is covered with a
stacker belt that discharges material. It revolves over 1200 times on its axis. 550 tonnes per hour of
material may be fed into the circular storage by a stacker. In addition, a stacker is a sizable machine
used in the handling of bulk materials. Its purpose is to stockpile bulk materials including limestone,
sandstone, pumice, coal, and gypsum. Circular and longitudinal stackers are the two different kinds.”

Reclaimer- “A hoe or rake is used in a reclaimer to remove material from the whole cross
section of the pile in layers of varying thicknesses. Dislodged material is carried to mill
hoppers via a belt. 1,250 tonnes per hour of material can be fed onto the belt by the reclaimer.
In addition, a re-claimer is a sizable equipment utilised in applications involving the handling
of bulk materials.”

Transporting Crushed Raw Material to Raw Mill

“This step continues after the crushed lime stone has been piled. The raw materials are taken
from the stock pile by a belt conveyor using hoppers underneath. These belts are fastened
below the stockpile to collect the raw materials.”

Raw Mill
“The raw material proportion station is where materials like basalt, sandstone, and limestone
are mixed.”
“Corrective lime stone, sand stone, and basalt are each carried separately to the appropriate
silo for storage. With the use of belt conveyors with variable speeds, the proportioning
procedure is being carried out. The quantity of each material that is fed into the belt
conveyors by the raw mill relies on how quickly the belt conveyors can move the materials
from their respective storage. In addition to being used for superior product quality and
efficient kiln operation, a correct raw mix design is based on the given raw material situation,
the process design, and environmental consideration.”
“Limestone, basalt, and sandstone are crushed and ground in raw mills using the pressure and
shear created between the rollers and revolving table. The materials are accelerated toward
the grinding track and passed under the roller by the rotating grinding table. A spinning
grinding table attached to a bevel spur gearbox that is powered by an electric motor or
hydraulic drive receives the material that has been ground.”
 VRM Capacity to grind-420ton/hr.
 feed material limestone, sandstone and basalt
 Power of motor-4.8mw
 Separation-air separator.

“When the grinding roller and grinding table are operating, hydraulic tensioning takes place.
Nitrogen gas accumulator serves as a shock absorber in hydraulic gas accumulator while it is
in use.”

Homogenizing silo (Raw meal silo)

“The raw meal is briefly stored in this location. It performs the tasks of blending and storing.
Here Using compressed air, blending is the act of combining or homogenising uncooked meal
to achieve a homogeneous chemical composition and meal fineness.”
“In the cement industry, raw meal is always blended or homogenised in silos. It is the last
homogenising stage in the line of raw mix preparation procedures established in order to
minimise the residual (extremely short-term, high frequency) compositional variations seen
for the raw meal generated in the raw mill Capacity 20,000 Ton.”
Preheater
“Preheater cyclones are supported by a building known as the preheater tower and are stacked
vertically in series. The raw material travels through a succession of vertical cyclone
chambers supported by what can be thought of as a heat transmission tower en route to the
kiln. Modern cement plants pre-heat the raw materials before they reach the kiln in order to
save energy. As they swirl down the cyclone string, hot exit gases from the kiln heat the raw
food as they rise more than 100 metres.”

Rotary Kiln
“The rotating kiln is a long steel cylinder that is supported by steel rollers and tyres and is
slightly inclined furnaces that are lined with refractory to protect the steel shell from the
extremely high temperature. It is propelled by a pinion and gear system as it spins along its
longitudinal axis. It is also a kind of high temperature oven utilised in the process of burning
clinker. The raw material mixture enters the kiln from the elevated end, but the kiln's lower
end receives the introduction of the burning fuels.”
“The materials are continuously and slowly pushed to the bottom end of the kiln due to its
slant and rotation. The raw ingredients are converted into cementitious or hydraulic minerals
as the temperature inside the kiln rises.”
“It can handle feed stocks with wide particle size distributions or whose physical properties
change significantly during processing, and it has ubiquity fixtures of chemical processes that
involve various chemical reactions. Additionally, the long residence time of the material
inside the kiln promotes uniform product quality.”

Clinker Coolers
“When making cement, clinker nodules form at the entry to the hottest area of the kiln, where
the material is heated to a temperature of about 1280°C. The nodules of clinker that depart
the front of the kiln and enter the cooler are preferably between 10 and 25 mm in size. The
clinker must cool quickly to ensure a phase composition that provides the necessary
cementitious characteristics. To ensure adequate cooling and maximise the recovery of heat
to secondary air, tertiary air, and the necessary process need, it is equally crucial that the heat
exchange between clinker and air be effective.”
“The clinker is extremely hot and contains about 1.0 million Btu of thermal energy per short
tonne at the discharge end of the kiln. Part of the chemical reactions that will result in the
production of various clinker minerals are still occurring in the clinker. Clinker cooling is
used to make the clinker cool enough to handle by taking some of the heat out of it.
Additionally, we want to halt the chemical processes in the clinker at the point where the
quality of the cement is most beneficial.”

Clinker Storage
“Clinker is kept in closed sheds or silos. If the proper precautions are taken to prevent dust
accumulation, larger quantities can be stored outside.”
“The output material from the grate cooler is initially stored in a clinker silo before being
transported to the cement mill to be converted into cement. Clinker storage is the term used to
describe it. Silos could be used for storage. The advantage of storing clinker in silos is that no
dust pollution or clinker spillage occurs. Silos' capacities can differ from factory to factory.
There are two silos at UltraTech Cement with a capacity of 75000 tonnes each. Clinker will
be unloaded from the silo and delivered to the clinker bin in the cement grinding plant by a
belt conveyer and deep pan conveyor.”

Ball Mill
“The effective inner diameter of the mill shell at UltraTech Cement Plant is 4.48 m for the
first chamber and the same for the second chamber. Its production capacity is 3*120t/hr, and
its effective mill shell lengths are 4.215m for the first chamber and 8.715m for the second. It
uses a closed-circuit pulverising method to grind cement. The fineness of cement is
3200100cm2/g. the bin feeder hopper capacity is 890ton for clinker, 310ton for pumice, and
610ton for gypsum. The mill's rotational speed is 14.9r/min, and the maximum charging
capacity of grinding media is 280ton.”
“Operating materials for the UltraTech Cement Plant are fed into the coarse compartment of
the mill through the feeding leg of the feeding device, where they are subsequently ground up
by grinding media. The mill's rotation causes the material and the grinding media to be raised
somewhat. Compressive and shearing forces are used to grind the material as it is being
lifted. The grinding media rises to a given height and then descends, causing size reduction
by impact. The closed-circuit ball mill can be used for dry grinding. The fine output (cement)
from these mills went via a bag filter. Using a bucket elevator, the mill's heavy material is fed
to a separator where it is separated into product and rejects. The mill inlet receives the
rejected materials back. The particle size distribution fineness regulated is better managed by
closed circuit mills. To achieve the highest level of grinding efficiency and the highest level
of product quality flexibility, it runs in a closed circuit with regrinding. Ball mills run in a
closed circuit, and the circulation load is measured by weighing the flow of separator reject
materials. There are three cement mills with a combined grinding capacity of 120 tonnes per
hour. Each cement mill requires 6mW of electricity.”

Cement silo
“Cement is stored in cement silos, which are hoisted by bucket elevator chains. Each of the
three cement silos used by UltraTech Cement has a storage capacity of 10,000 tonnes.
Compressors and root blowers are used in cement silos for blending and aeration; air slides
are transported via pneumatic conveyor and bucket elevator, respectively.”

Packaging of cement
“Cement that has been retrieved from the storage silos is fed into the packing equipment,
where it is packed in sacks, bags, and bulk. In order to save energy, the cement silos ought to
feature a blower extraction system. There are two different types of packing machines:
stationary and rotating packers. The packaging line for items in powder form is outfitted with
various equipment. Power usage for the packing method is 100-120t/h, or 2-2.2KWh/t.”

Fig. 04 – Process design of Grey Cement manufacturing

 
5. LAYOUT

Fig. 05 – Plant Layout

The above Diagram represents the overview of the whole process carried for the
manufacturing of the cement. The Layout means the material flow from the raw material
(Limestone Quarry) to the Truck Loading area to load the material for dispatch. All the
processes involved in the Layout are explained below
“Limestone, clay, and other correction materials such lateritic, bauxite, etc. are ground to
create Portland Cements. Lime, Silica, Alumina, and Iron Oxide are the primary components.
The manufacturing procedure include finely powdering the raw ingredients, thoroughly
combining them, and then kiln-firing them at a temperature of roughly 1400 degrees Celsius.
A clinker is the end product that is produced. Gypsum is used to grind cooled clinker into a
fine powder. Cement is the finished product.”

Fig. 06 – Process of Portland Cement manufacturing

“The first step in manufacturing Portland cement involves acquiring raw materials like
limestone clay and others. These struck materials at the limestone quarry and then is dump
into the dump truck for further process.”
“It is then crushed in several stages to produce aggregates that are about three inches in size.
From the crusher, limestone rock converts into rough ground limestone and then, once again,
passes through the secondary crusher to make it fine ground limestone.”
“The crushed rock is then combined with other ingredients such as iron or fly ash and other
materials like clay and sand, depending on the chemical proportion's final product
requirement. It is then passed on to the Grinding mill where the proportional element is
mixed correctly, and the size particles of every component are the same. It is then further
passed to the preheater tower, where this mixture is preheater with the help of heat recycling,
which is given on the preheater by a clinker cooler.”
“All of these components are then fed into a cement furnace which is a brick oven. In this
rotary furnace, the materials are heated to about 2700 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure that the
cement components combine the product of this process is called clinkers which are great
balls about the size of marbles after it clinkers are called machines grind and mix them with a
small amount of gypsum and limestone depending on the final requirements then cement is
sent to be used on-site or to be stored. Silicon is a component that combines with calcium and
other elements to provide this strength of the hardened concrete iron. The iron ore combines
with calcium and aluminum to produce a product that facilitates the formation of calcium
silicates. It also provides the greyish color, which is the amount of gypsum is used mainly to
slow the reaction when cement reacts with water. When we mix cement with water, it
hardens within few hours, and this is important to ensure that we have adequate time for
casting of the concrete; if we do not use gypsum, then this hydrated cement will become like
a rock in a shorter time, so to recap cement which is made from rocks raw materials that are
crushed into the size of aggregates these raw materials are fed into a giant rotary furnace the
product is then crushed to produce the cement.”

 
6. HUMAN RESOURCES
 
“The combined efforts of an organization's personnel lead to success. The staff at UltraTech
Cement, which has more than 22,000 people across five countries and is constantly
expanding, is highly driven and active. The leading producer of grey, ready-mix concrete,
and white cement in India, UltraTech Cement has an annual capacity of 116.75 million
tonnes, placing it among the top three cement producers worldwide. The most precious
resource at UltraTech Cement is its workforce.”
“Employee Value Proposition: UltraTech believes in making 'A World of Opportunities'
come alive by ensuring the employees have a fulfilling career in UltraTech Cement. Being
the global conglomerate UltraTech offers ample career opportunities across the different
sectors, geographies, and functions. At UltraTech, the employees like challenges, work hard,
high-five, and celebrate. HR and employees are risk-takers, fast learners, and experts in our
fields”
 

 
 
               
 
 

Fig. 07 – Hierarchy of UltraTech Cement Limited

“Above is the Hierarchy of the Aditya Birla Ultratech cement industry forced by the HR
team. The topmost position is the Unit Head under whom technical, HRD, Commercial, CPP,
and Mines authorized person works. Technical Head Pillar is further divided into subgroups
like Cement Plant, Power Plant, Quality Control, Raw material Handling, and Transmission
and Distribution (T & D cell).”
“The HRD broader pillar also transferred into the subordinates like HR & WCM, IR & Legal,
Security and ADM, Community Development, and Hospital. All the mentioned subgroup is
single handily by the Human Resources Development.”
“In the Commercial Pillar, 3 major department works in it which are Accounts & Finance
Department, Material Department and Information Technology.”
Fig. 07 – Management Hierarchy

“The above mentioned is the management Hierarchy at Aditya Birla Ultratech cement. On the
Top, the Chairman of the industry stays beneath them Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Financial Officer works. Vice President works under the guidance of the Chief Executive
Officer. The management hierarchy's chronological order is CEO – Vice President –
Assistant Vice President – General Manager – Senior Manager – Manager – Assistant
Manager.”
“Aditya Birla Ultratech cement received FIMI Award (Best in Environment) in 2015 and
before that company also won NCCBM Environmental Excellence Award in 2011.”

Fig. 08 – Mandatory pre-medical check-ups

“Above are the Premedical mandatory checks up for all the employees of Ultratech cement—
General Checking, Blood & Urine Examination, ECG, Chest X-Ray, Spirometry, and
Audiometry.” 
“Contractor workforce medical check-up is also mandatory without which entry is not
allowed.”

 
7. SUPPLY CHAIN

“After water, cement is the substance that is consumed the most globally. It is an essential
component of the vast majority of programmes we use on a daily basis. For instance, it is
necessary for the construction of buildings, power plants, and other civil infrastructure
projects. Cement is often made from a combination of limestone, sand, shell, clay, and iron.
A well-known example is regular Portland cement, which is the kind most frequently used
globally.”
“In the new century global demands on construction and infrastructure improvements;
growing awareness of the sustainable development and socially and ecologically motivated
regulations, limitation of resources, and growth in some cement markets and declines in
others forced the cement producers to scope on the supply and logistics chains. And
UltraTech follows the best supply chain technique to increase its supply chain surplus.”

Fig. 09 – UltraTech Cement Supply Chain

Suppliers
1. “Raw Material required in UltraTech Cement are mainly Limestone, Fly ash, Slag,
Laterite, Coal, Diesel and Pond Ash.
2. For smooth and continuous operation company requires MRO.
3. UltraTech has identified around 148 critical suppliers across all categories of
procurement (e.g., equipment, fuels, raw material, packaging etc.). These critical
supplier account for 75-80% of total procurement spent.
4. These important suppliers were evaluated, and remedial measures were recommended
to improve their sustainability performance. To inform suppliers of the changes and
the best ways to make our supply chain more effective and sustainable, we
periodically hold sustainable supply chain awareness events.”

Manufacturing
1. “Limestone is extracted from the earth and them crushed in the crusher
2. Crushed stone then sent to Stacker and then through the Reclaimer it is feed in Raw
Mill
3. In Raw Mill, Laterite and Lime stone are mixed in the required proportion and
grinded.
4. This material is sent to preheater where it heated at 700 ℃
5. Preheated Material is feed to Kiln where it is heated at 1400-1500 ℃.
6. This hot material is cooled by using cooling fans and then stored in Clinker Silo.
7. Through clinker silo, material (clinker) is feed to Cement Mill.
8. In Cement Mill clinker is crushed along with flu ash and slag
9. Mixing of fly ash and slag depends on the cement to be prepared
10. Output of Cement Mill is Cement, which is stored in Cement Silo.
11. And from Cement silo, cement is taken in packing plant where it is packed and loaded
in the truck and company also uses wagon tippler from rail transportation
12. Company has outsourced some activities like contractual labor, motor rewinding
work, heavy fabrication works etc.”

Distributors/Retailors
1. “Packed cement is sent to different warehouses through Rail and Road Transport
2. From warehouse it is sent to various distributors”

Customers
1. “Big customers like Government and big construction companies buys clinker which
is sent through bulker
2. Other customers buy cement from UltraTech wholesalers or retailors.”
 
Supply Chain analysis of UltraTech Cement
 
1. “The management procedures for coordinating total supply and total demand are
included in the plan. Using a plan, a course of action is created to meet the needs of
source, make, deliver, and return.This is done through alternative raw materials
utilization, Cement-Concrete chains integration, vertical transport integration and
information integration. UltraTech use SAP for enterprise resource planning.”
2. “The term "source" refers to a broad range of operations, from strategic duties like
locating and choosing supply sources to the execution of operational and tactical
tasks, that generate commodities to meet client demands. Risk management, contracts,
and negotiation are also sources. UltraTech Cement owns the quarries or get license
agreements with the government to exploit them.” 
3. “The term "make" refers to the procedures used to convert a product from a raw
material to a finished good. Make comprises procedures including testing, packaging,
inventory control, and job scheduling. The production of UltraTech Cement is a
highly automated, energy-intensive, continuous process. Production interruptions and
fluctuations are quite expensive. company eliminate stops while reducing logistics
costs. The method used by the company to produce cement is make-to-stock (MTS).
Production is carried out in accordance with a sales strategy so that finished goods can
be stored in warehouses while they wait for orders to be filled.”
4. “Delivery is an umbrella for the processes that provide finished goods to meet
planned or actual demand. Delivery typically includes order management,
transportation management, and distribution management. Cement is a heavy load
with low value-to-weight ratio. Company road transport for shorter distance and
railroad transport for longer distance, reducing the transportation cost per ton.
However, this may require high investment in an adequate infrastructure like
terminals and railroads. Cement hardens with water which also creates a challenge in
transportation. Cement is distributed in bulk or bags. Bulk distribution requires a
dedicated and expensive fleets and specialized equipment for unloading. Bags are
more flexible because they can be moved in normal trucks.”
5. “Return covers two types of processes, the return of raw materials to the supplier; the
return of finished goods from the customer; and disposing defective, excess or
hazardous products to the appropriate destination and ensuring adequate final
disposal”

 
8. INVENTORY
 
“An essential component of successfully managing a business is inventory management. This
is even more obvious in the case of production equipment maintenance inventories, which
have a direct impact on the effectiveness of production equipment. This is a common
inventory management difficulty that a cement producer encounters while trying to manage
its maintenance inventories effectively in light of the fact that some maintenance goods have
lead times that are unusually long (100 weeks) and have prices that are higher than R500 000.
A review of the cement manufacturer's maintenance inventory management strategy revealed
a number of flaws that have contributed to a high degree of obsolescence. Implementing a
classification of the inventory items based on their criticality to the cement production
process is one method for managing maintenance inventories effectively. A risk-based
approach and consideration of the sort of maintenance (planned vs. unplanned) that the
component is necessary for could be used to determine a component's criticality. The cement
producer's maintenance inventory management should be built on a risk-based strategy since
this will enable the manufacturer to make efficient use of other inventory management
techniques. Additionally, it's crucial to guarantee that staff members are knowledgeable about
the various inventory management strategies used and that high degrees of departmental
integration are pursued.”
“To solve the above mentioned issues UltraTech work in close collaboration with suppliers,
who play an important role in imparting strength to company’s supply chain and making it
more efficient. UltraTech has a Supplier Code of Conduct in place and all vendors need to
adhere to it. The vendors work with UltraTech are selected based on robust criteria to ensure
ethical and healthy work practices on their end. Company prioritize local vendors over others
to encourage responsible sourcing. They assess vendors based on issues such as Child Labor,
Among other things, forced and compulsory labour, environmental management,
occupational health and safety, working conditions, and legal compliances. Even when the
vendors are brought on board, there is ongoing monitoring and review.”
“They have developed a Sustainable Supply Chain Framework for working with suppliers
and to extend sustainability efforts and expectations to them. It defines the company's
mission, rules, and values. The framework outlines the actions that must be implemented to
guarantee sustainable procurement methods. They have also created a methodology for
engagement, evaluation, strengthening and disclosure of supplier's sustainability efforts.
UltraTech has developed a transparent and effective system thanks to the use of technology in
logistics and purchasing procedures. Priority is always given to local sourcing to support
regional economic development.”
“Based on the aforementioned criteria and considering all procurement categories, UltraTech
has identified approximately 148 key suppliers (e.g., equipment, fuels, raw material,
packaging etc.). 75-80% of all procurement expenses are spent with these essential suppliers.
These important suppliers were evaluated, and remedial measures were recommended to
improve their sustainability performance. To inform our suppliers of the modifications and
the best procedures to make our supply chain more effective and sustainable, we periodically
organise sustainable supply chain awareness seminars.”
“Inventory Turnover gauges how quickly a business sells through its stock over the course of
a year. It is computed by dividing the cost of products sold by the whole inventories.
UltraTech Cement's cost of goods sold for the three months ended in June 2021 was $197
Mil. UltraTech Cement's total inventories for the quarter that ended in Jun. 2021 was $552
Milllion UltraTech Cement's Inventory Turnover for the quarter that ended in June
2021 was 0.36.”
“Days Inventories indicates the number of days of goods in sales that a company has in the
inventory. UltraTech Cement's day’s inventory for the three months ended in June
2021 was 255.40.”
“Total inventories can be measured by Days Sales of Inventory (DSI). UltraTech Cement's
days sales of inventory (DSI) for the three months ended in Jun. 2021 was 31.32.
The ability of a corporation to control its inventory levels is determined by its inventory to
revenue ratio. It gauges the proportion of inventories that the business now has to cover its
current level of revenue. For the quarter which ended in June 2021, UltraTech Cement's
inventory to revenue ratio was 0.34.”

 
9. Maintenance
 
“Maintenance management involves formulating and implementing maintenance strategies. It
is an intrinsic function and usually varies from one manufacturing facility to another.
Maintenance management decision-making can be broken down into all three decision levels,
namely strategic, tactical, and operational. In the context of maintenance management, the
decisions levels pertaining to the Ultratech cement plant can be explained as below:”
1. “Strategic decisions involve equipment replacement decisions along with capacity
considerations, monitoring major technological changes 
2. Tactical decisions address the effective resource utilization and involve ensuring the
availability and reliability of production equipment and MRO spares as well as finding
optimal maintenance policies
3. Operational planning deals with day-to-day operational and scheduling decisions. This
involves prioritizing jobs and considering the availability of workers, spare parts, tools, and
the equipment to be maintained”
“The maintenance strategies adopted in the Ultratech Cement facilities are as discussed
below:
1. Predictive Maintenance: Predictive maintenance is a proactive maintenance strategy that
uses condition monitoring to detect various deterioration signs, abnormalities, and equipment
performance issues.
2. Preventive Maintenance: Preventive maintenance involves taking the necessary
precautions and actions to prevent accidents or equipment failures from occurring before they
happen. Preventive maintenance aims to stop equipment breakdown before it happens and
lower the risk of accidents.
3. Breakdown Maintenance: Breakdown maintenance is maintenance performed on a piece of
equipment that has broken down, faulted, or otherwise cannot be operated, usually carried out
to fix something that has malfunctioned
4. Shutdown Maintenance: Preventive and predictive maintenance checks are also scheduled
during planned shutdowns, which usually take place during the low-demand seasons and
during which all other equipment, excluding the Kiln, are non-operational”
 
“Maintenance practices such as thermography, alignment of conveyor belts and other
equipment, vibration analysis are also carried out periodically. Ultratech uses an SAP Plant
Maintenance module to generate the maintenance orders. It enables the employees to gain
insights extracted from past data and thus schedule predictive and preventive maintenance
checks. Any breakdown is followed by a Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) carried out
with the help of the why-why analysis tool in SAP.”

 
10. Scheduling

“The 11 integrated plants, 1 white cement plant, 12 grinding units, 5 terminals, 4 in India, and
1 in Sri Lanka make up Ultratech's production facilities. The capacity for producing high-
quality cement annually is 23.10 million tonnes, and production is rising yearly.”
“High-end tools like the X-ray analyzer and the Gamma Metrics Machine are used to assure
the quality of each product passing out of company. To cater to such huge capacities and
market demand scheduling is required to minimize the production time and costs and in order
to maximize the efficiency of the operation and the resources available.”
“Production planning and scheduling is done yearly as well as monthly on the basis of market
scenario and demand forecasting. Scheduling also depends upon the type of raw material
received. Purchase Department coordinates with the production department in order to know
the requirement of raw material.”
“The raw material requirement varies amongst facilities, the typical ones being limestone
from captive mine and other additives such as Iron Ore, Bauxite, High-grade limestone,
Gypsum and Fly ash procured from other sources.”
“Depending upon the quality of limestones and the analysis report from the laboratories,
production planning is further bifurcated into day wise and week wise targets. Buffer
inventory of raw materials is kept so as to run the production unhindered. Raw Mill and kiln
capacities are also taken in consideration.”
“Ultratech uses the IBM Cognos TM1 analytic tool for setting and displaying daily, monthly
and weekly production KPIs. TM1 generates reports, based on input about the monthly
targets and data fed from SAP, and enables the planning and scheduling function to
determine if the plant is currently exceeding capacity, or if a plant is performing under
capacity. When plants are operating poorly, the planning model raises warning signs,
allowing management to decide whether to add more shifts to those lines or move production
to another line.”

Core Competencies

High Production Capacity:

“Eleven integrated plants, one white cement plant, 12 grinding units, and five terminals, four
in India and one in Sri Lanka, make up the company's manufacturing facilities. The amount
of high-quality cement produced each year is increasing. The annual capacity of production is
23.10 million tonnes. The use of advanced equipment such as the Gamma Metrics Machine
and the X-ray Analyzer assures that each product leaving the company is of the highest
quality. There is a manufacturing facility that corresponds to worldwide quality and
performance requirements.”

Sustainable Practices:
“UltraTech's manufacturing facility is equipped with cutting-edge technology and imported
machinery. The Company's Koala unit is the only one in India with a desalination plant in
this sector. It is utilised to meet the plant's and colony's water requirements. The desalination
facility uses the waste gases from the chiller, making the product reusable and
environmentally benign, and therefore contributing to the environment.
The UltraTech cement greenbelt at the company's units is really amazing, and it is bordered
by trees on all sides. The corporation is making progress toward the skyline at times. The
company's CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives cover 127 villages nationwide that
are close to its factories.”

Logistics:
“Since UltraTech can deal with limestone tenders directly, the middleman has no impact on
the price. The company uses local transporters because they offer affordable transportation.
By doing so, the extra cost is decreased and cement becomes more affordable for the local
man.”

Distribution Channels:
“With more than 5,500 dealers and 30,000 retailers nationwide, UltraTech has a very
extensive distribution network. Thanks to its robust distribution channels, UltraTech is
currently beginning to establish a strong market position and is challenging its competitors
head-on.”

Quality:
“Each of the plants in UltraTech are ISO 14001 Environment Management System’s certified
sustain to OHSAS 18001 standards. The majority of the plants are certified to ISO 9001, ISO
14001, and OHSAS 18001 standards. Additionally, four factories have gained SA 8000
accreditation, and two plants have ISO 27001 certification. The company adopts clean
technologies and procedures that combine economic development and environmental
sustainability for improved performance.”

Shortcomings:

Waste Heat Recovery System

“UltraTech should focus more on waste heat recovery. Company’s competitor Shree Cement
Limited is generating 30MW from WHRS where UTCL is generating only 18-20MW. This
will increase the profit margin for the company and also a contribution for ISO 18000.”

Operators Recruitment
“UltraTech cement should focus on recruitment of more skilled operators. In many plants
expert operators are in the age of 45-58. And company is using more contractor’s manpower.
UTCL should hire permanent operators for skilled work and expertise. This would benefit the
company in the long run.”