[ Blog ]How Do You Calculate the ROI of Being Data Driven?
Cementing Profitability: Smarter Business with Performance Management
A Blog Series by Ramy Sedra
“Data-driven” has become one of the most overused buzzwords in business. But for ready-mix producers, it’s not about trend-chasing—it’s about operational survival and margin growth.
The real question is: What’s the business case?
What is the return on investment (ROI) of transforming from a reactive, siloed operation to one that is driven by insights, automation, and real-time decision-making?
Let’s break that down.
What Does Being Data Driven Actually Mean?
In the ready-mix concrete industry, being data driven means:- Making decisions based on facts and patterns, not gut feel
- Connecting financial, operational, and customer data into a single version of the truth
- Using AI to surface inefficiencies, risks, and opportunities in real time
- Enabling every team—from plant operators to executives—to act with clarity and confidence
Where Does the ROI Come From?
Let’s look at key value drivers that generate tangible ROI for data-driven producers:- Margin Recovery
By identifying margin leakage—through cost-to-serve analysis, pricing misalignment, and job-level performance—producers can recover 1–3% of EBITDA, according to benchmarks from Bain & Company.
- Operational Efficiency
AI-enabled dispatching, batching, and maintenance optimization can reduce waste and downtime by up to 20% in industrial environments, per McKinsey’s digital manufacturing report.
Source: McKinsey - The Smart Factory: A Future of Manufacturing Excellence - Customer Profitability Management
Understanding which customers are actually profitable (not just high-volume) allows producers to renegotiate contracts, reallocate resources, and prioritize high-margin segments. - Decision Velocity
Data-driven organizations are 5x more likely to make decisions faster than peers, per PwC. In a business where timing impacts everything—from delivery to production to pricing—this agility drives both top- and bottom-line results.
Source: PwC - Data-driven decision making - Labor Leverage
With experienced talent retiring and newer staff onboarding, data-driven systems help less experienced employees make expert-level decisions faster. This closes the productivity gap left by workforce turnover.
Putting Numbers to It: A Sample Scenario
Let’s say a mid-size producer pours 500,000 cubic meters annually, with average gross margins of 15%.If AI-enabled BPM tools can:
- Recover 1% of leaked margin → +$750,000/year
- Improve plant productivity by 10% → more throughput, fewer OT hours
- Reduce rework and QC issues by 20% → less waste, fewer warranty calls
- Enable smarter pricing → lift profitability on low-margin accounts
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How to Frame ROI Internally
When discussing the ROI of becoming data driven with colleagues, frame it as a shift:- From reporting cost to performance investment
- From intuition-driven firefighting to systematic improvement
- From partial visibility to total business awareness
Ask: “Can we afford not to know where we’re leaking profit?”
Further Reading:
To better quantify and communicate the value of data-driven transformation, I recommend: A seminal work on how data maturity drives competitive advantage.
Though focused on education, this book offers a clear, practical framework for embedding a data culture—transferable to industrial businesses.
Author's Note: This concludes the Cementing Profitability series. If these articles helped you reframe how performance can be managed in the ready-mix industry, I invite you to reach out or share your thoughts. The future of our industry will be shaped not just by concrete—but by the data that drives it.
At C60, we offer a solution to these challenges and more. The C60 Opportunity Platform provides a holistic understanding of a company's operations, presenting actionable insights for decision-making. With our software, producers can identify opportunities in dollar terms and make data-driven decisions. Contact us today! Email sales@c60.ai or call +1 (760) 219-8718 or 1 (514) 909-9231.
