customer management are often not adequately factored into prices. The volume-based bidding approach exposes producers to unprofitable clients, impacting overall profitability. Efficient pricing should take into account the unique needs and risks each client presents. To do this, implement tools to track service costs for individual customers and market segments.

Reason 2: Poor Truck Utilization

Logistics costs, particularly those related to fleet management, can significantly dent profits. For example, maintaining extra trucks for peak delivery times may not be cost-effective unless those peak times correspond with the most profitable clients. Over-dependence on surge trucks and low truck usage rates are common signs of poor truck utilization. Enhancing fleet tracking and management to optimize your assets can help reduce unnecessary costs.

Reason 3: Suboptimal Mix Designs and Recipes

A key area of potential profit leakage and liability lies in poor mix management. A lack of technical understanding on how to manage and improve concrete can lead to over-design and higher cement content than required, thereby increasing costs and environmental impact. Additionally, as the industry faces more stringent carbon regulations, producers must identify opportunities to lower emissions. Enhancing mix accuracy while reducing cement content is key to achieving environmental goals. Producers also need to optimize their material usage, especially cement, to cut costs.

Reason 4: Inconsistent Production Processes

Consistency is vital to ensuring accurate production of high-quality concrete. When there is limited visibility across value chains, inefficiencies within plants—i.e., batch panel settings, mechanical consistency and material waste—may go unnoticed. Implement an effective monitoring system that provides the necessary insights to your team so they can make informed decisions to improve production processes and minimize costly errors.

Reason 5: Unfavorable Contracts

Some contracts and purchase orders can be onerous, with terms that place unnecessary liability on the supplier, locking producers into high-cost, high-risk jobs. Ensure adequate controls are in place to identify, negotiate and mitigate unfavorable terms and avoid unprofitable jobs.

Follow the Data

Overcoming the common challenges that producers face requires a data-driven approach. Using cloud-based systems and technology tools, producers can tap into real-time data from telematics, sensors, batching panels and more to uncover the metrics necessary to make informed and timely decisions. These concrete technology tools help achieve a 360-degreee view of operations, leading to more efficiency and profitability.

In the end, the path to profitability is within reach. By focusing on data-driven decision-making, efficient pricing, optimized logistics and better contract negotiation, producers can navigate the challenges and build a more profitable future. To learn more, read C60’s White Paper, The roaring 20s: A mix of opportunities and risks for RMC producers.

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 (312) 404-3438.