The modern cement industry is facing growing challenges related to increasing quality requirements, cost pressure, and the need to optimise production processes. In the era of digitalisation and automation, solutions enabling continuous monitoring, analysis and management of key production stages – from raw material extraction to finished cement – are becoming increasingly important.

One of the most critical areas where technological innovation brings tangible benefits is the quality control of raw materials extracted from marl and limestone deposits. Their parameters directly affect the stability of the raw meal composition, the efficiency of the clinker burning process, and overall energy consumption across the plant.

In response to these challenges, innovative solutions such as the TMS platform are being implemented. TMS integrates logistics, production and quality data, providing full transparency of material flow – from the quarry through homogenisation and preparation for kiln feeding.

Raw Material Characteristics and Composition Variability

Cement plants are typically located directly at raw material deposits. This enables the creation of integrated industrial complexes where the quarry and the production plant operate as a single technological organism. Such an arrangement ensures continuous access to marl, clay and limestone while minimising transport costs and material losses.

Marl is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of calcium carbonates (CaCO₃) and clay minerals. However, its natural structure varies depending on the geological conditions of a given deposit. These variations affect the content of key oxides – CaO, SiO₂, Al₂O₃ and Fe₂O₃ – which determine clinker properties and, ultimately, the quality of the produced cement.

Differences between individual sections of a deposit can be significant, even within a single quarry. Marl extracted from different depths of the same open pit may exhibit varying chemical compositions. Therefore, maintaining a stable raw material blend requires continuous control and precise information about the origin of the material.

Logistics Process and the Importance of Control

In quarries supplying cement plants, material is extracted from multiple mining sectors. These sectors differ in their operational parameters. Excavators load the raw material onto dump trucks, which transport it to the feed hopper, where initial blending takes place, followed by crushing and screening.

Cement plants use X-ray analysers (XRF or PGNAA) to measure the content of main oxides in real time. These systems provide precise chemical data, but they focus on already blended material and do not indicate which part of the deposit is responsible for a given result.

Without information about the logistics context of material flow, it is difficult to correlate quality changes with specific extraction locations or to identify which operational activities require adjustment.

Integrating TMS with Quality Analysis – A New Dimension of Data

TTMS fills this gap by providing precise and synchronised data on raw material movement in the quarry. TMS units installed on excavators and dump trucks record detailed information including:

• loading location,
• start and end time of transport cycles,
• transported material quantity,
• operator and equipment identification.

This information is then combined with data from quality analysers, creating a complete picture of material flow – from extraction location, through loading and transport, to chemical analysis. As a result, chemical parameters can be clearly assigned to specific deposit sectors, enabling better control of how individual material sources affect the final raw meal composition.

TMS as a “Laboratory in Motion”

In the traditional model, quality control relies on laboratory test results, which take time and do not always allow for immediate reaction. TMS changes this approach by enabling real-time tracking of material and early detection of quality deviations already at the raw material extraction stage.

This makes it possible to:

• quickly identify the origin of material with undesirable parameters,
• adjust loading proportions during an ongoing shift,
• effectively stabilise the raw mix supplied to cement production.

Combined with chemical analysers, TMS becomes a tool that enables near-immediate response to changes in raw material composition.

Practical Benefits for Quarries and Cement Plants

From an operational perspective, the TMS system provides essential support for quarry management by delivering information necessary for day-to-day process control. It enables, among others:

• monitoring the number of transport cycles from individual mining areas,
• tracking changes in chemical composition in real time,
• analysing machine utilisation and haul road efficiency.

Advanced analytics support both operational cost optimisation and improved stability of the raw material supplied to the cement kiln. With TMS, logistics, quality and production become components of a single, coherent management data system.

The Role of TMS in Cement Industry Digitalisation

The implementation of TMS solutions aligns with global Industry 4.0 and 5.0 trends, where data integration, automation and real-time analytics play a key role. For cement plants, this means moving away from reactive quality control towards a predictive model supported by quarry data and chemical analysis.

The TMS system:

• increases process transparency,
• facilitates compliance with ISO standards and quality procedures,
• supports audits and raw material traceability documentation,
• provides a foundation for integration with ERP, MES and SCADA systems.

As a result, TMS becomes the link between raw material extraction and cement production processes within a unified information management system.

TMS as the Key to Quality and Efficiency in Cement Plants

A modern limestone and marl quarry is an integral part of the cement production process. TMS ensures process consistency by delivering data on material origin, flow and quality.

The integration of TMS with raw material composition analysers enables stabilisation of raw meal parameters, efficient resource utilisation and rapid response to production deviations. The system supports both quality control and operational optimisation, ensuring process repeatability and effective cement production management.

TMS is a clear example of how transport technology, data analytics and automation can work together to create a new standard in quarry and cement plant management – a standard based on knowledge, precision and full digital control of processes.