Technology and Innovation

INNOVATION

Digital Transformation

Akçansa addresses its digital transformation approach, including digitalization, optimization, and new business model transformations. Transformation initiatives have been designed on the basis of operational excellence, customer loyalty, and product excellence in a data-driven, continuous development approach. In 2021, projects were implemented through three main initiatives.

TRANSFORMATION

TRANSFORMATION

Life Cycle

It aims to ensure the continuity of operations thanks to the updated digital infrastructure. The initiative ensures that all production-related IT/OT systems and process automation systems remain serviceable throughout their entire service life with best industry practices.

Autonomous Production

It assists engineers and operators in their decision-making processes through the use of advanced process controllers and advanced data analytics methods. Its goal is to reduce dependence on staff so that all critical decisions are made systematically, and human error is reduced.

Digitalization of Operations

It aims to move the main daily activities to the digital environment. This initiative makes use of various platforms to connect people, processes, and objects. At first, activities are digitized, then modernized through a continuous improvement approach.

Projects

The Environmental Reporting project has been implemented on the officially monitored online emission monitoring system. Through this7, waste gas stacks connected to 3 facilities are monitored 24/7 for compliance with 4 different regulations, 6 conditions, and 10 parameters. Environmental engineers monitor legal compliance with a lengthy manual assessment once a month. With the automation of the reporting process of the project, the compliance status can be monitored live, and forecasts can be made according to production plans. With this project, 240 engineering hours were saved, and support was transferred to different processes.

The Quality Application transferred the quality processes carried out manually in all cement plants and the data in an Excel environment to a single application platform. All critical quality analyzer data is now automatically transferred to the system. The system records quality data, targets, and limits, plans quality analyses, and reports the results via the web platform or e-mails with a self-service report designer. The application has been moved into the operational phase and is still in a continuous development cycle.

2021 statistics:
240,000 Samples,
370,000 Analyses,
110 Active Users,
10 Quality Device Connections,
460 User Feedback

The Shift Book Application is a recording system for blue-collar employees, which was designed due to insufficient transfer of important events and information between shifts. The system enables inter-shift communication and retrospective recording of incidents.

2021 statistics:
50,000 registrations,
22 teams,
180 users

The Pit Application aims to digitalize the pit operations of the Çanakkale Plant better to align raw material homogenization activities with quality targets. The aim is to minimize quality deviation before the raw material milling by means of continuous automated quality management. Features of this solution include quarry blasting and delivery plan creation, live truck delivery monitoring, online quality analyzer monitoring, and a KPI reporting system.

2021 statistics:
330 Quarry Explosions,
86,000 shipments,
7.4% improvement in key quality targets

The Visit Log Application is an internal company platform where Cement and RMC sales representatives record customer interactions and visits. This system ensures coordination between sales and technical support teams and maintains customer history.

Quality, Shift Book, January, Visit Book applications are applications developed by Akçansa employees. Design Thinking and DevOps methodologies were used in the product development approach. These applications cover a variety of use cases and offer an expandable digital platform for continuous development.