In the cement industry, where demand growth is increasingly shifting toward emerging economies and expanding urban areas, time-to-market has become one of the most critical success factors for cement manufacturers and suppliers. Established companies and new market entrants alike are pursuing additional market share by investing in new cement grinding plants and cement terminals. In these growing markets, bagged cement remains the preferred option for rapid market penetration.
Compact, cost-effective, and quickly available, while delivering outstanding performance in both throughput and weighing accuracy, the Smart Plant from HAVER & BOECKER addresses a highly attractive and market-driven trend within the cement industry. Since March 2021, the “small” complete filling and packaging system for bagged cement at the OPTERRA Zement GmbH plant in Karsdorf has been demonstrating its significant advantages in daily operation.
With an annual production capacity of 1.6 million tons of cement and approximately 240 employees, the OPTERRA plant, located around 70 kilometers southwest of Leipzig, is among the largest cement plants in Germany. Planning for the modernization of the packaging facility began with a specific inquiry to HAVER & BOECKER. After more than 20 years of operation, maintenance requirements for the existing packer had become increasingly demanding.
During the development of a modern replacement for the aging packing system, further optimization opportunities were identified.
“Once it became clear that replacing the belt check weigher and several other system components would significantly improve overall performance, our customer increasingly favored the idea of relocating the entire plant closer to the palletizing hall,”
explains Markus Horstkötter, Area Sales Manager Cement at HAVER & BOECKER.
One of the key challenges of the project was the extremely limited space available on site. The footprint provided was insufficient for a conventional filling and packaging plant. In addition, the existing bucket elevator restricted the maximum height of the new installation.
The innovative Smart Plant ultimately provided the ideal solution. Its compact, space-saving layout not only fit seamlessly into the available area but also met all additional project requirements.
“The standardized, preconfigured Smart Plant concept makes it particularly economical to manufacture and operate. Such a system is available quickly and can be installed in a very short time. At the same time, its modular design offers exceptional flexibility,”
explains Markus Horstkötter.
In terms of production efficiency and product quality, the compact installation at the OPTERRA Karsdorf plant fully delivers the high standards traditionally associated with HAVER & BOECKER solutions.
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