Ready-mix concrete is a type of concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 that is manufactured in a factory or batching plant, according to a set recipe, and then delivered to a work site, by truck mounted transit mixers . This results in a precise mixture, allowing specialty concrete mixtures to be developed and implemented on construction sites. The first ready-mix factory was built in the 1930s, but the industry did not begin to expand significantly until the 1960s, and it has continued to grow since then.

Ready-mix concrete is sometimes preferred over on-site concrete mixing because of the precision of the mixture and reduced work site confusion. However, using a pre-determined concrete mixture reduces flexibility, both in the supply chain

Supply chain

A supply chain is a system of organizations, people, technology, activities, information and resources involved in moving a product or service from supplier to customer. Supply chain activities transform natural resources, raw materials and components into a finished product that is delivered to...

 and in the actual components of the concrete.

The leading ready-mix concrete supplier worldwide is the Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 concrete company Cemex

Cemex

CEMEX is the world's largest building materials supplier and third largest cement producer. Founded in Mexico in 1906, the company is based in Monterrey, Mexico...

; its main competitor is France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

-based Lafarge

Lafarge

Lafarge is a French industrial company specialising in four major products: cement, construction aggregates, concrete and gypsum wallboard. In 2010 the company was the world's second-largest cement manufacturer by mass shipped behind Holcim.-History:...

and the leading ready-mix concrete supplier in Middle East is the Unibeton Ready Mix.

Ready Mixed Concrete is also referred as the customized concrete products for commercial purpose. the Ready-mix Concrete Company offer different concrete according to user's mix design or industrial standard.

The Ready mixed concrete company is required to equip themselves with up-to-date equipments, such as transit mixer, concrete pump, and Concrete Batching Plant, which needs visualized production management software and also PLC controller.

Ready Mixed Concrete, or RMC as it is popularly called, refers to concrete that is specifically manufactured for delivery to the customer's construction site in a freshly mixed and plastic or unhardened state. Concrete itself is a mixture of Portland cement, water and aggregates comprising sand and gravel or crushed stone. In traditional work sites, each of these materials is procured separately and mixed in specified proportions at site to make concrete. Ready Mixed Concrete is bought and sold by volume - usually expressed in cubic meters. RMC can be custom-made to suit different applications.

Ready Mixed Concrete is manufactured under computer-controlled operations and transported and placed at site using sophisticated equipment and methods. RMC assures its customers numerous benefits.

Standard Ready mix Concrete -VS- Site mix Concrete

• A centralized concrete batching plant can serve a wide area. Sight Mix trucks can serve a larger area including remote locations that standard trucks can not.
• The plants are located in areas zoned for industrial use, and yet the delivery trucks can service residential districts or inner cities. Site Mix trucks have the same capabilities.
• Better quality concrete is produced. NOT True. Sight Mix can produce higher compression strength with less water then standard batching methods.
• Elimination of storage space for basic materials at site. Standard Batch plant need more room for there operation then Site Mix trucks.
• Elimination of procurement / hiring of plant and machinery
• Wastage of basic materials is avoided. With a Site Mix truck there is less waste and wash out. This is better for the environment.
• Labor associated with production of concrete is eliminated. It takes more people to operate a standard batch plant then a Mobile Mix truck.
• Time required is greatly reduced. Not True. 1 Mobile mix truck can produce 8 yards of concrete in 8 minutes. It can also operate continuously with out needing to be moved away from the pump truck. 1 Mobile mix truck can produce 460 yards of concrete in an 8 hour shift. Where standard trucks must stop and move off the pump to bring in the next truck. So to deliver the same amount of concrete it will take nearly 3 more hours with a standard truck. This will increase labor cost.

Disadvantages of Ready-Mix Concrete

• The materials are batched at a central plant, and the mixing begins at that plant, so the traveling time from the plant to the site is critical over longer distances. Some sites are just too far away, though this is usually a commercial rather than technical issue.
• Generation of additional road traffic; furthermore, access roads, and site access have to be able to carry the weight of the truck and load. Concrete is approx. 2.5tonne per m³. This problem can be overcome by utilizing so-called 'minimix' companies, using smaller 4m³ capacity mixers able to access more restricted sites.
• Concrete's limited timespan between mixing and going-off means that readymix should be placed within 120 minutes of batching at the plant. Modern additives modify precisely that timespan however, the amount of additive added to the mix is very important.