Calculating economics of lab automation Financial benefits of automated quality control
![6 (A) Correlation of reduced kiln stops and clinker production (redrawn from [5]) (B) Modelled lost clinker volume/year](/uploads/images/2014/w300_h156_x152_y78_101542721_f7f77810e1.jpg)
This paper* describes a concept to translate quality parameters into financial benefit. Estimates based on variable cost savings and additional income indicate payback times less than two years. The concept can be used to evaluate CAPEX and return of investment of lab automation systems.
1 Introduction
Automated laboratory automation systems assure quality control at the highest possible consistency of process and product. Automated systems reduce human error and improve frequency, repeatability, and accuracy of the analyses [1]. The investment in lab automation is important when cement producers change from 24/7 lab personnel to day shift only. Continuous chemical, mineralogical and physical data acquisition is crucial to define incremental changes of the current composition relative to a target value (setpoint) [1, 2, 3, 6]. The task of cement suppliers is compliance of the...
