Industry 4.0 – Digital Solutions

Pioneering Cement's
Digital
Transformation

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Earth with leaves symbolising the enviromental footprint

Lower environmental impact

Quality improvements

Increased uptime

Greater productivity

Energy efficiency

Introduction

From Data to
Decisions

Digital tools. Data-led decisions. Sustainable productivity. Industry 4.0 presents an incredible opportunity to power-up your productivity while reducing your environmental impact. With the right digital solutions, you can optimise machine performance, reduce energy consumption, and avoid unexpected downtime. It’s smart. It’s sustainable. And it's available. But yet, very few producers are reaping the full benefits. Why??

It is not easy to roll out Industry 4.0 unless a plant has implemented 3.0 in a way that provides a solid foundation. Successful digital adoption requires more than just technology. Challenges include ensuring data quality at scale, establishing secure plant-to-cloud connectivity, overcoming vendor lock-ins and, more generally, organizational readiness.

That's where FLSmidth Cement excels. With over five decades of automation expertise, we have the complete digital solution ecosystem and the experience to help you navigate the best path forward for your plant.

Digital TRANsformation

Digital Complexity

Control

Why is it that so many plants are lagging on the adoption of smart technologies given the benefits of Industry 4.0 solutions? That’s why: most plants struggle with complex (and fragmented) data systems, inadequate cybersecurity, proprietary technology limitations, and the right prioritization. Seamless digital integration needs sophisticated solutions that address both operational and information technology domains simultaneously.

Digital transformation for FLSmidth Cement means establishing structured, high-resolution data foundations with proper metadata management, secure bidirectional connectivity for cloud-based AI algorithms, and open standards that eliminate vendor lock-in while enabling continuous innovation and control.

It also means offering subscription-based service models that keep your systems continuously updated—whether you’re implementing basic process control or advancing toward plant-wide AI optimization with self-adaptive controllers.

Whatever your digital maturity level, we’re enabling your transformation journey, ensuring that from sensor data to strategic decisions, every aspect of your digital infrastructure operates seamlessly and delivers sustained competitive advantage.

Immature Technology

Matured solutions with quantifiable results

Cyber Security

Multi-layered protection & expert cybersecurity

Data is not usable at scale

End-to-end solution & structured real time data

Change Management

Strategic transformation with continuous support

Complete suite of Automation Solutions

Process Optimisation

Reach and retain peak productivity from your plant

Our ECS/ProcessExpert (PXP) delivers breakthrough performance through a self-adaptive controller that continuously learns and optimizes your process dynamics. The result? Up to 7% increase in production, up to 7% reduction in fuel/energy consumption, and up to 2% reduction in CO2 emissions.

Our intelligent solution handles complex process scenarios with a single adaptive engine, delivering unparalleled process stability, optimized productivity, and more effective management of disruption. This is the next-generation of advanced process control designed specifically for the cement industry by cement process experts.

Process control

Intelligent Plant Control Systems for Industry 4.0 Automation

ECS/ControlCenter is the digital heart of your cement plant—an advanced, reliable, adaptable automation platform that controls everything from machinery to full processes. Hardware agnostic with state-of-the-art cybersecurity, it ensures equipment runs consistently at optimal conditions while reducing operator error and minimizing unplanned downtime.

Built on cement-specific ACESYS libraries, the system features a full data historian with real-time diagnostics that provides reliable data infrastructure essential for AI-driven optimization. This proven digital foundation powers Industry 4.0 capabilities while bringing expert support directly to your control room.

Gas analysis

Comprehensive Gas Analysis for Environmental Compliance

Gas analysis data powers intelligent process control and emissions management across your cement operation. Our advanced gas analyzers deliver precise oxygen, CO₂, and emission measurements that feed directly into optimization algorithms, enabling real-time process adjustments and alternative fuel maximization.

Essential for soft sensor development and algorithm verification, our monitoring solutions ensure stable flue gas composition—crucial for carbon capture readiness and environmental compliance. Gas analysis provides the continuous data enhancement necessary for achieving energy efficiency targets, emission reductions, and sustainable production goals.

Sampling, preparation & analysis

Quality Control Systems for Sustainable Cement Production

Our suite of QCX® Solutions span automated sampling, laboratory robotics, and intelligent blend control. Our integrated LIMS platform captures critical metadata for AI algorithm training, enabling clinker factor reduction and sustainable cement formulations with calcined clay and alternative materials.

From QCX®/AutoSampling through QCX®/RoboLab to advanced XRD analysis, our solutions bridge manual and automated operations. This quality intelligence foundation empowers predictive algorithms while achieving environmental targets without compromising operational excellence.

Advanced Sensors

Scanner, Gas and Online Analysis

Solution Portfolio

Intelligent digital solutions

for
operational excellence.

Our digital solutions are designed to work together seamlessly for full-flowsheet optimisation, creating a unified ecosystem of data-driven intelligence. While each technology delivers measurable performance gains independently, the transformative value emerges when AI-powered process control, real-time condition monitoring, cloud-based analytics, and our experts work together. That's why we work closely with customers to understand how and in what combination out digital solutions can deliver the best results for them.

Sampling (8)

PXP Application (8)

Click on any stage in the graphic below to discover the technologies we offer for dosing, storage, and more.

1 | Waste Sourcing

Waste sourcing sampling verifies chemical and physical properties of alternative fuels/raw materials before acceptance. QCX/AutoSampling™ and Material Testing Services ensure quality data, supporting sustainable sourcing and reducing environmental risks.

Quality verification enables up to 10% higher alternative fuel use downstream by providing precise material characterization data that informs pyro process optimization strategies.

2 | Waste Preparation

Waste preparation sampling checks grindability and reactivity post-processing. QCX/RoboLab® automates analysis, ensuring prepared materials meet specifications for efficient pyro integration and lower emissions.

Automated preparation systems optimize shredding, sorting, and sizing operations, delivering enhanced material quality and reduced energy consumption while ensuring consistent alternative fuel specifications.

3 | Material Handling and Storage

Material storage sampling monitors quality evolution during extended storage periods. QCX/AutoSampling™ tracks chemistry changes while OCMS provides condition monitoring for conveyors, reclaimers, and storage equipment.

PXP raw mill grinding module optimizes mill operations, leveraging stable, well-homogenized feed from stockpile management to maximize grinding efficiency and ensure optimal raw meal quality for the kiln.

4 | Dosing

Post-dosing raw mix sampling confirms blend ratios and proportioning accuracy. QCX/AutoSampling™ and BlendExpert™ with CUBE X10 provide real-time verification, enabling precise dosing for optimal raw mix composition.

BlendExpert™ optimizes dosing while PXP integrates upstream data for downstream control, supporting energy savings and emissions reduction through accurate material feed management.

5 | Pyro Processing

Hot meal, clinker, and gas sampling monitor calcination efficiency and fuel quality. QCX/AutoSampling™ with KilnLoq and RoboLab® deliver precise data, enabling higher alternative fuel substitution and carbon capture readiness.

PXP v9.1 self-adaptive controls optimize kiln/calciner operations, delivering production and energy improvements, increased green fuel utilization, and enhanced stability for sustainable pyro operations.

6 | Clinker Cooler

Cooled clinker sampling verifies final quality and cooling efficiency. QCX/AutoSampling™ PSC series delivers accurate thermal and chemical data, enabling heat recovery optimization and reduced energy loss.

PXP cooler control integrates with kiln operations for optimal airflow management, improving clinker quality consistency and extending equipment life through stable thermal profiles.

7 | Process and Quality Control

Cement grinding, silo blending, and dispatch sampling verify final product specifications. QCX/AutoSampling™ with BlendExpert™ and RoboLab® automate XRF/XRD analysis, ensuring cement quality and optimal additive proportioning.

PXP grinding optimization boosts mill throughput while reducing quality variation by 40%, and BlendExpert™ manages final cement blending with gypsum and additives for consistent, specification-compliant production.

8 | Cloud & Remote

Enterprise-wide sampling data aggregation with structured metadata enables AI-ready quality intelligence. QCX/Manager LIMS provides multi-plant quality tracking and automated sustainability reporting across operations.

PXP Insights cloud platform benchmarks performance across sites, quantifies CO₂ savings enterprise-wide, and delivers 24/7 remote optimization support, achieving up to 15% efficiency gains through expert intervention.

1 | Waste Sourcing

Quality verification enables up to 10% higher alternative fuel use downstream by providing precise material characterization data that informs pyro process optimization strategies.

2 | Waste Preparation

3 | Material Handling and Storage

4 | Dosing

BlendExpert™ optimizes dosing while PXP integrates upstream data for downstream control, supporting energy savings and emissions reduction through accurate material feed management.

5 | Pyro Processing

6 | Clinker Cooler

PXP cooler control integrates with kiln operations for optimal airflow management, improving clinker quality consistency and extending equipment life through stable thermal profiles.

7 | Process and Quality Control

8 | Cloud & Remote

Service Based Innovation

From Traditional to
Transformational

In today’s fast-moving industry environment, owning static software is no longer enough. With increasing pressure to optimise production, reduce downtime and adopt innovation faster, cement producers need solutions that evolve with their operations — not fall behind them. That’s why we’ve moved from one-time software licenses to ongoing, service-based agreements.

Rather than purchasing software as a fixed asset, you now gain access to an always-current optimisation service. This includes the software itself, but also remote monitoring, continuous updates, cybersecurity, lifecycle support and expert assistance — all designed to keep your plant performing at its best, every day.

Through PlantLine™ Service Agreements, we turn traditional ownership into continuous performance. Software becomes part of a proactive, connected service model that ensures technology stays aligned with plant needs — and never becomes a bottleneck. It’s not just a shift in licensing. It’s a smarter way to deliver value.

Webinar

Accelerate digtal transformation with proven automation solutions

The future of cement production is digital – and it’s available today. With our proven automation technologies, comprehensive digital services, and global expertise, you can unlock competitive advantages in productivity, sustainability, and cost savings. Don’t wait for tomorrow’s challenges. Start your digital maturity assessment now and discover how our Industry 4.0 solutions can transform your operations.

FLSmidth Institute

Build your automation
expertise

Digital performance starts with the right skills. The FLSmidth Institute offers a dedicated portfolio of automation training – from control systems and process optimization to data-driven decision-making.

Our courses are designed to meet you where you are: online, on-site or at one of our training centres. Whether you’re a control room operator or a process engineer, you’ll benefit from practical insights, hands-on sessions, and direct access to FLSmidth experts.