Ludwig concrete moisture control systems
German company Ludwig Moisture Control along with its Indian partner Instrumentation & Controls showcased its concrete moisture control systems. On display was its state-of-the-art Ludwig FL-Mobimic Profi Check, a hand-held mobile moisture metering unit with features that included WiFi connectivity and Bluetooth for onsite application.
The measuring unit evaluates the temperature and moisture of bulk materials of all kinds. It is very user-friendly due to its ease of operation and integration of wireless technology or USB connection to PC/Laptop. It has application in almost every process situation, and allows convenient evaluation, quality control and monitoring during every phase of processing - from the condition of materials to be processed to the finished product.
The company is considered a market leader in moisture control systems for concrete, sand and crusher sand. In addition to the concrete and precast industry, its systems have applications in many other materials with a worldwide distributorship. The quality control system enabled with automation ensures accuracy in the material thereby increasing the quality of the finished product. Local pre-cast concrete manufacturers and concrete ready-mix supply and delivery companies can ensure that their concrete is produced to the highest standards of quality, by using the company's advanced wireless moisture measurement technology.
"We are involved in developing, producing and selling these systems. We provide consultancy on our systems, and assistance in application, installation and start-up. However, currently, there is a dire need to educate the industry about our systems in India. And we are hopeful that our solutions will find acceptance as there is increasing awareness and focus on quality in the Indian CE industry," says Manfred Ludwig, Managing Director, Ludwig.
According to him, a major challenge in moisture control is the fact that end-users are often unaware of the exact amount of water content in the aggregates. "Accurately controlling the water and moisture content ultimately ensures energy savings, increased productivity and an improvement in the quality of concrete products," he adds.
The company's Indian partner, Mumbai-based Instrumentation & Controls, has been active across India for 5 years. "We are Ludwig's sole distributor in India and their technical partner too," informs Harit N. Trivedi. "We are doing direct dealing as the system is very intense technically. We have been working in close collaboration with Ludwig over the years, and we educate, promote, guide, and train our customers with the latest product training, besides extending after-sales and technical support to them."
"We are targeting OEMs of concrete batching plants and their end-users, especially those who are into retrofitting an existing plant. Once the OEMs that are looking to upgrade their systems indicate the features they are looking for, we can supply the desired level of automation to them," he adds.
Though Ludwig moisture control solutions have received a lot of interest, the challenge is the additional cost involved for the buyer, which Trivedi feels is a small price to pay for the assured accuracy that the OEM/end-user would get in the end product. "There is a lot of interest and this is bound to translate into increased demand as the infrastructure sector is on the growth path. The industry is becoming more conscious of quality so OEMs looking to offer quality machines will need sophisticated systems such as ours," he says.
Although the FL-Mobimic Profi Check is a niche product, both Ludwig and Trivedi are confident that the product will find acceptance in India as there is continuous expansion of the concrete pre-cast and ready-mix industry. According to them, expansion of these industries has prompted an increased demand for better quality concrete and greater control during concrete manufacturing as well as delivery in the ready-mix sector.