- Holcim invested in UK-based Cloud Cycle to integrate real-time machine learning into concrete delivery operations, the company said.
- The technology uses in-truck sensors and artificial intelligence to optimize concrete quality and mix control during transit, Holcim stated.
- The investment aims to extend quality monitoring to delivery sites, reduce returned concrete, and support low-carbon solutions, according to Holcim.
ZUG, Switzerland — Holcim has invested in Cloud Cycle, a UK-based technology company. The investment aims to transform ready-mix concrete operations into a real-time, data-driven system. This system will scale for quality management across the concrete value chain.
Holcim said in an emailed press release today that Cloud Cycle, founded in 2019, combines in-truck sensors, edge computing, and machine learning. This technology continuously optimizes concrete quality and mix control during transit and for delivery.
Technology Integration
Cloud Cycle enables Holcim to extend quality monitoring from the plant to the delivery site. This end-to-end quality control reduces the amount of returned concrete. It also helps improve Holcim’s mixes with circular and low-carbon concrete solutions, including ECOCycle. The technology is already deployed on more than 150 Holcim concrete mixer trucks in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Switzerland.
Strategic Impact
The investment will accelerate the rollout of the solution across Holcim’s global fleet. It complements Holcim’s AI-powered solutions such as Q-Predict, a real-time cement property prediction tool. Ram Muthu, Head of Operational Excellence at Holcim, stated that every truck generates data to optimize concrete quality and operations. He added that Cloud Cycle captures this data at scale and in real time. This creates multiple quality checkpoints across the value chain. It helps improve deliveries and advance Holcim’s decarbonization roadmap.
Broader Digital Strategy
This investment adds to Holcim’s portfolio of digital and decarbonization technologies. It is part of the company’s open innovation ecosystem. Holcim has made 21 investments through Holcim MAQER Ventures, its corporate venture capital unit. The company works to scale groundbreaking technologies for the built environment.