RMC: QUALITY ASSURANCE

QA/QC Aspects of Ready Mix Concrete,

A Closer Look
V.R. Kowshika
Director Marketing&Technical, ECMAS Construction Chemicals Pvt Ltd.

O
ne of the talking points about the
Indian construction industry in the
recent past has been the steady
growth in the consumption of ready mix
concrete (RMC). While this is a heartening
trend, QA/QC concerns in RMC plants
remain an area of concern. We are talking
of advances in concrete including latest
advances like Ultra High Performance
Concrete (UHPC) where as in reality we
are still not practicing the basic QA/QC
steps in many ready mix plants. QA/QC
systems form a strong foundation for any
company to give right quality product as
per the required performance parame-
ters. This article is an attempt to throw
some light on these aspects.
3 Key Areas
It is very important to know the three
differentareasofQA/QCinareadymixplant.
A. Forward control
Forward control and consequent cor-
rective action are essential aspects of Picture1. Weighing scale to weigh both inward and outward materials
quality control. This is set of all QA/QC
activities which are done prior to produc- B. Immediate Control allow for observed, reported changes
tion of concrete. in materials or concrete qualities
Immediate control is concerned with
Some of the examples are as given below - Inspection at delivery point by techni-
instant action to control the quality of the
cian or any company rep and adjust-
- Proper Materials storage concrete being produced or that of deliv-
ments to the workability within com-
- Prevention of contamination eries closely following. It includes the pro-
pany policy.
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- Reliable transfer and feed systems
- Drainage of aggregates
- Monitoring of qualities of materials
- Visual checks-acceptance/rejection,
sampling, testing, certification by sup-
pliers information from suppliers.
- Modification of mix designs
- Proper plant and machinery mainte-
nance consisting of,
- Controlled flow
- Calibrated weigh scales
- Calibrated admixture dispensers
- Plant and truck mixers
- Blade condition
- Mixer power
- Maintenance of all plant and machin-
176
duction control and product control. In
other words, immediate control is a set of C. Retrospective Control
all activities done just during production
Retrospective Control is concerned
and immediately after that.
with those factors that influence the con-
trol of concrete quality that cannot be
Some of the examples of immediate con-
assessed at the time of production. Gen-
trol are as follows
erally this means set of all AC activities
- Correct batching
that are done after production of con-
- Visual observation of concrete sam-
crete, observations, etc, which may help
ple during production and/or delivery
to assess the quality of supplied concrete
or during sampling /testing in fresh
or improve the quality of the product in the
state.
future. Some of the examples include:-
- Moisture content control/usage of moi-
sture probes or other means espe- - Sampling of concrete, testing, moni-
cially for fine aggregates toring of performance of concrete.
- Making required adjustments at the - Check of weights of trucks on weigh

ery as per schedules. plant automatically or manually to bridge (empty and loaded)
RMC: QUALITY ASSURANCE
- Stock control of materials
- Diagnosis and correction of faults
identified from complaints
- Analysis of cube results, statistical
analysis.
After knowing the above three com-
ponents of QA/QC, we will visit many of the
steps slightly in detail. This can be written
as a check list to be followed, to properly
and completely implement QA/QC sys-
tems.
01. Understanding the customer require-
ments
1.1 Sales person /department getting
an enquiry, recording the same
1.2 Understanding customer needs/
specifications.
1.3 Sales team communicating cus-
tomer needs/specifications to tech-
nical department and request-
ing for a suitable mix.
1.4 After getting feedback from tech-
nical department, on mix /solu-
tion to be offered, giving a quota-
tion to the prospective customer.
1.5 Receivinganorderfromcustomer.
Picture 2: Properly maintained weighing belt conveyor with modern load cells
1.6 Communicating the order to all
concerned specially to produc-
tion and QA/QC department.
Why these steps need to be followed?
There are many instances where a big
gap is created between customer specs/
needs and actual product supplied, as all
steps described above are not followed.
02. Approved vendor list: QA/QC Head
after proper evaluation of different
raw materials available in the local
market makes a list of approved ven-
dors. Only from these suppliers mate-
rials are procured. If any change is to
be done then QA/QC head will again
conduct a techno-economical study
of the new vendor to approve .This is
very important to maintain consistent
07. These curves help us to produce mix
raw material quality.
03. All raw material test reports from
manufacturers are collected (as and
when materials are received) and the
same are checked to see whether
raw materials are supplied as per rele-
vant standards or not?
08. Trial mix register: Will have all trial
04. Technical procedures: Any ready mix
company should have a set of stan-
dard technical procedures for each
activity. These procedures need to be
100% followed by the company.
05. Maintain a schedule for testing for
each raw material. This as to be as
described IS 4926.
06. Trial mixes need to be conducted on
different set of raw materials to have
standard strength curves .This can be
done at least once in a year for each
set of raw materials. This will give
strength curves (28day strength v/s
cement content).The strength curves
are made for each set of raw materi-
als like OPC, OPC+PFA, OPC+GGBS
separately.
designs for various grades of con-
crete. The set of mixes for various
grades of concrete are registered as
“mixes for production”, a copy of this
should be is always available with
QA/QC head
mixes done. Continuous monitoring
of lab trials help the QA/QC head to
improve the mixes, relate lab results
to field results.
09. Cube results register: will have all
compressive strengths tested for
both lab trials and field samples (sup-
plied concrete).
10. Test reports to customers: voluntary
sending of test reports to customer is
a good practice.
11. Moisture correction: at batching plant
as per set frequency on a daily basis
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by QA/QC staff and communicating
the same to production officer to
apply moisture corrections ,so that
the concrete is produced and deliv-
ered with right slump ,fresh proper-
ties.
12. Autographic records: are checked
after each batch /truck of concrete is
produced, by production officer.
Whereas QA/QC staff gets the same
on next day (after each day production)
and checks all autographic records to
once again make sure that right mix
has been supplied. The autographic re-
cords need to be preserved for future
177
reference.
 RMC: QUALITY ASSURANCE
Picture 3: A properly maintained twin shaft mixer
13. QA/QC head or his nominee will check
on each day water demand of one or
two mixes (when they are being pro-
duced) and this is very important
aspect of immediate control.
14. Delivery tickets are also checked (by
production staff) to ensure correct
concrete goes to various sites.
15. Yield checks are done on selected grade
of concrete on a daily basis.
16. Calibration of batching plant need to
be done at least once in 3 months (or
preferably once in a month), and re-
cords are maintained.
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17. Calibration of CTM and other equip-
ments in lab.
18. Maintaining and recording tempera-
ture of curing water: As per IS standard,
the curing of concrete specimens need
to be done at 27+-2 C, is very impor-
tant. Many companies do not cure as
per standards leading to apparent
strength issues.
19. PFA, GGBS and Cement: Are tested
from each bulker before accepting the
same. All cementitious materials are
checked for loose and compacted bulk
density .From each bulker sample ta-
ken is double polythene packed, stored
178
for further testing in future. PFA and
GGBS are checked for residue on 45
micron sieve before unloading.
The samples collected are actually
tested (by making trial mixes) to check
performance on a weekly basis. Fur-
ther cement is randomly selected is
also checked for physical properties
like setting time, consistency, com-
pressive strength, fineness etc.
20. Preventing contamination:
20.1 Raw materials once received
should be properly stored so that
they can be used to make mixes
as designed.
20.2 All steps need to be taken to
avoid intermixing/contamina-
tion of one from another.
Some of the retrospective controls to be
done are
21. Statistical control: Finding and recor-
ding, mean, standard devaiation of
major grades of concretes. Making,
showcasing the graphical represen-
tation of the same to management,
customers.
21.1 Applying suitable methods of
corrective actions to improve/
change the mixes based on sta-
tistical analysis.
21.2 Regular testing of cubes in 3rd
party lab and evaluation of re-
sults separately to check per-
formance of concrete.
21.3 Regular casting and testing of
cubes for long term strengths.
Will help to understand strength
gain after 56 days,90 days, etc
22. Non compliance register: A ready mix
company can record in two separate
registers non-compliance. The first can
be non compliance of inward materi-
als (In those cases, materials should
be rejected or otherwise the register
will record corrective action taken).
There will also be a non compliance
register for all other issues like strength
or any quality parameter.
23. Complaint register: A complaint reg-
ister has to be maintained by QA/QC
head, recording all kinds of complaints
.There should also be proper closing
of the complaints after attending to
the same.
24. Stock control: Stocks need to be
checked. Reconciliation of materials
can be done to check whether every
outward is tallying or not.
Apart from the above the author rec-
ommends QA/QC Head to follow
RMCMA check list also.
25. Readymix company top management:
Should also conduct monthly meet-
ings with QA/QC Head to understand
progress made in implementation of
QA/QC systems. Further there should
be monthly review on continuous im-
provement on different aspects like
mix optimization, new innovations, value
added products, etc.
Conclusion
Every ready mix company should cre-
ate a comprehensive check list and use
the same to ensure QA/QC systems are
audited frequently both by internal as well
as external auditors and hence imple-
mented. The check list becomes a simple
key to successful implementation of
QA/QC systems.
Reference
- Presentations to customers on QA/QC by
V.R.Kowshika and Raj Pillai.
- Photos-courtesy, Raj Pillai, Executive Direc-
tor Shobha Developers.
- Presentation by Marcus Rappensberger
(Cemex, UK) on QA/QC systems.
- IS 4926-2003, Code of practice, Ready mixed
Concrete (BIS).w