Sawan Jasoliya

A clinker cooler always reminds me of that funny question: Which comes first? Chicken or egg?  Here is my version: Which comes first?  A good cooler, or a good-performing plant? I don't know the answer to the first question. But for the second, I know this:  They - Plant and Cooler - are interconnected. I have worked with all types of coolers. Grate coolers: 3 grates to single grate. 1st generation to 4th generation. ETA, Crossbar, Sinowalk and others. And after all these years, one thing remains clear:  A grate cooler is a GREAT cooler. Yes, technology has moved ahead. But much of that development is also about making equipment more maintenance-free and reducing human dependency. Fair enough. But don't blame an old grate cooler simply because it is old. Learn about it and maintain it properly, and it can perform exceptionally well. So where is the real problem?  Look beneath the grate. The under-grate area is often where efficiency is lost: • Sealing between ch...

Confidentiality is important. But so is asking for the right help. Sometimes people ask a technical question in a group without providing enough information to understand the actual problem. When asked for plant data, the common response is: "Sir, we agree with you, but it is confidential to share reports/data of our plant." That's perfectly fine. Don't share confidential information publicly. But then, reach out to the expert individually. Because information is important for finding the right solution. When we need the correct treatment, we tell everything to the doctor. We don't simply say, "I have a problem. Please prescribe something." The same principle applies to technical problems. A few days ago, one of my ex-colleagues joined another plant and approached me about some serious productivity issues. There was another interesting challenge. He couldn't even send an email to anyone outside his company's group. He couldn't share Excel fil...

Somewhere along the way, we decided that the cement industry needed to become glamorous. And that, perhaps, was our first mistake.  Cement was never meant to be glamorous. It was meant to be reliable, predictable and profitable. A cement plant was a simple place once. You had a crusher, raw mill, kiln, cooler, coal mill, cement mill and packing plant. The job was also simple. Keep the plant running. Keep the quality right. Keep the cost under control. Go home. Then came technology. Digitalisation. Automation. AI. Industry 4.0. Big Data. Dashboards. KPIs. OEE. Predictive analytics. The funny part is that the basic equipment is still sitting there looking almost exactly the same. A kiln is still a kiln. A mill is still a mill. A fan still has to move air. A bearing still doesn't care whether the plant has Industry 4.0 certification. And a gearbox still has only one objective: Please don't kill me. Technology can help. But cement remains M-sensitive. Cement manufacturing is still ...