Installation of the ADR-Auto 250/25 cement testing machines at each of CPI EuroMix's nine UK sites has enabled it to manage the testing of its mortar samples in-house
ELE International, a supplier of construction materials testing and environmental instrumentation, has provided CPI EuroMix with its latest cement testing equipment, enabling the mortar supplier to take control of its testing processes and ensure the high quality of its materials.
CPI EuroMix provides its customers in the construction industry with dry mix mortar, renders, and screeds when and where it is required.
Its dry silo technology allows the mortars to be stored on site and automatically mixed as it is needed, reducing the time, space and resource required.
Supplying mortar ready-mixed, under tightly controlled conditions, eliminates the risk of human error with manual mixing on-site.
Stewart McGregor, technical manager at CPI EuroMix, explained: "With our customers relying on us for their mortar, ensuring that our materials are of a consistently high quality is essential to our success.
"Prior to integrating ELE's equipment at our sites across the country, we were reliant on external laboratories for testing our product.
"Outsourcing in this way meant that we had very little control in the processes that were carried out as well as having the ongoing expenditure".
By comparison, following the installation of the ADR-Auto 250/25 cement testing machines at each of CPI EuroMix's nine UK sites, the company has been able, cost-effectively, to manage the testing of its mortar samples in-house.
This has been made possible as the microprocessor-controlled equipment significantly reduces the time, cost and resource required, compared to manually testing samples, replacing conventional processes with a significantly more efficient automated system, enabling hardened mortar samples to be tested simply and quickly.
The ADR-Auto cement testing machine is simple to operate, incorporating a large display and control panel, pre-programmed test routines, and 'on-board' memory enabling up to 500 test results, each with a unique reference ID, to be stored in the system.
Test data can then be downloaded to a laptop or PC using the built-in serial port for streamlined results analysis and distribution.
The technology has enabled CPI EuroMix to test samples of varying sizes as set by European Standards up to a maximum load of 250kN for the most demanding testing.
In addition, the company chose to incorporate the optional 25kN load frame for low strength compression and flexural testing for even more comprehensive quality control.
Unlike compression testing technology incorporating valve systems, which can be prone to high oil temperatures, requiring additional oil coolers, the ADR-Auto features a variable output hydraulic pump controlled by a closed loop microprocessor to provide the automatic loading cycle.
This ensures far more efficient performance and consistent results, with the closed loop control enabling the applied force required to be continually monitored and adjusted, for far greater accuracy than is possible with manual testing.
Stewart McGregor is impressed by the results: "The ADR-Auto machines have not only removed the ongoing costs of outsourcing our mortar testing, they have also given us access to far more information than we were previously aware of.
"ELE's technology, as well as their help and advice, has allowed us to tighten our quality control even further, and offer our customers not only the most convenient, but also the highest quality supply of dry mortar on the market."
