5 minutes with... Steve Cartwright of Volumech (Cemen Tech UK)

How did you first get involved in the concrete industry, and what led you to your current role at Volumech?

I worked in the commercial vehicle field before moving onto a construction and agricultural dealership. From this, I moved into the volumetric concrete mixer arena which nicely combines all of my industry experience which spans more than 30 years. I’ve been at Volumech for just over a year now, and it’s been an exciting time at the company, as we look to continue to grow our market share of volumetric mixers, stay ahead of our competitors with innovative ideas and continue to offer first-class customer service.

For readers less familiar, can you explain what Volumech does and how it fits into the wider Cemen Tech business?

We are the UK dealership of Cemen Tech, who are the largest producers of volumetric concrete mixers in the world. We are wholly owned by them to sell their products in the UK. As well as selling the Cemen Tech volumetric concrete mixers, our state-of-the-art UK headquarters in Wednesbury in the West Midlands has a dedicated concrete testing lab and technical team, as well as a workshop for services and repairs, offering our customers a full 360-degree service.

How have you seen the UK volumetric concrete sector evolve in recent years, and what are the biggest challenges operators face today?

There has been a lot of challenges for operators working in the volumetric concrete sector in recent years. Some of the biggest have been in relation to HGV licences, driver training and the changes in government legislation on the temporary exemption that has allowed volumetric concrete mixers to operate at heavier weights than standard HGVs, which is set to expire in 2028. Our customers have been looking at how they can reduce their costs, and work more efficiently with a reduced payload.

Cemen Tech is known for its focus on automation and digital technology. What innovations are you most excited about for UK customers

The Cemen Tech C60 is the world’s best-selling, fully automated volumetric concrete mixer. It makes life easier for the user by batching, mixing, pouring and tracking concrete in one simple unit, and with the press of a button, you can start or stop the mix, ensuring fresh concrete every time. We have some exciting developments happening in the very near future and will announce more when we can!

How can volumetric mixing and on-site batching contribute to reducing waste, cutting carbon, or improving resource efficiency in concrete production?

Concrete production is a very high carbon process and there is no getting away from that. However, our volumetric concrete mixers only produce what you need, and they cut down on miles on the road and use less water and there is no wasted material. Our highly experienced technical services team can provide regular calibrations to ensure the correct proportion of materials in a mix, preventing the risk of a concrete that’s unfit for purpose and wasting money and concrete.

What are UK concrete producers and contractors asking you for most often in terms of service, support, or product features?

Our customers are most concerned about the reliability of the mixer. In addition, it’s really important to them, to have the right back up and support, technical expertise and the availability of products and parts. We have over £1m worth of spare parts in stock, alongside the workshop and concrete testing lab to ensure we keep our customers on the road.

With labour and skills shortages affecting the whole industry, how important is training and operator support for keeping volumetric equipment running effectively?

We offer in-house training and support to all of our staff which is both vocational and technical. We ensure our staff fully understand how our trucks work and can demonstrate to customers, understand their concerns and answer questions they might have.

We also offer three days training and support for customers when they buy a new truck. We set the truck up for them, do their mix designs, then calibrate it. Once we have completed that we then go out with them on jobs to ensure they can fully operate the mixer on their own.

What’s next for Volumech in the UK? Are there particular sectors or projects where you see the biggest opportunities for growth?

We are always looking to improve what we can offer to our customers. We have many exciting things happening soon around our product range, as well as an exciting development in relation to our customer service. We believe Volumech is the first volumetric concrete mixer company in the UK to offer such a bespoke service for its customers, helping to reduce their downtime and continuing to foster long-term partnerships.

What’s the most satisfying part of your job — and what do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I really enjoy working with the people at Volumech. They are a great group of people and we are consistently getting feedback from customers about how great the service is, the workshop, products and the technical side of the business. However, we are not resting on our laurels, we are pushing on to ensure we are consistently ahead of our competitors. Outside of work, I am enjoying spending lots of time with my 5-month-old granddaughter. 

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