Systems, methods and apparatus for providing comparative statistical information for a plurality of production facilities in a closed-loop production management system

A quality control management method for concrete, the method comprising:

• inputting to a database a concrete recipe, a first tolerance for generating an informational alert and a second tolerance for generating a second alert;
• producing a concrete mixture based on the concrete recipe;
• inputting to the database the concrete mixture;
• comparing the concrete mixture to the concrete recipe;
• generating the first alert if the concrete mixture meets or exceeds the first tolerance;
• generating the second alert if the concrete mixture meets or exceeds the second tolerance.

A closed loop system for use in a production system comprising a plurality of production facilities:

• a plurality of formulations stored in the database, each formulation specifying a plurality of components and a plurality of corresponding quantities;
• a production module associated with a production facility, the production module configured to transmit batch data indicating batched components and batched quantities associated with a batch of a concrete mixtures after the batch has been produced based on a particular formulation specifying particular components and particular quantities;
• a second module configured to transmit the batch data to the database;
• a comparison module configured to:
• compare, for each batched component, a batched quantity Xb to a corresponding particular quantity Xm specified in the particular formulation;
• and
• calculate, for each batched component, a value ΔX=(Xb−Xm)/Xm.

A method comprising:

• performing the following operations for each of a plurality of production facilities:
• determining, for each of a plurality of batches of a concrete mixture produced at the respective production facility based on a formulation, a first difference between a measured quantity of cementitious and a first quantity specified in the formulation;
• determining a first standard deviation based on the first differences;
• determining, for each of the plurality of batches, a second difference between a measured quantity of water and a second quantity specified in the formulation;
• and
• determining a second standard deviation based on the second differences;
• selecting a first benchmark from among the first standard deviations;
• selecting a second benchmark from among the second standard deviations;
• and
• determining an amount by which costs may be reduced by improving production at the production facility to meet the first and second benchmarks.

A method comprising:

• transmitting to a production facility, in response to receiving an order for a product from a customer, a formulation associated with the product, the formulation specifying a plurality of components and respective quantities required to produce the product;
• receiving, in real time, data relating to the product produced at the production facility;
• comparing, in real time, the data to at least one pre-established tolerance;
• and
• transmitting, in real time, an alert to the customer if the data is not within the pre-established tolerance.

A method of determining a measure of concrete strength performance quality for concrete produced at a production facility, the method comprising:

• determining, for each of a plurality of batches of concrete produced at a production facility, a first difference between a measured quantity of cementitious and a first quantity specified in a formulation;
• determining a first standard deviation based on the first differences;
• determining, for each of the plurality of batches, a second difference between a measured quantity of water and a second quantity specified in the formulation;
• determining a second standard deviation based on the second differences;
• determining a measure of concrete strength performance quality for the production facility based on the first standard deviation and the second standard deviation;
• and
• determining a measure of a cost of adjusting the formulation based on the measure of concrete strength performance quality.

A system comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• at least one processor configured to:
• for each of a plurality of production facilities:
• determine, for each of a plurality of batches of a concrete mixture produced at the respective production facility based on a formulation, a first difference between a measured quantity of cementitious and a first quantity specified in the formulation;
• determine a first standard deviation based on the first diflerences;
• determine, for each of the plurality of batches, a second difference between a measured quantity of water and a second quantity specified in the formulation;
• and
• determine a second standard deviation based on the second differences;
• select a first benchmark from among the first standard deviations;
• select a second benchmark from among the second standard deviations;
• and
• determine an amount by which costs may be reduced by improving production at the production facility to meet the first and second benchmarks.