Research & Development

Research serving Customers’ needs

In our drive to give you world-class products, every bag of Lafarge Cement is made with the utmost care and commitment. Stringent tests are conducted at every stage of the manufacturing process - from the choice of the raw material to the finished product so that you get only the very best in terms of quality, consistency and reliability. Lafarge Cement is ideal for the hot and humid weather conditions so typical of our country.

• The Group's experience of 173 years across the globe which enables us to produce the finest cement in terms of reliability and consistency- bag after bag - in very modern, computer controlled plants.
• Our research laboratories have developed methods which allow us to intervene on the production parameters to obtain improved uniformity of cement properties, thus better meeting the needs of our clients.
• The finest raw material available for the manufacturing process through a highly sophisticated computer model which develops a detailed mining plan ensuring the best quality of limestone and a suitable blend available for the plant.
• With the same ambition for all our researchers: that we leftover the favorite provider of our customers.

Customer-oriented organization:

• For the success of our research programs, our R&D has organized a network of research operations.
• An expertise in know-how gathered from operating 142 plants in 42 countries, which is channelised to every Lafarge plant in the global network through the central research laboratory, DPC based in l'Isle d’Abeau (Lyon-France), and focuses primarily on materials knowledge and the qualities of the cement in use in concrete (color, ease of implementation, setting time, strength when young … )
  
  The Central Research Laboratory,DPC is supported by the following 5 techincal centres worldwide.
  
• Inter-Unit Technical Center (CTI) at Lyon, France.
• Western Europe Technical Center(CTEW) at Lyon, France.
• Scientific Technical Center (CTS)at Montreal, Canada.
• Asian Technical Center (ATC) at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Central European Technical Center(CTEC) in Austria.
  
• They also participate in product development, do factory testing, and adapt formulas to local components, working both on processes and on quality.

Research programs to meet customer needs

 The primary programs underway focus on:

• improved uniformity of the cements: their workability, setting time, early resistance, tolerance to usage temperature.
• development of the use of cement additives(slag, ash, pozzolana), to save non-renewable resources and adapt products to each market while helping to reduce the CO2 emissions from cement production.
• Identifying the factors of differentiation. Through mapping of both ordinary and “special” cements.