The ready-mix concrete industry is experiencing the most rapid materials and technology shift in decades. Whether you manage five plants or twenty, the drive toward sustainability, real-time data, and operational precision is reshaping how producers design mixes, control quality, and deliver performance to contractors and DOTs.
In our recent WaveLogix Lunch & Learn webinar, we sat down with Stephen Herald, Regional Technical Services Manager at AmRize, and Joe Turek, CEO of WaveLogix, to examine how producers are adapting to new cement technologies, managing fast-evolving QC requirements, and leveraging sensor data to reduce risk and accelerate schedules.
This blog captures the most technical and forward-leaning insights from that conversation.
If you’ve been in the industry for 20+ years, you’ve witnessed more change in the last five than the previous twenty combined.
Producers across North America have now moved from traditional Type I/II to Type IL (1L) cements. This shift has brought:
“These days … 28 days may only be the tip of the iceberg. We still see significant strength gain out to 56 or even 90 days.”
This becomes a critical point for both structural engineers and DOTs who are specifying lower GWP concretes.
With SCM sources tightening and supply changing rapidly, producers are balancing:
Herald emphasizes raw material vigilance as the foundation of consistency across multiple plants:
“It’s people, process, and technology. Reviewing data, trusting trends, and making decisions off the closest to real-time data you can get.”
This is where real-time sensor systems—both in-plant and in-structure—are no longer luxury tools but operational necessities.
The industry’s reliance on 28-day breaks becomes increasingly misaligned with performance realities:
Herald makes an important point:
“With everything that can happen along the way—pickup delays, curing issues, lab inconsistencies—having an independent check is extremely valuable.”
The industry is asking more of concrete while simultaneously introducing more performance uncertainty. This is exactly where AASHTO T-412-compliant real-time strength sensors offer a technical advantage.
AmRize, like many leading producers, is integrating:
These tools create a continuous data chain from batch plant → truck → site → curing period.
Herald explains the operational and QC value:
“If a QC manager can know what’s happening in transit or in situ in real time, it’s excellent data to make decisions on.”
This is especially true during:
Real-time data mitigates risk in every scenario.
Herald’s evaluation of the REBEL® sensor was particularly compelling:
Unlike maturity curves or cylinders influenced by human procedures, the REBEL® device provides:
Herald describes it as putting “an independent QC inside the concrete.”
“It’s an independent reading… not influenced by a lab procedure. That independence is extremely valuable.”
This independence is crucial when mixes are getting more complex and expectations for schedule acceleration are rising.
DOTs, owners—and increasingly contractors—are requiring lower GWP values. But the side effect is:
The industry over-cements by 15–20% today simply to avoid cylinder failures. Real-time strength data enables producers to:
As Herald notes:
“It’s really just using your material as efficiently as you can.”
Efficiency is sustainability.
The webinar uncovered the incredible operational precision required to deliver concrete:
Herald explains:
“We’re dialing it down to the minute… and not everything goes perfect, so we have to build that in.”
Real-time sensor data makes this coordination dramatically more resilient.
According to Herald, the next major efficiency gains will come from:
Other industries have already digitized—ready-mix is entering that phase now.
WaveLogix’s REBEL® sensor is one of the enabling technologies driving that shift.
Herald closed with advice to new engineers and QC professionals:
“Keep your eyes and ears open. Get in the batch office. Learn how this stuff works. You can learn something new every day.”
The industry is entering its most innovative era in decades. The next generation will be the first to build concrete truly powered by data.
As mix designs evolve, performance expectations accelerate, and carbon goals tighten, the need for independent, real-time strength data becomes strategically essential.
The producers who embrace the emerging digital ecosystem—sensors, predictive modeling, robust QC data streams—will be the ones who:
Wavelogix is proud to help lead this transition.
To learn more about the REBEL® Real-Time Strength Sensor or to view the full webinar replay, visit our website.