The launch of Concetti’s C-Lab indicates a new era for the company.
Whether it’s cement, dry mix, food, or chemicals, Concetti equipment handles a vast range of powders and granular materials, each with its own quirks.
Some products are free-flowing, others sticky. Some are abrasive, some segregate easily, and some behave differently depending on how they are fed into a system.
Even products that appear straightforward can present unexpected challenges. Mitford said sugar is a prime example.
“You wouldn’t normally think of sugar as abrasive, but it can be,” Mitford said. “And beet sugar behaves differently to cane sugar. Where the product comes from, how it’s processed and the environment it’s handled in all make a difference.”
Cement is another case in point. Hot cement behaves very differently to cold or ambient cement, while pneumatically conveyed material will be far more fluid than product delivered via conveyor or gravity feed. These variables influence everything from bulk density and flow characteristics to weighing accuracy and bag stability.
“For us to give meaningful performance guarantees to customers, we need to understand all of that,” Mitford said. “Otherwise, you’re relying on assumptions, and that’s where mistakes happen.”
“If you don’t get a clear understanding of materials handling, you’ve got no chance of weighing accurately, filling a bag properly, or creating a pallet that’s safe, stable, and presentable,” Mitford said. “Everything starts with how the product behaves.”
The evolution of Concetti’s testing approach
Concetti has long placed importance on product testing. Previously, testing was carried out using relatively basic equipment, effective for its time, but increasingly limited as materials, packaging requirements, and sustainability expectations have evolved.
“25 years ago, we were probably doing more product testing than most of the industry,” Mitford says. “But technology moves on. Science moves on. We wanted to stay at the forefront.”
To replaces manual, experience-heavy testing, Concetti has launched Concetti Lab (C-Lab), which uses modern laboratory technology to deliver faster, more accurate and repeatable results.
“When material arrives in our hopper, it’s usually at loose bulk density,” Mitford said. “By the time it’s in the bag, ideally, it’s closer to tapped density, the air has been removed and the product has settled. C-Lab helps us understand how long that process takes and how the product responds to different handling methods.”
That data feeds directly into system design, from infeed configuration through to weighing, bag filling and palletising.
Preventing segregation before it starts
One of the most critical risks C-Lab helps address is segregation, particularly in blended products such as dry concrete mixes. Customers often invest significant time and energy ensuring recipes are mixed correctly, but poor handling between the mixer and the packing line can undo that work.
“If you drop a mixed product too far under gravity, you can easily de-mix it,” Mitford said. “Aggregates, sand, and cement will separate, and suddenly you’ve got an inconsistent product in the hopper.”
C-Lab allows Concetti to test and validate handling concepts before a system is built, ensuring the infeed and transfer design preserves product integrity rather than compromising it.
“This is about avoiding mistakes at the front end of a project,” Mitford says. “It’s much easier to fix a problem in a lab than on a live production line.”
A more open, collaborative facility
Beyond the technical benefits, C-Lab has also changed how Concetti engages with customers.
The laboratory is located within Concetti’s factory in Bastia Umbra, near Assisi in Italy, and doubles as a meeting and collaboration space.
“In the past, testing was hidden away,” Mitford said. “Not because we were ashamed of it, but it wasn’t something you’d proudly bring customers into. Now we can.”
Customers visiting the factory can see their full line assembled and commissioned with their own product, bags, and pallets, exactly as it would be installed on site. From C-Lab, positioned above the factory floor, they can observe testing and commissioning while reviewing data and performance results in real time.
“It’s a proper laboratory, but it’s also a space for discussion,” Mitford said. “We can sit down with customers, explain how we’ve tested their product, show the results, and answer questions openly.”
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Sustainability through better handling
While C-Lab delivers clear benefits in efficiency, accuracy and reliability, Mitford said its broader value lies in sustainability.
“How much product is wasted globally because it hasn’t been packed correctly?” he asked. “I saw figures years ago suggesting up to 14 per cent of cement was wasted in some markets. Think about the energy that goes into producing that cement and then think about the environmental cost of losing it.”
Reducing product loss through better handling, weighing and packaging may not grab headlines in the same way as renewable energy or electrification, but Mitford said it is an essential piece of the sustainability puzzle.
“If we’re better at what we do, everyone benefits,” he said. “Less waste, lower energy loss, safer working environments, and higher productivity. C-Lab helps us contribute to that in a very real way.”
Investing in the future
C-Lab is the result of nearly two years of planning, designed to support Concetti’s sales, technical and R&D teams.
“It’s not just there for us,” Mitford said. “It’s there for the customer.”
Concetti will continue to work with evolving materials, packaging formats and sustainability requirements, with C-Lab at the forefront of it all.
“We never stop trying to improve,” Mitford said. “This is just the next step.”