ASTEC Digital’s PM3 asphalt plant controls help Georgia highway contractor consistently produce quality asphalt

C.W. Matthews has made use of PM3’s in-the-field configurability to customize the hot mix asphalt facility controls to the needs of each of its operations.

C.W. Matthews Contracting Company couldn’t have become Georgia’s leading heavy highway contractor and asphalt producer without consistently delivering exceptional quality asphalt. For many years, the use of ASTEC Digital’s PM3 hot mix asphalt facility controls has made that crucial task much easier.

The company, which has operated in Georgia since 1946, paves and constructs roads, bridges, interstates, and airport runways. It also operates 27 hot mix asphalt plants across the state. Since 2018, the company has purchased five asphalt plants from ASTEC, Inc., with the full PM3 hot mix asphalt controls installed. It also has the PM3 software in numerous other plants using different hardware.

“The big thing in our industry is we come in every day, and we need the plants to run, or we lose money. The PM3 controls are very durable and very reliable,” said Jeff Simpson, asphalt plant general superintendent at the company. “The product that ASTEC is producing now, it’s as close to a plug-and-play deal as you can get.”

Simpson said one of the best features of the PM3 is its in-the-field configurability. The cutting-edge software is expandable and retractable to the facility's specific needs. With so many plants across the state, Simpson notes no two C.W. Matthews operations are the same.

“All of our plants have a little bit different components to them — this one has a few more silos, that one has more cold feed bins. I can configure the PM3 software to anything that I have while sitting in front of the computer without any help,” he said.

Given that it works for a range of government entities, from the state Department of Transportation to local county governments, C.W. Matthews produces multiple mix grades with varying asphalt content percentages. Simpson said the PM3 software’s straightforward and speedy calibration process has made switching between mix grades painless. After a simple, five-step procedure, the whole plant can be calibrated “start to finish” in one day, compared to other systems that could take multiple days to calibrate a mix.

“With this one, it’s so fast, and you can calibrate multiple ingredients at the same time if you wish. That’s one thing that makes it so user-friendly,” Simpson said, noting that the system stores each mix grade in its history so plant operators don’t have to re-enter them each day. “It’s very easy to put mix designs in. It calculates your percentage, and once you put it in, if you’re not calculated right, it’ll tell you.”

Simpson also credited ASTEC Digital for its support team that goes above and beyond to assist the company if it has any questions about the controls. “They’re very knowledgeable about the controls and very helpful for anything we need.”

Product

ASTEC Digital’s PM3 asphalt plant software.

Application

C.W. Matthews needed asphalt plant controls that could be customized based on the varying components of its multiple operations and calibrated quickly and accurately to various asphalt mixes.

Challenge

Madden wanted to replace the old and outdated computer system that was controlling its plants to improve its calibration capabilities and the precision of its asphalt mixes.

Solution

Since 2018, C.W. Matthews has purchased five asphalt plants from ASTEC, Inc. with the full PM3 asphalt plant controls installed and also uses PM3 software at other locations but with different hardware.

Results

C.W. Matthews has been able to customize the PM3 asphalt plant controls to the in-the-field reality of each plant, and asphalt plant operators have found the five-step calibration process intuitive, straightforward, and accurate. The asphalt software has also reduced the calibration process for the whole plant to one day from two or three days with other software solutions.

Optimize your operations with intuitive, precise, intelligent asphalt plant control systems. ASTEC Digital’s telematics and plant control systems simplify and improve plant management for the asphalt industry. Visit our website to learn more.