fibo intercon's Engineering Behind a Readymix First
Readymix plants are built around volume orders, and the model has traditionally struggled to serve the small-volume collections increasingly requested by local builders and landscapers. Minimum order charges, delivery lead times, and fixed collection slots make these enquiries hard to serve profitably, leaving many small-volume customers mixing on site instead. However, fibo Collect has become the new option for self-service concrete for readymix operators in the UK.
South Coast Concrete, part of South Coast Aggregates, serves Portsmouth, Southampton, Chichester and the surrounding areas, and already offered collect aggregates and volumetric concrete delivery. Now, with a fibo Collect system designed and manufactured by fibo intercon, they can offer small volume collections of screed, mortar, and concrete at the touch of a button. The addition of mortar being massive for readymix concrete operators, bringing in a customer base the yard wouldn’t typically serve,
A key factor in the decision was fibo intercon’s integrated high-pressure cleaning system, engineered to allow concrete, mortar and screed to be produced from a single pan while minimising changeover time between mixes.
“We previously had a static volumetric to offer collections on site. The problem was we were jumping between screeds and concrete, having to wash the auger out every time, and it was a lot of work for the staff. We wanted a system that did it all really. We can just batch out from screeds, to mortar, to concrete in a simple click and that’s fibo Collect. It’s so much easier for us.”
Simon Langworthy, Director, South Coast Aggregates
Self-Service Concrete for Readymix Operators, Engineered for the Yard
For South Coast Concrete, the installation opens the yard to a customer base traditional readymix scheduling isn’t built to serve, while creating a new self-collection revenue stream that sits alongside existing supply and delivery services.
fibo Collect is built for a builder or landscaper calling in on the way to a job, collecting a small volume of concrete, mortar or screed, and being back on the road within minutes. Each installation is custom-engineered to suit the site and positioned away from core yard operations, meaning customers can collect volumes as small as 0.25m³ in under five minutes, with little to no labour input required from yard staff.
There’s a commercial upside for the operator too. With fuel costs continuing to rise, every mile a delivery vehicle covers erodes margin on smaller orders — bringing customers to site rather than sending volumetric trucks out removes a proportion of those journeys altogether. fibo intercon’s automatic wash cycle, which cleans the mixer at set intervals or between recipes, also allows operators to extend into mortar and production, giving readymix sites a straightforward way to build a local point of difference.
fibo Loop: Closing the Water Loop from Videbæk to the UK
The technology behind South Coast Concrete’s installation reflects fibo intercon’s ongoing investment in sustainable batching engineering. The automated self-cleaning mixer uses high-powered jet nozzles to remove residual material after every production cycle, directing washout water into a three-stage separation system that filters aggregates, separates fine residues, and stores clean water for reuse in future batches.
In 2026, fibo intercon closed this process with the launch of fibo Loop, the first fully circular washout loop in the collect batching sector. Recycled water now also powers the automated cleaning cycle itself, delivering a significant reduction in water consumption and discharge alongside cleaner sites and improved operational efficiency.
fibo intercon has also developed an Inliner solution, extending the concrete, mortar and screed collection concept into automated loose aggregate sales via a single robotic pivoting conveyor belt, technology now being introduced across UK and Ireland sites.
A Growing UK and Ireland Network
South Coast Concrete’s installation takes the fibo Collect network to 24 locations across the UK and Ireland, three years on from the first UK installation in Ewloe, North Wales, in February 2023. The network has, to date, been concentrated in builders’ merchants and recycled sand and aggregate yards, this latest addition reflects the growing range of businesses now looking to bring fibo intercon’s self-service batching engineering into their operations.
Further installations are planned throughout the rest of 2026, and following the install at South Coast Concrete, fibo intercon’s self-service concrete for readymix operators is expected to become a familiar presence across the sector, with further innovation already in development in Videbæk and installations accelerating across the UK and Ireland.