Road building company CTB reinforcing its competitiveness with an updated factory
CTB, a subsidiary of the CTB HOLDINGS group, has been operating in the field of road construction and maintenance for more than 27 years. During this time, the company has implemented more than 1500 projects, ranging from infrastructure objects of national importance to the commercial customer segment. Today, CTB is a key player in road construction in the Kurzeme region, having made targeted investments in recent years in the improvement of internal processes and the modernisation of its asphalt concrete production plant. Road construction is an industry where those who think long-term, invest in quality, and can adapt to technological and market changes are the winners. CTB’s experience shows that this approach is successful, and the company is determined to look for new business opportunities and expand into other regions of Latvia in future.
The Latvian capital group CTB HOLDINGS currently comprises five subsidiaries: CTB, CTB Betons, CTB Karjeri, EMBŪTES MEŽI, and SEEBURG CENTRS. The holding has a unified management policy and strategy, which allows for the effective development of various areas of infrastructure, construction, and land resource management.
CTB is the largest company with the longest history in the holding, boasting a wide and diverse range of clients: from the Latvian State road management authority (Latvijas Valsts ceļi), the Ministry of Transport, the Latvian State forests management authority (Latvijas Valsts meži) and the Ministry of Defense to the road traffic safety authority (CSDD), as well as the municipalities of Liepāja, South Kurzeme, Ventspils and Kuldīga. At the same time, the company is also active in the commercial customer segment, working with general contractors in building parking lots, squares, and other infrastructure solutions for brands such as the Virši fuel station network and the Lidl, Kurši, and JYSK retail chains.
Competitive advantage – in-house asphalt concrete production
During the active road construction season, the company employs more than 300 road construction specialists and manages a large, modern fleet of more than 250 vehicles and machines, ensuring the efficient construction and maintenance of road infrastructure. One of CTB’s most significant strategic advantages is its own asphalt concrete production plant, which has been operating in Liepāja since 2005. Its capacity of up to 240 tonnes per hour is a decisive competitive resource, as asphalt, being the basic raw material, significantly determines the company’s ability to work independently, efficiently, and with stable quality. The company uses most of its production for its own needs, offering a small part of its production to other companies on the market.
The production facility was updated in 2013 with the installation of a new system that allows recycled asphalt to be used in the production process – this is a completely new and still relatively rare practice in Latvia. The use of recycled asphalt in production is a challenging process that requires strict quality control, but it reduces construction costs, natural resource consumption, and the amount of construction waste.
Modernisation and digital solutions – cooperation with LIAA
New technologies play a crucial role in ensuring that the road construction process is efficient and safe. In this context, cooperation with the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) has been essential for the company in implementing a digital modernisation project for the asphalt concrete plant.
As Gunita Laiveniece, Head of the Administrative Department at CTB HOLDINGS, explains prior to the modernisation, the company’s production management and control system had become technologically and morally obsolete. The software often malfunctioned and false system updates occurred resulting in downtime, it was not possible to connect to the system remotely, and data backup was not provided, which created risks for both quality and production efficiency. “Over the past twenty years, IT solutions in such systems have significantly advanced, and our previous system was no longer up to the task. Troubleshooting became increasingly difficult, and specialists could only resolve issues on site, which significantly increased the time of downtime,” Ms Laiveniece says.
With co-financing support from LIAA as part of its digitisation programme, CTB installed a modern and innovative BSL4 production management system developed by German company Benninghoven, which specialises in both the manufacture of asphalt concrete plants and industrial management solutions. The new system allows the production manager to monitor all critical processes in greater detail, significantly reducing the risk of downtime. In addition, it is now possible to remotely prevent potential failures, secure data backup is ensured, and a precise asphalt concrete recipe control system has been implemented, which improves production quality.
“This project was important to us; it was an investment of almost EUR 100 000. However, the benefits are invaluable: we can now fully trust the system that underpins our production process. Half of these costs were covered by state co-financing within the framework of European Union support programs, which is invaluable support,” Ms Laiveniece notes.
Looking towards new regions and niches
By strengthening its competitiveness with strategic investment projects and modern technological solutions, the company feels secure and confident in its industry. CTB is looking to expand its operations outside Kurzeme, particularly in the direction of Riga and the Greater Riga region, where it sees broad development opportunities. At the same time, given the geopolitical situation and national security priorities, military infrastructure projects are becoming increasingly important in the company’s strategy – an area where CTB’s expertise in road and pavement construction can make a significant contribution.
Information material prepared with the support of the Recovery Fund. The author is solely responsible for the content of this publication. The views expressed herein do not reflect the official position of the European Union or the European Commission.
