We seek innovative ways to help customers improve their businesses and operations, and we engage them regularly to elicit their feedback and learn how we can better serve them. For example, we have launched a number of novel initiatives for our many customers who demand cement in bulk, such as our 24-hour bulk-cement dispatch system, which enables customers to pick up cement at their convenience, shorten their loading times, and cut back on their paperwork.

Our online inventory-management system allows our customers to focus on their construction projects without worrying whether there is sufficient cement in their silos. This system automatically communicates and coordinates cement deliveries among our customers, our carriers, and our operations; enables us to monitor, replenish, and optimize cement-inventory levels at our customers' ready-mix plants; and keeps our customers apprised of the status of their cement deliveries.

In addition, our products are often sold through distributors, in which case we work closely with them to ensure that our customers receive a superior mix of building materials and services. We partner with our distributors to offer customers an extensive range of brand-name products at competitive prices. For example, through Construrama, our network of more than 2,000 independent retailers in Mexico, customers—many of them in the self-construction sector—can purchase our products as well as others. We train Construrama concession owners to manage all aspects of their business, including inventory control, product promotion, sales-force training, and transportation logistics.

More and more, our customers, in particular our large and multinational customers, are seeking to make their operations and buildings more sustainable, and that opens new markets and creates new opportunities for us to help them achieve their goals. Our building materials, ready-mix concrete in particular, can help customers reduce the environmental impacts of their buildings and meet the requirements of existing certifications, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the United States, Haute Qualité Environnementale (HQE) in France, Energy Pass in Germany, and the Comisión Nacional de Vivienda (CONAVI) in Mexico. In addition, in emerging markets we can use our influence to promote sustainable building practices among our smaller, local customers.

Our online customer-service platform >>

Our sustainable construction efforts >>

We seek to provide superior service to all customers, no matter how large or small. Our work with low-income customers provides them with improved access to our products on favorable terms, promotes entrepreneurship, and enables them to raise their standard of living. For example, our local training programs help our smaller customers improve their construction skills and better manage their businesses. And our frequent-buyer programs enable qualifying customers to accumulate and later redeem points for computers and capital goods—such as forklifts and light trucks—to help their businesses grow.

Our signature Patrimonio Hoy program and local programs such as our Centros Productivos de Autoempleo (Community Blockers) program provide market-based solutions to address the housing needs of low-income families. In addition, we partner with local governments and groups of neighbors to improve the conditions of community infrastructure, for example by enhancing the state of unpaved roads, sidewalks, parks, schools, and hospitals, among other public spaces.

Programs for low-income customers >>

Access to housing and community infrastructure >>