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1. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 1/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
SUMMARY
1 PURPOSE............................................................................................................................. 1
2 FIELD OF APPLICATION...................................................................................................... 1
3 PRINCIPLE ........................................................................................................................... 2
4 PURPOSE............................................................................................................................. 5
4.1 Determination of normal cycles....................................................................................... 5
4.2 Causes of inconsistency ................................................................................................. 5
5 SAFETY................................................................................................................................. 5
6 EQUIPMENT ......................................................................................................................... 6
7 WORKING INSTRUCTIONS ................................................................................................. 7
7.1 Boards numbering .......................................................................................................... 7
7.2 Boards weighing ............................................................................................................. 7
7.3 Data analysis .................................................................................................................. 8
7.4 Examples.......................................................................................................................10
7.4.1 Theoretical..............................................................................................................10
7.4.2 Practical..................................................................................................................13
1 PURPOSE
• Identify the root causes of inconsistency,
2 FIELD OF APPLICATION
All LAFARGE Gypsum Division plasterboards production sites.

2. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 2/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
3 PRINCIPLE
Measure the dry weight of consecutive boards and analyze the data (standard deviation,
Fourier analysis…). The minimum number of consecutive boards to collect depends on the
speed of the line and the length of the boards. The sampling duration is at least 250 seconds
and the minimum number of consecutives boards to collect is at least 100. The test has to be
performed with the STD board of the country. In case of 2,5-meter long boards and for line
speed up to 60m/mn, the minimum number of boards to collect is determined as follow :
L
V
N
×
×
=
60
250
With :
o N : Number of boards to collect,
o V : Line speed (m/mn),
o L : Length of standard board (m).
• Number of consecutive boards to collect with STD boards length of 2,5m.
STD Speed line
(m/mn)
STD board length
(m)
Sampling duration
(s)
Minimum number of consecutive
boards to collect
15 2,5 1000 100
20 2,5 750 100
25 2,5 600 100
30 2,5 500 100
35 2,5 429 100
40 2,5 375 100
45 2,5 333 100
50 2,5 300 100
55 2,5 273 100
60 2,5 250 100
65 2,5 250 108
70 2,5 250 117
75 2,5 250 125
80 2,5 250 133
85 2,5 250 142
90 2,5 250 150
95 2,5 250 158
100 2,5 250 167
105 2,5 250 175
110 2,5 250 183
115 2,5 250 192
120 2,5 250 200
125 2,5 250 208
130 2,5 250 217

3. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 3/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
• Number of consecutive boards to collect with STD boards length of 2m.
STD Speed line
(m/mn)
STD board length
(m)
Sampling duration
(s)
Minimum number of consecutive
boards to collect
5 2 2400 100
10 2 1200 100
15 2 800 100
20 2 600 100
25 2 480 100
30 2 400 100
35 2 343 100
40 2 300 100
45 2 267 100
50 2 250 104
55 2 250 115
60 2 250 125
65 2 250 135
70 2 250 146
75 2 250 156
80 2 250 167
85 2 250 177
90 2 250 188
95 2 250 198
100 2 250 208
105 2 250 219
110 2 250 229
115 2 250 240
120 2 250 250
125 2 250 260
130 2 250 271
135 2 250 281
140 2 250 292
145 2 250 302
150 2 250 313
155 2 250 323
160 2 250 333
165 2 250 344
170 2 250 354
175 2 250 365
180 2 250 375
185 2 250 385

4. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 4/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
• Number of consecutive boards to collect with STD boards length of 8 feet.
STD Speed line
(ft/mn)
STD board length
(ft)
Sampling duration
(s)
Minimum number of consecutive
boards to collect
16 8 2926 100
33 8 1463 100
49 8 975 100
66 8 732 100
82 8 585 100
98 8 488 100
115 8 418 100
131 8 366 100
148 8 325 100
164 8 293 100
180 8 250 100
197 8 250 103
213 8 250 111
230 8 250 120
246 8 250 128
262 8 250 137
279 8 250 145
295 8 250 154
312 8 250 162
328 8 250 171
344 8 250 179
361 8 250 188
377 8 250 197
394 8 250 205
410 8 250 214
427 8 250 222
443 8 250 231
459 8 250 239
476 8 250 248
492 8 250 256
509 8 250 265
525 8 250 273
541 8 250 282
558 8 250 290
574 8 250 299
591 8 250 308
607 8 250 316

5. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 5/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
4 PURPOSE
4.1 Determination of normal cycles
Even if the dry weigh consistency is excellent, good or usual (see “Dry weight consistency
test” method), the Fourier analysis can help to determine the normal cycles, i.e. the intrinsic
periodic events.
4.2 Causes of inconsistency
In case of dry weight inconsistency (see “Dry weigh consistency test” method), the Fourier
analysis can help to determine periodics events (fast or slow cycles which can be due to one
default on plaster dosing belt, to the lack of one bucket in a bucket elevator…).
5 SAFETY
The identification of the consecutives boards have to be performed just after the board cutter.
To identify the plasterboards, the technician in charge of the test must be supported by one
production operator who will be closed to the emergency stop button. Furthermore, besides the
usual personal safety equipment, the technician must wear safety gloves.

6. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 6/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
6 EQUIPMENT
For the measurements, it is necessary to have :
- One scale + 2 long steel bars to
support boards (vertical scale is
also possible) :
- Manual method :
Manual report + Excel calculation
Sheet
- Automatic method (optional) :
One PC + acquisition system
connected to the balance in order
to record automatically weight :
Remarks :
Before each test, the scale has to be checked.

7. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 7/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
7 WORKING INSTRUCTIONS
7.1 Boards numbering
The boards numbering has to be done just after the board cutter and before the entrance into the
dryer. Then, these plasterboards are getting back at the outlet of the bundler.
Remarks :
- During the measurement, it is necessary to have no process changes (constant line speed,
mixer speed, receipt…) and to have an homogenous drying (see “moisture grid” method),
- For high line speed plants (up to 70m/mn), if the manual numbering is too difficult to do, it
is possible to use the electronic printing (grey side) on condition that the seconds are
printed
7.2 Boards weighing
The plasterboards are weighted and the weights are recorded in an Excel® compatible file.

8. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 8/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
7.3 Data analysis
The Thermicalc® Macro is necessary to analyse the data. In this Macro, choose the “data
analysis” menu.

9. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 9/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
Complete the data analysis sheet as following :
• « Main parameters » Button:
o « Valeurs » : Select the column in Excel sheet where are recorded the dry weight
values,
o Select options as described above,
o The step of the variogramm cannot be upper than the total number of boards : it is
recommended to choose it equal to the half of the boards number
• « Mean » Button: Choose cumulative,
• « Fourier » Button: Choose « Number of sample » as abscissa and « logarithmic » as
scale,
• « Filtres et Filtres Niveau 1 » Button : Not applicable.
Click “GO” Buton

10. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 10/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
7.4 Examples
7.4.1 Theoretical
Signal to analysis :
-1,5
-1
-0,5
0
0,5
1
1,5
0 20 40 60 80 100
1. Cumulative mean and standard deviation

11. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 11/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
Data / Cumulative mean and standard
deviation
-1,5
-1
-0,5
0
0,5
1
1,5
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Data
/
Cumulative
mean
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
Cumulative
standard
deviation
Raw values Cumulative mean
Cumulative standard deviation
Comments : The curves of these two parameters become stable quickly, which means that the
sampling is homogeneous.
2. Variogramm
Variogram
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Step : h
γ
γ
γ
γ
(h)
n = 100
mini = -1,000 maxi = 1,000
m = -0,001 σ = 0,709
Reach = 1,635 σ0 = 0,000

12. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 12/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
Comments : The variogram is built by calculating the square average of the difference between
every values spaced of one step (h). The curve describes these average according to the step.
The variogram permits :
- to show cycles,
- to determine the minimum step to have two independent values.
In the example, the variogram confirms that the signal is periodic.
3. Fourier analysis
Fourier analysis
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
1,2
1 10 100
Number of values
Comments :
The Fourier analysis represents no matter signal as a sum of elementary trigonometric functions
(Each function having a more or less high weighting coefficient). The graphic of this kind of
analysis has got periods in X-axis (number of plasterboards in our case) and weighting coefficient
in Y-axis. In our example, the Fourier analysis shows that there is only one periodic function (T=6
boards) which constitutes the signal.

13. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 13/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
7.4.2 Practical
7.4.2.1 Plant A
Boards numbers
Dry weight
(kg/m²)
Mean
(kg/m²)
Standard
deviation
(kg/m²)

14. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 14/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
Comments :
The cumulative mean and standard deviation show a no-stabilised situation, with a strong event
around board N°
40, the quantity of boards to collec t has to be increase in order to determine if
there is a slow cycle. The variogramm shows a main periodic (around 8 boards) signal. The
Fourier analysis confirms that the signal is mainly composed of a 8 boards periodic function, but
the second most important function has got a period near to 8 boards : Thus, the type of
fluctuations could be Crenels or teeth of saw (sum of 2 sine functions with same periods).
(Step)

15. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 15/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
7.4.2.2 Plant B
Boards numbers
Dry weight
(kg/m²)

16. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 16/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
Comments :
The cumulative mean and standard deviation show that the samples are homogeneous (stable
situation). The variogram shows that the main signal is a periodic (20 boards) damped signal. The
Fourier analysis confirms that the main period is 20 but shows that a period of 16 is existing.

17. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 17/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
7.4.2.3 Plant C
Boards numbers
Dry weight
(kg/m²)

18. Lafarge Process Kit
Methods
Version 1
Direction Industrielle
Direction Assistance des
Procédés
Dry Weight Consistency
Analysis
Page : 18/18
Date : February 13
th
,
2007
© Copyright 2006, Lafarge Plâtres
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Lafarge Plâtres. CONFIDENTIAL The information contained herein is confidential and proprietary to
Lafarge Plâtres. It may not be disclosed or transferred, directly or indirectly, to any third party without the explicit written permission of Lafarge Plâtres
Comments :
The situation is stabilised (cumulative mean and standard deviation). The variogram shows a
mains periodic (12 boards) signal, confirmed by Fourier analysis. The Fourier analysis shows
another periodic (10 boards) phenomenon but less important.