Jisan Engineering builds for Coupang with Italian technology

Jisan is one of the fastest-growing South Korean precast companies with highly skilled engineers able to provide turnkey solutions: planning, designing, production and installation in a very competitive way thanks to the wide use of precast elements. The business relationship with MCT Italy has now been strengthened further by the third plant purchased over the last four years: this time Jisan Co. Ltd. enters into the hollow core slab market.

The growth in the construction sector and the desire to make improvements to building quality are pushing South Korean companies to use new technologies, in particular with regard to hollow core and precast elements. After a mobile precast factory and a precast production hub, Jisan Engineering Co. Ltd. recently commissioned a third new factory capable of producing high-quality hollow core slab elements.

Hollow core slabs are prestressed precast concrete elements manufactured using long steel casting beds. They are typically 1,200 mm wide and between 150 mm and 1,000 mm deep.

Spans can be anywhere up to around 20 m, and applications range from detached houses to residential apartments, office buildings, hotels, schools, hospitals, supermarkets, industrial units and car parks. Longitudinal voids run throughout a hollow core slab. These reduce raw material consumption, costs and the self-weight of the slabs, while providing ready-made service ducts.

The owner and founder of Jisan Engineering Co. Ltd., Mr. Han JuSik, has gained extensive experience in the construction business, and today his team of engineers can provide high-profile solutions for various branches of the construction industry, both civil and industrial, even if the actual core business is warehouse and logistics facilities construction.

The lockdown imposed due to the spread of the coronavirus provided the main impetus for building the third factory: Coupang, known as Korea’s Amazon, subcontracted a large number of new industrial buildings to be used as warehouses for goods and, above all, for ready-to-eat fresh food.

Tailor-made solutions

The intention of Jisan Engineering Co. Ltd. was to develop a fully automated factory for the production of:

hollow core slabs,

a carousel system for columns and beams,

2D walls.

The new precast hub has a footprint of approximately 25,000 square meters dedicated to production and an annual output of up to 120,000 m³ of high-quality concrete elements. It was completed in late 2020 and started producing the first elements during December 2020.

With the third factory, Jisan is now one of the key players in the South Korean market for the supply of concrete elements, and the strong relationship with Coupang guarantees ongoing orders. The factory is composed of:

two production buildings with six hollow core beds each (total length 150 m),

one production building with a carousel system for the production of columns and beams in two-shift operation,

one production building for the production of 2D walls,

one production building dedicated to steel working.

MCT Italy started building trust in Jisan in 2017 when the first contract was signed for the supply of a mobile factory and, in 2019, for the first precast hub.

With the third factory, MCT has engineered a fully tailored solution for Jisan that allows the end user to distribute concrete to the four production buildings with a high level of automation and without the need for manual intervention.

MCT Italy strengthens its position in the Southeast Asian market as the world-leading manufacturer of precast concrete plants and concrete distribution systems, offering high production capacity, top-rate precast product quality and reduced operating costs through state-of-the-art automation technologies, optimized production planning, a carefully designed production process and individually tailored solutions.

The idea is to optimize the entire precast production process from building design all the way to the construction site. The line features advanced software, a modern concrete distribution system and a state-of-the-art batch plant, thus ensuring full control and monitoring of the production process.

MCT Italy: the heart of the new precast factory

The heart of the factory is the distribution system: five high-speed flying buckets continuously deliver concrete to the five production buildings where different casting machines shape the various precast elements.

The five flying buckets are capable of delivering material at up to 240 m per minute in multiple railway loops, thus covering the complete facility thanks to the high level of reliability and flexibility of the MCT equipment.

The casting machines designed for extruder feeding and wall panel production are the result of a customized solution with buckets installed on dedicated cranes.

This device does not require the presence of workers and is completely automatic: thanks to its integrated sensors, it can call for specific mix designs to the batching system, positions itself at the flying bucket discharge in order to receive concrete, and follows the extruder or slipformer during the casting operation, taking care of concrete supply at the proper rate.

The concrete pouring gate is operated hydraulically and the casting machine is equipped with the following additional devices:

water tank needed to moisturize the bed prior to casting,

extruder lifting device, not requiring other cranes for this operation,

direct power supply of the extruder via the casting machine to avoid cables hanging over the casting beds.

The overall plant equipment supplied to Jisan Engineering Co. Ltd. is equipped with CompuNet, the new integrated MCT software solution in Korean language developed entirely in-house, which manages the entire process.

MCT Italy shapes Jisan’s dreams

“We strongly believe in the advantages of precast concrete construction because of the high quality, lower maintenance costs, and durability,” Mr. Han ByungMin, Jisan General Manager, explains. “Thanks to our long experience in this field, we can provide custom-designed systems to suit our customers’ requirements.”

As a strong partner in a long-term cooperation, MCT Italy, through the local support of Mr. Oh from Hanin Corporation, has worked closely together with Jisan Engineering Co. Ltd. throughout the project, offering consultation and advice regarding all aspects. “This time the decision was easier: after the two previous successful experiences with MCT, we teamed up immediately with their technical offices to get the best know-how from their specialized organization. We learned that prestressed hollow core slabs require the use of high-quality raw materials, such as high-strength concrete and low-relaxation steel wire/strands. The elements produced have a high load resistance thanks to a low water-cement ratio of the concrete ranging from 0.32 to 0.38,” adds Mr. Han ByungMin.

MCT Italy’s Sales Director for South Korea, Gabriele Falchetti, says that the precast plant MCT supplied is not the first of its kind delivered to South Korea, but that in this case the level of automation is extremely high. In fact, back in 2012, MCT Italy along with Nordimpianti delivered a 16-bed plant to Samsung Corporation PC, a state-of-the-art plant that is still fully operating.

“In this part of the world, there is an increasing demand for special precast elements using the latest generation of special concrete. Prestressed concrete, and hollow core slabs in particular, offer exceptional structural efficiency. Long spans and shallow units allow for low material usage and better use of space within buildings. Hollow core slabs are extremely durable, retaining their structural capacity for a lifespan of 100 years or more. Production of the elements in a controlled factory environment reduces waste, noise and emissions. Concrete has a large part to play in the heating and cooling of buildings, which consumes large amounts of energy. Hollow core slabs contribute to the thermal mass of a building, and innovations enable reductions in the energy used for air-conditioning. At MCT Italy, we help our customers adapt to the changing environment and to new business opportunities throughout the project,” Falchetti explains.

As a precast plant is a long-term investment, there has to be room for flexibility, even in the unknown future. “We want to offer our customers all of our 54 years’ experience and skills, professional networks, and the most flexible service available in the industry,” adds Mr. Oh from the MCT local team. These include services that enable customers to renew and maintain their skills, tools, and know-how during the production line’s lifetime.

Due to the efficiency and sustainability provided by MCT’s solution, Jisan Engineering Co. Ltd. achieved its goal to become one of the leaders in the South Korean precast market.