MCT Italy: Precast elements for the infrastructure sector

Founded in 1992, Crezza S.r.l, started operating on the market of precast concrete elements destined for the infrastructure sector. It offers a wide range of products, such as certified concrete road barriers and site barriers, tunnel lining segments, tunnels, suspended / lateral / underground escape routes, noise protection systems, retaining walls, box elements, staircases, ducts for collecting and treating water and manufacturing based on customized designs. Parallel to the production of precast building components, the company continues to develop a dedicated construction company for the erection of infrastructure facilities of national and international importance for any construction methods. The company is also active in the field of passive tunnel fire protection, designing elements for suspended or lateral escape routes. In 2002 Crezza, together with other companies in the sector, founded ABESCA (Associazione Barriere Elementi Sicurezza Cemento Armato / Reinforced Concrete Safety Elements Association) – and in 2005 ABESCA Europe S.r.l. with the aim of investing in the research and development of reinforced concrete road barriers to improve passive protection for road users.

Crezza became a leading company in the infrastructure and transport sector, whose customers today include the major Italian and foreign construction companies as well as the most important public clients thanks to the constant striving for innovation, the use of top-quality materials, the highly qualified staff and the highly specialized construction activities. Quality, flexibility and customization are, without doubt, the keywords that best describe Crezza’s business activities: the “case-by-case” approach makes it possible to identify the most suitable product, technology and approach for each individual project. In this way maximum customer satisfaction is achieved and a long-lasting relationship of trust is created.

Family-owned companies driven by enthusiasm and know-how

Crezza offers “turnkey” solutions, taking care of all aspects from the design phase to construction. The customer is thus relieved of all tasks related to the management, prefabrication and construction of his building project. This service must be based on a synergetic dialogue with the client in order to identify the specific needs of each project and find appropriate solutions.

During the WTC (World Tunnel Congress) in Naples in May 2019, where both companies participated as exhibitors, there was the first meeting between Crezza and MCT Italy teams. From the very first contact it became clear that the two companies share a common vision and business philosophy:

Both are family-owned companies driven by the enthusiasm and know-how of their respective founders, Corrado Guerini and Lamberto Marcantonini. The specific needs of the customers are at the heart of their business activities and tailor-made solutions are developed to meet these needs. A few months later, Sebastiano Guerini, representing the second generation at Crezza, called Luca Cellini, Sales Manager for Italy at MCT Italy with the request of retrofitting the existing concrete mixing plant installed in Gordona, essential to ensure the uninterrupted execution of the Crezza construction work. The engineering department of MCT Italy immediately developed a solution to replace the concrete mixing plant in two separate steps: The aggregate storage and dosing during the two-week summer break; production would continue with the existing plant, while the mixing part and control system would be replaced during the Christmas holiday.

To ensure the success of the project, MCT Italy developed an interface system to connect the new aggregate storage and dosing unit installed in Phase 1 with the automation of the existing plant to ensure uninterrupted production for the customer from August to December 2020. Thanks to the fact that all the equipment was pre-assembled and tested at MCT Italy’s plant, the commissioning was carried out extremely quickly and within the specified timeframe.

The delivery of the plant was completed during 2020 Christmas Holidays, with the installation of the mixing part including all related accessories, water / cement / admixture dosing systems and the control cabinet with the upgrade to the MCT Compunet control & monitoring system.

A leader in precast concrete products

The complete concrete mixing plant consists of an aggregate storage of five compartments, each with a capacity of 35 cubic meters, aggregate dosing system equipped with load cells that combines speed and dosing accuracy, and a planetary mixer MAV 2250/1550 that is specially designed for the production of concrete of all consistency classes and guarantees perfect hydration of the cement with high homogenization of the concrete in an extremely short time.

The new plant is equipped with a bucket conveyor system for concrete transport and distribution, which makes possible to supply all the three existing production halls and the new hall built at the same time as the concrete mixing plant was erected. This system eliminates the need to transport concrete to the plant using truck mixers, which significantly increases not only daily productivity, but also the safety standards at the workplace. In accordance with the provisions of the national Industry 4.0 plan, the concrete mixing plant was connected to Crezza’s management system.

This process was extremely easy thanks to the large possibilities offered by the Compunet management and control system, which is not only absolutely simple and intuitive to use, but has also been designed by the MCT engineers for fast data exchange with the customer’s management software thanks to appropriate input and output protocols.

Once again, the Compunet software has proven to be the absolute strength of MCT’s meeting the requirements of the national Industry 4.0 plan. This allows the client to claim a total tax credit of 50 % of the value of the investment for the three years following the purchase. MCT Italy Sales Manager, Ing. Luca Cellini, stated: “Working with a company like Crezza, which embodies the same corporate values as MCT, has been a great pleasure. The goal of constructing the concrete mixing plant without interfering with ongoing production at Crezza presented a major challenge. We can say with great satisfaction that we have fully achieved this goal. Cooperation between the companies will continue. MCT continues to be considered a strategic partner for Crezza, which will become a leader in precast concrete products on a national and international level”.

Corrado Guerini, founder of Crezza, said: “MCT Italy was able to fully meet Crezza’s requirements, not only in terms of quality of delivery, but also in terms of modus operandi and adherence to delivery according to the installation schedules. In view of the trusting relationship that has been established, the synergy between our companies will continue in the future. I would like to recommend MCT Italy for its professionalism, experience and constant pursuit of innovation.”