New plant at Gulf Cement Industries Factory
The Gulf Cement Industries Factory is located in the city of Al Ain, a drive of one and a half hours away from the city of Dubai. This company started its operations in 1983 under the “Al Khaleej Automatic Tiles Factory” name and has a reputation of constantly upgrading and efficiently modernizing both quality and production. The owner, Muhammad Sayed Al Khaili, thus decided to expand the business by installing a new production line for the manufacture of building blocks and interlocking blocks.
After visiting several engineering companies, KVM International A/S and Skako were selected as the suppliers of the production line and of the batching and mixing plant. Mr. Sayed Al Khaili pointed out that he wanted his products to be first-class, a requirement that he met by having received a product certificate from the municipalities that specifies the Gulf Cement Industries Factory as their supplier. Therefore, he also wished to install first-class production equipment, which he was sure he would get from these companies.
KVM block machine and Skako mixers
The batching and mixing plant relies on two Skako mixers: an Apollo 1500 for the main and a 500 type for the face mix. The production line uses a KVM 1200-1 block machine with a pallet size of 1,200 x 750 mm. This machine is one of the most modern machines in the world; it is able to produce a wide variety of first-class products, including interlocking blocks, slabs and building blocks. The machine is equipped with the KVM Tuning vibrator system where both vibration frequency and amplitude can be adjusted by programmable controls, which improves both the compressive strength and the surface finish. The production pallets used in the plant are made of hardwood with a very good wear resistance.
Having been manufactured on the block machine, a v-belt conveyor transports the products very gently to the elevator, which has 18 stories. The elevators, finger car and racks are located in a closed chamber forming a “Hot Box”, which improves the curing environment in the very hot climate in the United Arab Emirates. If greater humidity is needed, a spray system below the racks provides the option of adding more water to the area. After curing, the finger car moves the products to the lowerator, from where they are conveyed to the cubing area on roller conveyors.
60 pavers per layer
Cubing is performed using a KVM clamp cuber, which is able to take the products from a larger number of pallets in a single pass. This makes it possible to produce a sales package in accordance with customer requirements. A pack of interlocking pavers consists of 60 pavers per layer. This cuber is very flexible and the time required to change from one product to another is very short. The outfeed line allows for vertical and horizontal strapping of the packs. The empty pallets are cleaned by brushing and treated before they are turned for use on the opposing side in the next cycle. After turning, they are grouped into stacks of 25 pallets and transported to the block machine using an automatic transfer unit. The stacks are used as a buffer to allow the machine to produce even in the event of brief interruptions at the cubing line.
The plant is fully computer-controlled, and the proc-ess is controlled by PLCs. All product parameters are stored as recipes and can be retrieved when the product is to be manufactured for the next time. This ensures compliance with the exceedingly stringent quality requirements defined by the Gulf Cement Industries Factory, which adhere to the international standards for production quality (BS & ASTM), ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001-2007 certification by QRS.
Customer very satisfied with the service
To minimize any stoppage, the production line can be supervised and operated remotely from the KVM premises, which gives the manufacturing technicians the possibility to go on-line and perform troubleshooting and preventive maintenance. This is a true benefit that has been highly appreciated by the management during the learning and training process and start-up of the line.
“I am very satisfied with the service we got during the installation and start of the plant,” says Muhammad Sayed Al Khaili. “Whenever we had a problem we just contacted KVM, and they informed us how to proceed and this has been a great benefit for us,” adds Mr. Sayed Al Khaili.
