Biggest automated precast plant in Hungary starts production

Building and securing the future with automation

Belonging to the 100% Hungarian-owned Bayer Construct group of companies, Viastein Kft., in addition to its existing paving stone factory, started production in its precast concrete element plant equipped with state-of-the-art technology at Biharkeresztes Industrial Park located in the south-east of Hungary. Thanks to the investment, both the costs of construction projects and construction times are significantly reduced because the assembly of the building itself will become much more efficient. With its 20,000 sqm production building, the newly commissioned facility is the largest automated plant in Hungary, according to the supplier. The investment created 220 new jobs in the region. Built on a total area of 14 hectares, the plant enables the production of 60,000 m³ of elements and the construction of 2,000 apartments and 300-400 single-family homes per year.

The investment opens a new chapter in the field of prefabrication technologies in the Hungarian construction industry and serves the construction of industrial facilities, office and residential buildings with products such as walls, floors, stairs and other supporting structures. Bayer’s product range includes solid walls, insulating walls, twin walls, climatic slabs, insulated sandwich panels, stairs, columns, beams and many more.

New plant includes state-of-the-art solutions

A precast plant as modern and automated as this one consists of many innovative machines working seamlessly together. In this case, the industry front runner chose another leader in its field for supplying the machinery and the relevant technology: Progress Group. The group of companies provides complete solutions thanks to its various subsidiaries covering the individual fields. The machinery for precast element and reinforcement production as well as the software were delivered from this single source, involving group companies Ebawe Anlagentechnik, Progress Maschinen & Automation, Tecnocom, and Progress Software Development. Besides the production methods as such, the produced precast components are also state-of-the-art, Green Code licensed elements. This system ensures a perfect indoor climate while saving energy and being the most efficient in heating and cooling. In addition, it provides superior air quality while being optimized acoustically.

Zsolt Kovács, Managing Director of Viastein Kft., explains the investment decision: “The main reasons for choosing Progress Group as a supplier were the forward-looking and highly automated approach of the company in all aspects of precast, from design to production. The fulfillment of customers’ needs in a way in which productivity and quality remain on the highest level is impressive.” He adds: “The knowledge center and experience ‘warehouse’ of Green Code is boosting the development of the precast business in all areas. Short response times and targeted support are essential in order to meet the most sophisticated needs. With the help of Green Code and Progress Group, learning curves can be shortened dramatically, and learning costs can also be minimized.”

Modern production on pallets

Precast element production comprises three essential parts: rebar and mesh production, the software system and, as a matter of course, the carousel plant technology sourced from Ebawe Anlagentechnik, in which the pallet is circulating with the precast element, transporting it to the various steps of production. Within the carousel plant, the first step is always to clean the pallet previously released from the rail-mounted pallet stacker. There the finished elements were stored for curing and made ready for shipping with the aid of the highly functional tilting equipment and the run-off carriage designed for a maximum load of 25 tons. After being de-shuttered automatically and cleaned on the pallet cleaning device, the pallet is fed back into the system for a new production sequence. The Form Master shuttering and de-shuttering robot, a highly automated machine, uses the CAD/PXML data transmitted to it. The data is transferred onto the pallet using a fully automated plotter, which marks where the molds should be put relying on a highly accurate laser positioning system.

Flexible, high-output mesh production

The custom mesh for the precast elements is also produced in a highly automated process using the innovative M-System Evolution mesh welding plant from Progress Maschinen & Automation. Through its high output and automated production, this plant provides even higher flexibility for producing the tailored mesh in any combination of lengths, widths and pitches as well as bar sizes of up to 16 mm. The resistance spot-welding robot and the integrated production process control system are the cornerstones of this plant. CAD/CAM data input capability, system monitoring and error diagnostics are essential features of the system. Welding is carried out by the gantry welding robot, which is computer-controlled, thus ensuring precise production and efficient energy usage. In addition, wire changeover is performed fully automatically, and all wire diameters are permanently clamped into their own rotor to be available just in time. The 10-meter run-off is pneumatically driven and equipped with catching stations on its entire length. The facility is also equipped with a mesh stacking carriage and an automatic magnetic transfer system for mesh transport. This transfer system removes the complete mesh for the pallet in the determined sequence guided by CAD/CAM instructions and then places it on the correct pallet.

Automation and software – the dream team of modern production

After inserting the reinforcement into the element, the pallet moves on to the next station. A fully automatic concrete spreader accelerates, and for compaction of the freshly poured concrete, compacting devices are installed suitable for variable and particularly heavy loads, thus ensuring a high-quality element surface at the same time. After curing, the pallets containing the finished precast elements are de-stacked from the curing rack via an automatically controlled pallet stacker. In the background, the software from Progress Software Development ensures a high-quality production process. Thanks to implementing the Ebos MES system, the plant provides an end-to-end solution catering to the entire production planning process while supporting every manufacturing step, including data input, process planning, production control, and process analysis. All aspects of the manufacturing process can be carried out in a single, user-friendly system. The innovative 3D visualization of the carousel plant makes it even easier to keep an eye on production from anywhere. The mebos mobile application providing information on the complete production process contributes to a paperless factory and ensures an even more sustainable production.

Ebos is part of the digital platform and, together with erpbos, guarantees a seamless vertical integration of all the business and production processes of Viastein Bayer across the different plants.

The Erpbos solution, which was developed specifically for the precast concrete industry, functions as a higher-level ERP system and provides specific industry functions in order to support the business processes. From sales, project management, engineering to production, assembly planning, logistics and supply chain management, everything is perfectly integrated and managed in this central system. The complete project life cycles are constantly updated, making it easy to keep costs and time under control at all times. Real-time decisions can be made based on production, capacity, and costs.

Molds for beams, columns, and stairs

Various types of molds were also installed within the new plant. Beams in total lengths of up to 50 m can be produced on a special mold supplied by Tecnocom. Another mold ensures the production of columns of up to 20 m in length. Furthermore, stair production was also automated using two new mold systems: a vertical staircase mold with landings which can produce stair elements with up to 18 steps and an electrically adjustable horizontal staircase ramp, which secures the flexible production of staircases in different inclinations as they can be adjusted from 25 to 40 degrees. The top and bottom parts of the mold include two landings with hinges measuring 2 by 3 meters, and the inclination is controlled through electric motors.

Ready for the future

“Progress Group fulfilled our expectations with the quality, support and mentality they deliver. For example, Progress Software Development provided us with a great roadmap for the implementation, support and maintenance of the Erpbos and Ebos systems belonging to the production lines. Special needs were handled and the customization of the solutions (machines and software) was done on a high level,” said the managing director of Viastein Kft.

The new factory ensures that the challenges arising in the construction industry in terms of capacity, construction time and quality can be effectively mastered using cutting-edge solutions. The production of precast products also serves this very purpose because, with the aid of these solutions, construction costs and time are reduced and individual projects become much more efficient.