MCT Italy equipped one of the most automated factories in West Poland

Formee Sp. z o.o. is a manufacturer and contractor of structures made of prefabricated concrete. The factory is located in Miedzyrzecz and the core business is to offer comprehensive solutions for the design, manufacture and installation of precast elements. Formee brings together a team of expertise with extensive experience in turn-key projects in the field of housing, agricultural, industrial and most complex public buildings.

The production capacity is 35,000 m3 or 200,000 m2 of prefabricated elements per year and the full range of products is composed of:

production line for massive and sandwich walls made of ordinary and light expanded clay concrete,

production line for balconies;

production of filigree and massive slabs

linear elements like columns and beams;

automated line for the production of stairs

automated line for the production of reinforcement.

During Covid time in the middle of 2021, due to the significant increase in demand and in line with our client requests, the Company has decided to invest EUR 20 million to increase the production.

This once more ratifies the commitment and confidence in the development of the country and the modern plant has a large capacity to produce elements of any geometry based on Tekla BIM systems, delivering high-quality products to the construction site.

Applications and advantages of prefabrication

Formee Sp. z o.o. precast elements are widely used for:

residential (single-family, multi-family);

industrial (industrial halls, warehouses, offices, commercial facilities, stations, car parks);

agricultural (silos, piggeries, chicken coops);

The main advantages are:

dimensional accuracy and consequent integration with auxiliary elements (e.g. windows, kitchens) already in the workshop;

quality of the surface;

assembly speed and shortening the construction time by 30%.

implementation of projects also at below-zero temperatures;

high fire resistance;

greater resistance to aggressive biological and chemical environments;

exceptionally short time of building outdoor (a medium-sized single-family house can be completed within tree weeks from the date of signing the contract);

the flexibility of the system allows to perform any – even the most complex – project.

New Concrete Plant

The key component of this new factory, the new complete batching plant to feed the entire operation, was studied in depth throughout the development process within Formee Sp. z o.o., selecting MCT Italy as the best partner for this important step for the group, meant also to strengthen their presence in the Polish construction business by starting a proprietary asset for the precast elements manufacturing.

The plant itself comprises of a receiving hopper where the lorries discharge their materials and these are then taken via a bucket elevator to the aggregate storage hoppers. The materials are then distributed into the correct compartment through a reversible shuttle belt, and all of these functions are controlled by the MCT Aggregate Feeding system, which runs independently from the main control system.

Five Aggregate hoppers with a capacity of 40m³ each, 200m³ in total, then receive the materials, and these are monitored via laser probes to ensure the precise volumes are both checked for materials used and materials being properly discharged when filled from the aggregate feeding system.

When a mix is called, the materials are collected by MCT’s Mobile Aggregate weigh batcher, capacity of 2 m³, the ‘mobile scale’ travels under each compartment and receives the correct material volumes, it also allows the materials to be discharged in any order allowing ‘premix’ of material prior to arriving in the mixer. There were several reasons why this was used over a conventional batching / weigh belt arrangement. Primary reasons were greater accuracy of materials being weighed, lower investment costs, elimination of material spillage.

The ‘skip hoist’ then take the materials to the 3000/2000 planetary mixer, which provide the factory with their concrete. Upon the mixer platform are the normal components such as Cement Weighing, Water distribution, Admix & dust extraction. The mixer has 2 doors allowing further expansion to second travelling bucket line if required in the future. Cement is fed from 3 No. Silo’s 3x 100T (80m³) to the mixer. The concrete is discharged into MCT’s travelling bucket to be supplied to bay 1, with total distance of 200m all of which is controlled via MCT’s own control system, providing the optimum delivery around the entire site in automatic mode. The rollover bucket has a capacity of 3000 liters and can travel at speeds of up to 240m per minute and deliver the concrete directly to the concrete distributor for concrete casting.

The mixers and travelling buckets are washed via MCT’s own deigned washing heads and all the washed water and materials are gathered below the plant where they are separated and this water is recycled back into the plant, the waste material can also be recycled. All of the dosing, mixing and concrete distribution is controlled via MCT’s very own Compumat system, which is intuitive.

Added value partner and long-lasting cooperation

Eng. Falchetti Gabriele, Area Manager for MCT, comments: “The whole plant supporting structures, the aggregates storage and all the conveyors are hot dip galvanized, ensuring a long lifespan of the plant, which being the heart of the main factory meant to develop this Polish region, will need to operate at full load and efficiency for a very long time, fulfilling its important role for our partner and for this important market of ours. We at MCT fully understand the importance of our supplies in the assets of private companies as well as in the social fabric of the regions hosting them, so we do not compromise with anything concerning quality, efficiency and support. For this latter in particular, the expertise of our local partner Ciepiela Technology is a real added value, and it was a pleasure to engage this project development with them and with the whole Formee Sp. z o.o. team. The teamwork and the creation of such partnerships is always paramount for the successful outcome of our projects”.

Looking further ahead, however, Eng. Rafał Kubrycht envisions more investment and advances for the business to come. “Formee Sp. z o.o is exceptionally well located, being just a few miles from the close to big Polish towns like Poznan, Szczecin and Wrocław, near to German border and close to Scandinavian market: “In 2022 we have completed the new precast concrete plant, as well as obtaining CE and Nordcert quality certificates for our precast products. Year 2022 has been full of challenges and hard work. Beginning from buildup and manage the building site of plant closing on technology of precast plant. We created a company from scratch full of energy and passion by building individual departments, creating a modern factory, based on modern management, design and production systems. Together with our partners MCT Italy and Ebawe Anlagentechnik, we have created one of the most modern concrete prefabrication plants in Poland. We thank our customers for the trust you have placed in us.”