Topic 5: Quality through consistency and reduction of failures

Case: “Geelen Beton Wanssum”

Geelen Beton Wanssum has been producing prefab concrete construction components since 1987 (up to max. 30 tons) and floors (wide-slab and cassette). The company produces most of its own reinforcement for the construction components. There are approximately 180 employees in Wanssum, of which 150 work in production and technical services. Drafting and engineering activities are carried out by 12 drafters and 4 design engineers.

Geelen Beton Wanssum started talks with Technosoft because the company was looking for a company that could offer a software solution for managing the desired automated reinforcement production. Considering the innovative character of this project, there was also a need for a solutions-oriented sparring partner that had technical expertise and experience with managing machinery operations.

Technosoft Methodology

The ideas and needs of Geelen Beton Wanssum were discussed during two orientation meetings. A comprehensive functional analysis followed, which showed that the development of the necessary software was technically feasible. Software development commenced thereafter. During the phased delivery, a number of new ideas arose, whereby Technosoft was consulted to assess technical feasibility. Modified and added functionality was well documented and implemented. Technosoft was also heavily involved in the delivery, implementation and testing.

Needs analysis

Geelen Beton needed an effective method to operate a robot that produces 3D reinforcement, by providing effective delivery of production data (keeping in mind the type of concrete and the  installed functionalities, as well as the limitations of the machine).

Vision behind possible solutions

This required specific knowledge of prefabricated concrete and experience with similar processes in order to achieve good results; Technosoft as the knowledge and experience (we have been generating 2D reinforcement for floors for years). Technosoft quickly came to the conclusion that Geelen Beton would benefit the most from optimizing the reinforcement in the drawing office for faster production and continuity in the factory.

Chosen solutions

• Parametric component and reinforcement drawing in 2D with 3D generation;
• Technosoft played an active role in the preliminary process to help determine the software and the process how the final goal would be achieved; the user interface plays an important role with a clear process, good defaults and checks for incorrect entries;
• A modification was made to how the concrete form is drawn as well as the method for setting up pouring equipment;
• The construction and housing supervision reinforcement is put in place with the help of a number of wizard screens, after which specific details can be handled manually with the help of powerful tools;
• In the end, this construction and housing reinforcement is converted into production reinforcement whereby the reinforcement on equipment, coverage and all types of machine specific conditions undergoes a full assessment in which rods are moved, shortened or  lengthened so that there are as few problems as possible that have to be resolved manually by the drafter.

Advantages for Geelen Beton Wanssum:

• All reinforcement can now be produced internally; this gives the company a lot more flexibility in scheduling and duration (previously 5 days for one external component, which can now be handled internally in 1-2 days);
• The drafters’ work is now standardized in terms of format, equipment and reinforcements, which makes it easier for drafters to take over each other’s work if necessary. This has a positive effect on the quality of the drawings;
• Substantial improvements have been made to the method used for determining quantities; time-wasting calculations to determine content and centre of gravity are a thing of the past (now this is done at the touch of a button); this also applies to creating lists for components and equipment;  
• The additional time it takes to convert construction and housing reinforcement is more than recovered during production;
• Manual welding work has become practically unnecessary; this also means that the company is less dependent on tradesmen, such as welders (who are hard to find in the job market), which guarantees business continuity;
• All expectations were exceeded after one year of operations with the reinforcement robot (the machine works 24 hours a day);
• The effect of the improvements to the work handled by the drawing office had already become evident at a much earlier stage;
• The process could always be better and faster; the close relationship between Technosoft and the customer ensures that this improvement process can continue;
• So much information can be obtained from the “Unitechnik” exchange files (production files) that other machines can also be supplied with this information;
• They are also particularly well-suited for post-calculations to improve the sales process.

References with similar solutions from Technosoft

• Dycore Systeemvloeren B.V. in Hasselt
• Kerkstoel Beton N.V.
• Orion Beton N.V.