WEILER, an OEM supplier of machinery and production plants for precast concrete products, has introduced what it claims to be the world’s first mobile plant for the production of prestressed hollowcore slabs for floors and walls.

The system now enables location-independent set-up, facilitating the implementation of projects in remote locations. This apart, the fully mobile plant for the manufacture of hollowcore slabs can also be used for large projects, enhancing flexibility as production can take place at the building site itself.

“This new piece of pioneering work from weiler meets an absolute need in the market,” says a company spokesman. “Through this new innovation, weiler offers the construction industry a totally new perspective and ample opportunities in design, production and expansion.”

Shortly after its initial concept planning and development in the early summer of 2010 and the first test runs, the world’s first mobile hollowcore plant went into operation in Mexico – with the full support of weiler technicians – for the GOF group, a leading precast engineering, production and construction player in southern Mexico (Oaxaca). The company was able to produce complete houses with hollowcore slabs for ceilings and walls without additional framework.

The plant has proved to be an important asset and is integral to the future plans of the GOF group, which is already preparing to expand in a big way into the housing and industrial construction markets, continues the spokesman.

The advantages are obvious, he points out: erection can be done within five to 10 days, with minimal preparation and investment. “Within a short time, a fully-equipped production plant for hollowcore concrete slabs is locally available, allowing a capacity of 120 to 1,000 sq m per day.

“The mobile weiler system increases a precast hollowcore supplier’s area of operations and drastically reduces its transportation costs,” he adds.

“The development of the mobile plant also enables many young and established players in the market to enter the hollowcore business and makes the location of the plant a secondary issue,” he says.

The plant, therefore, allows their operators to bid for remote projects, start production on site in days and move as required, without having to purchase land and eliminating the need for a production hall or bridge cranes. The units come fully equipped with mobile batch plant (zero slump), extruder and mould, saw, portable steel beds, tensioning and de-tensioning equipment, portable gantry crane and accessories. Operators can also opt for low-cost start-up with incremental expansion, starting with one bed and increasing as necessary (maximum three beds) and adding heating for six-hour cure cycle and doubling bed capacity.

“Investment payback with 400,000 sq ft (37,000 sq m) of slab production is approximately six months  and the machines help produce the lightest, strongest slabs and longest spans in the market – spans of up to 72 ft (22 m) with compressive strengths of 9,000 to 12,500 psi,” he says.

As a German family business with more than 50 years of experience, weiler has distinguished itself through its pioneering spirit. Through continuous evolvement, the initial machine building company has become a worldwide supplier of turnkey plants for precast concrete products. Today, weiler not only provides complete precast concrete plants, but is also a single-source provider of all machinery, ranging from those used for the processing of raw materials to the storage of finished products.

Using advanced dry mix (zero slump) concrete technology on railed beds up to 180 m long, weiler slipformer and extruder machines produce a complete range of precast, prestressed and modular concrete products for residential, commercial and industrial construction. These include more than 200 precast plants and 500 production machines worldwide.

The company employs European quality standards and premium brand components (such as Siemens, Bosch, SKF and ABB) and has a local service and maintenance programme supporting manufacturers at all stages of growth.

Weiler units find use in private housing, as well as commercial and industrial building construction and high-rise buildings. They include, among others, ceiling systems such as hollowcore panels and ceiling beams; load-bearing and non-load-bearing wall panels – solid, hollow or sandwich; products for concrete frame work such as columns and beams; and precast foundations, piles and lintels.