Finnish manufacturer of high-performance machinery and equipment for precast industry – X-TEC – is quite hopeful of enhancing its market share in the Gulf market, especially as the region kicks off a plethora of multi-million dollar construction projects.

“Established a decade ago, the company has successfully delivered complete production lines, factory systems and equipment to numerous clients in more than 20 countries spread across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia,” says a company spokesman.
X-TEC focuses on designing hollow-core slab extruders and related machinery such as: saw machines, pre-stressing machines, lifting devices, plotters, concrete transport systems and other hollow-core slab manufacturing equipment which aim to upgrade the overall level of automation. In addition, the company also supplies solid plank machines for composite floor structures as well as extruder machinery for wall planks.
X-TEC enjoys close cooperation with its many partners in the precast market worldwide. “Thanks to fruitful partnerships, X-TEC complements its product pallet with system level expertise, consulting on both factory design and building systems,” says the spokesman. “Several architecturally significant buildings of international scale have been constructed utilising X-TEC systems. Our best partners are our clients and our relationships with international technical research boards and the construction world have proven to be a beneficial forum for innovative dialogue.’’
Mainly used by contractors of residential and industrial buildings, the hollow-core slab offers several benefits in comparison to other types of construction floor materials, the spokesman claims.
The economical advantages, he says, are:
• Long extruded slabs allow builders to avoid intermediate load-bearing walls of conventionally-built spaces, thus enlarging the interior area – be it an apartment, parking area or commercial space;
• Absence of heavy inner load-bearing walls helps minimise concrete volume, reduce building weight, thereby lessening the load on the foundation;
The marketing advantages:
• Free choice of layout allows for flexible arrangement of the required number of rooms (using light partitions), which attracts families of varying sizes to the area;
• An advantage to modify living spaces as compared to other standard conventionally-built flats; and
• Possibility to produce slabs outside the building perimeter or cut them at a different angle, allowing for easy architectural changes to be incorporated into buildings of standard designs.
Among the construction advantages are:
• Construction takes less time and is technologically easier;
• Minimal plaster and finishing work because of the flat, ready-to-paint-slab surfaces and the absence of ceiling projections – which helps cut extensively on construction costs;
• Familiar technology provides control for construction quality.
In addition, X-TEC support does not end there but extends even to the end-product - the hollow core slabs, to cover:
• Properties of the slabs;
• Dimensioning of the slabs and slab fields;
• Handling practices;
• Slab modifications to special purposes; and
• Marketing.
“The support is partly based on our own resources and partly assisted by our global precast partners. X-TEC customers have also the opportunity to join, by application, in the International Prestressed Hollow Core Association (IPHA). IPHA is an independent information exchange forum of hollow core slab producers,” he concludes.