11/26/2013
The Russian precast concrete manufacturer DSK Blok („LSR Stroitelstvo – North-West“) modernises its St. Petersburg plant
About five years ago, LSR-Group, the leading construction and construction materials group in northwest Russia, took in operation one of the most advanced production plants for precast concrete parts at their plant DSK BLOK in St. Petersburg. Now the company modernised the plant for a second time and increased its capacity. And as with the first upgrade, the Russian construction company was again supported by Weckenmann Anlagentechnik.
The second stage of modernisation was triggered by the company’s success: The demand for the innovative house building system of DSK BLOK had increased enormously. This system reduces heat losses by up to 30% thanks to an energy efficient technology. DSK BLOK has been building this kind of houses since 2008. A house with this building system is completely made of precast concrete, and the building – unlike in conventional sandwich construction – consists of bearing walls with a thermal insulation composite system. Solid floor slabs, load-bearing interior walls, lift shaft elements, stairs, landings, balconies and attic slabs complement the shell construction. With this as basis, large numbers of top-quality housing units can be built.
Given the rise in the number of orders and the continuing positive trend in the domestic market, the management team decided to expand its production in the second largest city in Russia and to bring the plant up to the latest technological Standard.
The technical upgrade of the plant was carried out while it remained in operation. From June 2012 to November 2012, Weckenmann specialists were on site to assist in integrating eight battery moulds with different dimensions and a pallet circulation system with a handling robot for formwork profiles in the production line and to put these into operation. This upgrade alone allows capacity to be increased to nearly 2,000 square metres of wall panels and 1,000 square metres of floor slabs per day. The modern circulation system with its 40 shuttering pallets and shuttering robot play a crucial role in this improvement. Its operation is based on the so-called twin-Z technology. Two synchronised vertical axes grip the shutters directly at the integrated magnets. The result: the 3,580 mm wide and 160 mm thick solid floor slabs are produced at a cycle speed that is up to 60 per cent faster than conventional robots. In addition, the magnetic formwork enables the production of an infinitely wide range of products. This allows DSK BLOK to now offer their customers customised precast concrete parts in any shape and form.
Another step in the technological upgrade of the manufacturing process in St. Petersburg is the modern CAD and ERP software that has been installed as part of the system. The master computer now takes over the pallet data from the CAD data and use it to generate the corresponding production data for the precast concrete plant where currently 17 battery moulds, each with 20 chambers and two circulation systems supplied by Weckenmann, are in Operation.
Significantly higher capacity, an extended range with optimised quality products, lower production and maintenance costs, a reduced share of manual labour and much improved working conditions – these were the objectives to be achieved by modernising the plant. And achieved they were through room for innovative ideas and the exemplary cooperation between experts from Weckenmann and DSK BLOK. This has allowed the LSR Group to strengthen its position in the Russian Federation as a leader in the field of housing construction. Their precast concrete plants in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Ekatherinburg produce around one million square metres of living space per year.
