A smart investment: Gandrup Element A/S switches to automated in-house production of reinforcing mesh

The current steel price increase also has a tangible impact on the business environment of Gandrup Element. However, Managing Director Mai-Britt Wentzel, who is running the company together with her husband, Karsten Wentzel Jensen, is optimistic that the new plant will enable them to better cope with these challenging times.

State-of-the-art construction with precast elements in Denmark

The company employs 15 fitters who travel across Denmark to assemble the precast concrete houses designed by Gandrup Element A/S, focusing on office and residential buildings. Just recently, they erected a single-story detached house with a living space of approximately 150 m² within a single day: In the morning, the owner stood in front of a construction site; in the evening, he could already enter the shell of the building. The business took another major step towards securing its future by purchasing the mesh-welding system to be able to reinforce the precast elements more quickly and cost-effectively and to process orders more flexibly and with less wear.

M-System BlueMesh mesh-welding machine – a sound investment

The main reason for purchasing the plant was the ability to produce reinforcing mesh in-house in an automated process saving both time and money. However, the new system also brought about a welcome change for the company’s employees because the machine handles detailing work directly and automatically. Previously, reinforcing mesh had to be purchased, and shop-floor staff had to prepare and fabricate it in tedious manual work steps. This task is now taken over by the new M-System BlueMesh machine. This long-planned investment was made in summer 2021, and both company management and the workers on the factory floor are satisfied with it. So far, the plant has been running in single-shift operation, producing about 5 tons of mesh per day. However, management are confident that they will be able to increase this quantity in the future. To accommodate the new mesh-welding plant, Gandrup Element even constructed a new 1,700 m² factory building using the company’s own precast elements. The building and the plant were recently completed and put into service. This investment is justified not only by the more convenient manufacturing environment enabling independent, faster production but also by the environmental aspects associated with it. This is because the M-System BlueMesh optimizes various parameters and leads to significant savings in terms of carbon emissions, waste, freight, etc.

Automated system minimizes manual work and increases flexibility

The M-System BlueMesh mesh welding system from Progress Maschinen & Automation, a Progress Group company, works directly off coil and can produce elements with or without blockouts just-in-time and in a gridless arrangement. Each production phase is assigned to a single work station, allowing the individual components of the system to operate independently of each other in order to ensure a continuous flow of production. The integrated MSR straightening and cutting machine is equipped with five separate rotors for different wire diameters and ensures consistent straightening results thanks to the implemented rotor straightening technology. Specified bar lengths and spacings can thus be prefabricated very accurately in wire diameters of up to 16 mm. The finished longitudinal and transverse bars are then conveyed to the welding station in a fully automated work step. The BlueMesh system also makes the production of custom mesh easier by its six integrated, flexibly adjustable welding heads. The required production data is taken from the structural engineering software (i.e. the CAD data) on the basis of a bending list, processed as required, and transferred to the machine. The software required for this process step was supplied by Progress Software Development, which is also a company of the Progress Group. An automated mesh transport system including a lifting beam and automated stacking unit additionally reduces strenuous manual work and increases throughput.

A conscious decision for progress through automation

Mai-Britt Wentzel and her husband, Karsten Wentzel Jensen, opted for Progress because the company had already successfully supplied mesh welding machines to other well-known players on the Danish market: “Progress know the Danish market very well and have earned a solid reputation, which we can only confirm. We are also very happy with the new system.”