High-quality Prestressed Precast Components from Guaramirim in Southern Brazil

The company Antares was founded in 1980 in Jaraguá do Sul in the northern part of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina by Vilmar Emmendoerfer and began first with the production of industrialized building systems, in order to be able to offer an economical, high quality alternative to traditional methods through prefabrication.

Already three years later the enterprise began manufacturing, from precast concrete components all the way to entire warehouses, in the process becoming a pioneer of this type of construction in Brazil. Through constant innovation and investments in new technologies, the company was able to raise the bar with respect to higher quality, durability and cost savings in prefabricated products.

In 1996 another important milestone was achieved when a new production facility was built in the neighboring city of Guaramirim with nearly 10,000 m² floor space on a total of 300,000 m² factory premises. Currently there are around 90 employees, including numerous qualified technicians and engineers. Antares Pré-Fabricados is active in various segments of prefabrication and offers a variety of products, in order to be able to meet all the requirements of their customers while maintaining technical standards and concepts.

More than 4,000 completed reference projects

With more than 4,000 completed reference projects Antares has, since its founding, become one of the best-known precast concrete component manufacturers in Santa Catarina and strives to improve its products and services each and every day. Their bandwidth extends, starting from industrial buildings in Joinville, Blumenau and Curitiba to agricultural buildings in Guaramirim and Araquari, car dealerships in Rio Negrinho and Itajaí and supermarkets in Chapecó and Penha to office and bank buildings in Barra Velha or Jaraguá do Sul.

As soon as the BFT editor arrived from Germany he felt almost as though he were back home at the Antares plant – and it wasn’t just the extraordinarily warm hospitality of the Emmendoerfer family. Both the names of the owners of the company and of the cities of Blumenau, Pomerode and Schroeder in the nearby “European Valley” are German.

In this part of Brazil precast concrete construction is highly valued. Tiago Emmendoerfer, Sales Director at Antares, explains: “Here in Santa Catarina and in the southern neighboring state of Rio Grande do Sul we have a high concentration of precast component suppliers; for example, in a radius of about 100 km around Guaramirim there are almost 30 competitors. After a couple of years of recession, among other things due to the current prevailing political circumstances, the market has gradually stabilized again, so that probably in 2020 – just in time for our company’s 40-year anniversary – we will be back operating at full capacity.”

Extensive product range

At Antares, there is a special pride in the prestressed precast concrete elements of the most diverse constructions, especially beam and pile elements for height and civil construction which are produced with diameters from 16 x 16 to 23 x 23 cm and in lengths from 4 to 12 m. Other products are TT panels (PI panels), ABNT precast element ladders, ceiling slabs and panels, various wall and ventilation panels, backboard elements, agricultural building panels, concrete drainage rails and precast elements.

To avoid costly accessory purchases, the manufacturer has developed some technically brilliant ideas. In this regard, explains Diogo Emmendoerfer, Technical Director at Antares: “Being a family business we naturally take advantage of flat hierarchies and short decision making. In addition to our father Vilmar as CEO and our sister Maiara as Chief Financial Officer, Tiago and I are part of management. For example, our technicians were free to develop new concrete armature slabs that can be manufactured here at the factory. For other raw materials such as cement, concrete additives, etc., we are betting on our suppliers, longtime partners such as Camargo Química and MC Bauchemie.”

From self test lab to final quality control

According to the recommendations ABNT and ABCIC (Brazilian Association for Industrial Concrete Constructions), Antares conducts rupture tests in outsourced laboratory and other tests in the factory itself, to control the behavior of concrete. In addition, the company has its own concrete plant that allows for optimized revenues and subsequently higher quality and profitability.

Antares has state-of-the-art machines that ensure higher productivity, for example a CNC controlled automatic bending and cutting machine for the armature. Transport vehicles are suitable for supplying and assembling precast elements. From project start to final construction it is ensured that all work steps are performed under the control of expert engineers to ensure the necessary safety and quality.

Last but not least, for the ongoing training of company employees are offered course programs and lectures on relevant topics. No wonder Diogo and Tiago Emmendoerfer attended CSG Engineering’s “Technical Mission to Italy 2018” to learn about precast concrete construction in Europe as well as international colleagues.