New Carousel Plant for Precast Concrete
Production at Wöhrl

What began as a rural brickworks in the 19th century is now a modern precast concrete plant in its fifth generation. The Bavarian family-owned company Wöhrl recently commissioned a fully automated carousel plant for precast concrete elements, thereby making a forward-looking investment for future generations. Rising customer demand, a growing shortage of skilled workers and a 30-year-old plant made the investment inevitable. Together with its long-standing technology partner Progress Group and the planning office Prilhofer Consulting, a solution was developed that combines carousel technology, reinforcement production and digital planning software under one roof.

160 Years of Tradition – and the Courage to Embrace the New

The company’s history dates back to the 1860s. What began as a farmstead developed over the decades into a regional brickworks, where initially everything was produced by hand. It was not until the 1920s that the first machines were introduced, before World War II brought operations to a standstill. In 1948, the father of current managing director Thomas Wöhrl, then 19 years old, began rebuilding the company, drove forward mechanization and had the first tunnel kiln built in the mid-1960s. At the same time, he ventured into concrete slab production, at a time when many brickworks were still relying exclusively on their core product. This move toward diversification proved to be far-sighted and laid the foundation for the company’s economic success.

Growing Demand, Limited Space

Over the decades, the product portfolio grew steadily: planar brick technology, bricks filled with mineral wool and wood fiber, and increasing automation in concrete slab production. But the lack of space became a real obstacle to growth. Brick and slab storage areas competed for every square meter; products such as double walls could not be accommodated due to space constraints. At the same time, demand from building contractors rose noticeably, particularly for precast elements that save time and labor on the construction site. What Wöhrl could not supply had to be purchased from elsewhere.

Around six years ago, owner and managing director Thomas Wöhrl, together with planning partner Prilhofer Consulting and Progress Group, began tangible discussions about what a new, future-proof plant might look like. Implementation was scheduled to begin in 2020 – but a lengthy approval process delayed the start of construction by several years.

When material prices then skyrocketed as a result of the war in Ukraine and flooding damaged the completed hall infrastructure, the project became a real test of resilience. It was not until 2025 that production could finally begin in the new hall.

The Reasons: Market, Shortages and Modernization

According to the managing director, three factors made the investment in the new production line inevitable: first, increased customer demand, particularly for precast elements for multi-story residential construction, which is increasingly replacing traditional single- and two-family home construction in urban areas such as Munich, Ingolstadt, Landshut and Regensburg. Second, the dramatic decline in skilled workers, because any precast manufacturer wishing to remain competitive must reduce staffing requirements through automation. Third, after around 30 years, the existing plant had simply reached the end of its economic life cycle. Modernization would have been necessary in any case – so the decision was made to start fresh with an expanded product range and the possibility to expand it further in the future.

The New Plant: Fully Automated and Forward-Looking

At the heart of the modernization is a fully automated carousel plant capable of handling a wide range of modern precast concrete elements. Currently, the company primarily produces precast slabs with in-situ topping and double walls, the latter as its new flagship product. Thermal walls and solid walls are already in the planning stage and are scheduled to enter regular production in 2026. The portfolio is complemented by the reinforced brick infill slab – a niche product that is particularly in demand for renovation projects.

Production is now fully automated across two levels and incorporates a number of special technical features. On the upper level, the M-System BlueMesh mesh welding plant operates directly from the coil and can weld the cross bars to the longitudinal bars from both above and below. For the automation of reinforcement, a flexible Versa lattice girder welding machine was installed, the previous version of which had already been put to very good use in the old plant. “The new Versa has been tweaked a bit,” says Wöhrl with a smile, referring to the wider range of lattice girders it can produce – with height adjustment during ongoing production.

Another special feature is the fully automatic eCon Drive concrete distributor. The machine saves material and time thanks to the precise production data transmitted to it via Progress Group’s software. The carousel plant comprises a Form Master shuttering, deshuttering and storage robot, a pallet cleaner, a compaction unit with two vibrating frames, a turning device for double walls, an automated storage system and corresponding transport and logistics equipment.

A Decades-Long Partnership with Progress: More Than Just a Supplier

The collaboration with Progress Group dates back to the early 1990s. At that time, the father of the current managing director had the first straightening and cutting machine for reinforcement production installed – one of the first in southern Germany. Since then, the partnership has continued to develop: from standard machines to bespoke solutions developed jointly. As part of the latest expansion, Wöhrl has consistently relied on Progress Group as a full-range supplier, not only for carousel technology but also for the IT infrastructure.

Thus, in parallel with the plant engineering, the entire planning and production control system was renewed. Here too, the choice fell on software from Progress. Since 2018, Wöhrl has relied on Erpbos, the industry-specific ERP software that covers and centrally manages all business processes from sales and planning to billing. Since 2025, Wöhrl has also been using Ebosyc, a state-of-the-art software solution for carousel control. With 3D visualization, the integrated GPA (Graphical Performance Analyzer) enables real-time monitoring of production status as well as retrospective analysis. In addition, Wöhrl switched to Autodesk Revit with the BIMpro plug-in developed in-house by Progress.Progress is supporting Wöhrl in implementing Autodesk Revit for precast concrete element planning and generating the data for double-wall production. With BIMpro for Revit, the data for double-wall production is generated and automatically checked before export. The plug-in is currently also being introduced for slab production in order to generate the relevant data in future and make a full switch to Revit. Wöhrl had carefully considered the decision to choose Progress Group as the sole supplier, taking regional alternatives into account. The long-standing and well-established collaboration at all levels, from project development through assembly to ongoing operations, was ultimately the deciding factor for Wöhrl in choosing the group of companies headquartered in Brixen, South Tyrol. “The mindset is a good fit and we’re working with people we know well. That makes a big difference,” says Thomas Wöhrl about the collaboration.

The Future Through Automation

After some initial start-up difficulties, production is now running smoothly. Two-shift operation is possible, and the order book is picking up noticeably. For 2026, the company is aiming for a concreted area of 250,000 m²; if the economy picks up, production could also be increased in the following years. With a broad product portfolio comprising precast slabs with in-situ topping, double walls, thermal walls and brick products, as well as a central location in Bavaria, Wöhrl considers itself well-positioned to serve larger developers and investors within a radius of up to 100 km in the future.