Improving the operational efficiency and the working conditions for mixer cleaning

Walter Gerätebau GmbH manufactures cleaning systems for a wide range of applications, including a high-pressure cleaner for concrete mixers, transport buckets and concrete distributors. This system reduces cleaning times and personnel costs. In Germany, such an investment can even be subsidized by the quarry association on request: the service provider, within the scope of a premium system, supports operational investments of this kind that noticeably improve the working conditions of employees.
Walter Gerätebau GmbH has been manufacturing cleaning systems for over 30 years and is now in its second generation. It successfully implements its technologically advanced and reliable products worldwide. The range of operationally reliable and low-maintenance equipment offered builds on the comprehensive experience and expertise gathered by Walter Gerätebau GmbH as well as continuous product improvement and further development. The engineering development team at Walter Gerätebau GmbH gives special priority to minimizing the consumption of water and energy and to precise batching options in order to create particularly economical solutions. Simple operation, high quality and a long service life also receive special attention.
Saving costs by automatic cleaning
For the concrete industry, the company designed a very robust and reliable high-pressure cleaner for concrete mixers, transport buckets and concrete distributors. The system can be used for all brands of equipment. The automatic cleaning process considerably reduces personnel costs; moreover, the shorter cleaning times offer the great advantage of enabling the user to step up productivity. In addition, the workload of the employees is considerably eased, since the work-intensive manual cleaning commonly forces the workers to adopt an extremely unhealthy posture. Cleaning takes place with patented 3D nozzle systems; the precise spray geometry of these systems considerably reduces water consumption. The optimal arrangement of the nozzle system is determined individually by the supplier, depending on the type of plant and the application. The rotation of the nozzle systems ensures residue-free cleaning. Furthermore, this type of cleaning reduces wear on the mixer and, accordingly, the cost of maintenance. The automatic cleaning process is integrated into the production flow. The possibility of using the cleaning water as mixing water in the subsequent batches further relativizes water consumption.
Considerable advantages over manual cleaning Walter Gerätebau GmbH recently installed a mixer washing system at Transportbeton Insingen GmbH. The managing director of the ready-mixed concrete supplier, Reinhold Stellwag, expressed his satisfaction with the new equipment: “Automatic cleaning at the end of a work day saves enormous amounts of time and we are now in the fortunate situation to be able to extend our production time. The cleaning result is also considerably better than with manual cleaning,” explained Stellwag.
However, the most significant effect – even if it does not immediately show up in accounting – is the improvement of the working conditions of the employees, Stellwag elaborated: “Finding good workers is and remains difficult and the work in a concrete plant is not the cleanest. A positive change in the working environment is therefore of great importance. The enormous relief, of course, positively influences the employees’ attitude to the work and we are sure that we will see a reduction of sick days in the long run.”
Improvement pays off Transportbeton Insingen GmbH was, moreover, pleased to receive a financial subsidy from the German Industrial Mutual Accident Insurance Association for the Stone and Quarry Industry (StBG). The StBG, within the scope of a premium system, honors solutions that improve the working conditions in production facilities. Accordingly, companies that invest in a mixer washing system can apply to an appropriate mutual accident prevention and insurance association for financial assistance. In the first two years following implementation of this premium system, premiums amounting to 5.3 million Euros were paid out to 2,700 companies; the recognition rate was higher than 80%.
At the described concrete plant the subsidy came to about 7,000 Euros, amounting to around 30% of the investment sum. “The mixer washing system was a truly worthwhile supplement to our plant, one that our company would not want to be without,” Stellwag summarized.