More than 30 years with automation

We have had a talk with Jacob Thorhauge, Managing Director at Centrum Pæle, and Martin Slothuus, Project leader automation, about Centrum Pæles focus on automation for more than 30 years.

Automation at Centrum Pæle dates back to the late 1980s.

“Our owner at the time knew that if we were to optimise our production while focusing on quality and safety, it was important to develop production methods” – Jacob explains.

Acquired by a larger group

In 1990, Centrum Pæle was sold to a construction group. One of the reasons for this was that they wanted to focus more on automation. By becoming part of a larger group, the company also gained greater resources for the extensive development work in automation.

Hard-wearing work

The first major project started after Centrum Pæle was acquired, was the automation of the welding of the reinforcement cages.

“For the first many years, the reinforcement cages were hand-tied. It was extremely time-consuming and labour-intensive. The ironworkers were a strong group in the workplace and they had a ten-minute break every hour because it was such hard work. Therefore, the company set out to develop a welding machine for the reinforcement mesh itself. The welding machine was put into operation in 1995 and on average, it has produced 6-700,000 metres of reinforcing mesh per year since then” – says Jacob.

The welding machine has not only optimised the binding and welding process, it has also benefited the working environment and safety for the employees by reducing heavy lifting and injuries.

Martin goes on to explain that when new automation machines are developed, the focus is on ensuring that they don’t impair processes or reduce reliability, among other things. In other words, it must make work easier for employees.

“We work with the KIS approach, which stands for keep it simple. In the case of Centrum Pæle, this means that the automation equipment must be simple and functional and easy to maintain” – mentions Martin.

International mindset

In addition to optimising production processes at our factories in Vejle and Hedensted, Martin explains that there is also a focus on using the automation equipment at our sister factories in Poland, Germany, Sweden and England.

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