Articles
As the managing director of an ailing, but well-established, manufacturing firm several years ago, Jos Mulken knew that addressing his business' problems required drastic action.
Voorbij Prefab in Amsterdam makes precast concrete sections for the construction sector – the walls, floors and ceilings of homes, offices, bridges and industrial plants. Mulken says: “Our markets were highly diverse and our lead times long, up to 5 weeks. Even though our products were good we were in serious trouble. In response we created the finest prefab factory in Europe, maybe the world.”
The radical solution turned his company's factory into what can be seen as the world's largest 3D printer - embracing the latest digital design and production methods, adopting disruptive business models and slashing the companies headcount.
Strategic changes
The first changes were related to the business. Voorbij narrowed its markets to focus on just housing and specialist industrial sectors. The company also increased investment in R&D to improve its products. It is now able to produce made-to-measure precast parts with reinforcements, doors and window frames, with wiring and pipework set intrinsically inside.
But the most drastic measure was a complete modernisation of its design and production processes. The company developed robots that link directly to several software applications, including Autodesk's Revit, which Mulken says was a key part of the process because it sits between the creative process and the production process.
Production-ready, tailor-made designs are sent straight to the robots on the production floor. Walls, facades and tops are made interchangeably. The process is more flexible and uses a 'just-in-time” supply chain, resulting in shorter lead times and higher quality product. Crucially for customers, says Mulken, it also makes the process more flexible. Adjustments can be made to the concrete parts just a few weeks before delivery.
Efficiency wins
Voorbij Prefab's factory can now produce 18 prefab houses a day. A prefab takes five days instead of five weeks to design. Casting moulds are made in six minutes instead of two days.
The increased use of software eliminated the need to use the consultants and specialists previously required to design the casts and develop the moulds for them. These consultants didn't collaborate, worked separately, and took weeks to produce reports, says Mulken. Instead, computer algorithms now consider all the possible mould designs in Revit with thousands of calculations. The best one is sent direct to the production floor robots.
The use of robots also meant the labour intensive production environment could be reduced from 180 to just 12 people. The robots make the casts to tolerances within 0.5mm, a much higher level of precision than previously. Software also generates the schedule and manages the robots and logistics in the factory.
Mulken says: “It took a lot of inventive thinking with forward thinking partners. In just nine months we moved a traditional manufacturing company into the middle of today's technology trends. The result is a product of much higher quality made using more sustainable methods. We are revolutionising the building sector”
Jeroen Pat, innovator at consultancy TBI Knowledge Lab, which helped with the Building Information Modelling and systems software for the project , says: “The profits are big and the smart solutions are smarter, and this is just the first step in our development. You could say it is the biggest 3D printer in Europe."
"We are looking at sensors that measure humidity and temperature and adding them to the process to make better quality concrete. We are adding traffic information to our systems to make our delivery truly just in time.”