Safety first: How to develop safety and reliability in precast production machinery

Knowing the capacity figures or the price tag of a production line is not enough when making an investment decision. According to Jouni Sirkka, Director of Product Development at Elematic, safety at the precast factory is what really counts.

“Creating a safe production line means that, in every single delivery, we make a risk analysis and evaluation that covers the whole supply chain and the entire life cycle of the line – from logistics and startup to operation and maintenance.”

The team that analyses the risks of the supply chain is always formed from people with different viewpoints on safety. Some work closer to product development, others may have views on the safety of the logistics, for example.

“The risk analysis is the basis for all manuals, instructions on safety gear, safety training, and operation and maintenance training,” Sirkka says.

Equipment automation is increasing all the time. “We develop the safety logics in our machinery constantly to ensure safe operation. Critical functions are duplicated to minimize any failures.”

Reliable and safe technology and automation lead to less downtime when the risks and the way of operating in exceptional production situations have been anticipated well beforehand.

“We aim to reduce human error in all of our equipment. It is considered from the external shield of the equipment to the very core of the machine, and the ways of operating and maintaining it.”

The latest innovations in the field include the loop installation machine for safer lifting of slabs, the inverter in our saw, and the battery mold opening-and-closing device.

HIGH PERFORMANCE SAWS cut versatile pre-stressed products safely.  Elematic’s fully automated E9-500 saw is designed for cutting elements vertically up to 520 mm in any direction. A new inverter drive makes the saw easier and safer to operate: the blade can now be stopped automatically and quickly after cutting. Changing the blade is also easier. E9-500 includes an efficient dust removal system consisting of vacuum and an automatically adjusting blade cover to minimize emissions and reduce noise.

Casting cells with cast elements weigh several tons, and operating the opening and closing of the mold is a heavy work phase for the operator. This innovation has its roots in discussions with our customers. The easy-to-use, ergonomic mechanism opens and closes the mold at the press of a button. This improves work safety and ergonomics, minimizing the risk of injury. The battery mold device includes a semiautomatic, fixed chain mechanism at the bottom of the mold. A control cabin with push buttons is the default way to operate the device, and a radio-control option is available for challenging working spaces.

People who have worked on the battery mold previously have experienced ache and stress on the hands and upper arms due to the heavy opening and closing operations. With the new device, there is no need to operate the mold manually with a ratchet wrench – the mechanism can be operated without continuously burdening the same arm.

Manual scissors for lifting precast elements are now a thing of the past.

The Looper E9 enables easy and fast installation of lifting loops.

It makes a hole in the unhardened hollow-core slab, installs a lifting loop in the hole, and compacts the concrete around the loop to reinforce the strand. The patented looper machine travels along the rails following the casting machine, and the installation of the loops is done automatically.

This results in safe and secure fastening and stable quality.

The Automatic Elematic E9-16-5a is a radio controlled lifting beam for precast wall products. It improves work site efficiency and safety and makes complicated chain lifting history. The new beam was designed to replace unsafe climbing on the wall element during lifting operations. The easy-to-mount hooks give a secure grip for the lift. Climbing is no longer needed to reach the hook when mounting the product on the beam. There is no time-consuming chain mounting as the lifting beam is equipped with lifting hooks. The lifting beam features traffic lights that indicate when the hook is properly placed and it is safe to start lifting.