Alabniah Precast Concrete Buildings Factory Flagship ... · ing like foundations, steel superstructure, crane tracks, mechanical & electrical ser-vices, HVAC, IT network etc. This

CPI – Concrete Plant International –2 | 2010 www.cpi-worldwide.com240

PRECAST CONCRETE ELEMENTS

Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Markus Obinger, Prilhofer Consulting,Germany

Alabniah is a company founded in late2005 with its headquarter in Al Khobarand it is a branch of the Adraj HoldingCompany. The chairman of the company isa strong believer in European technologyand the necessity of creating a clean andmodern working environment for the staff inthe factory to ensure precast concrete pro-ducts with top quality can be produced withhigh efficiency and at competitive prices.The aim was to set up a factory which deli-v ers this objective on a long term basis andwhich is more than one step ahead of theother precast factories in the Kingdom pro-ducing mainly on stationary tables ratherthan using pallet circulation systems.

The factory offers 23.000 m² covered pro-duction area built on a site with a total of112.000 m². The facility comprises not onlythe factory building but also spacious officebuilding, canteen and prayer room.After foundation of Alabniah, a newcomerinto the precast concrete business, a periodof detailed market analysis and planningfor the new factory began. This processwas supported by Prilhofer Consulting whohelped Alabniah to get an overview ofavailable production methods and techno-

logies available in the market. This coveredall aspects from low automated traditionalmethods to fully automated solutions inte-grating pallet circulation systems, shutteringrobots and fully automated mesh makingfacilities. It became very clear during thisprocess that a demanding market like SaudiArabia with its large scale and high volumeconstruction projects requires a facility todeliver a high output of quality precast con-crete products within short delivery schedu-les. Therefore the task was for PrilhoferConsulting to design a factory that allowsAlabniah to provide exactly this requiredcapacity, quality and range of products. At

the same time the factory needed to be fle-xible enough to adapt to the needs of jobrelated change of the product specification.The conclusion was to plan for high auto-mated production processes, reducing man-power requirements and allowing for bettercontrol over delivery schedules and pro-duct quality. Furthermore it was a require-ment by Alabniah to implement Europeanstandards on health and safety to provide agood and safe working environment whichagain has direct impact on product quality.

With the results of the initial market studyand the clearly defined requirements for the

Flagship Factory for the Precast Industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Alabniah Precast Concrete Buildings Factory

Being the official production start date of Alabniah Precast Concrete Buildings Factory the 1st of January 2010 is a date not only starting anew decade but also a date where the Saudi Arabian precast concrete industry sees the most advanced and largest factory of its kind in theKingdom starting off. The factory located in the Second Industrial Area of Dammam is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia offering the com-bined advantages of state of the art modern production technology, high capacity and wide product range to deliver complete buildingsystems and precast components into the market.

Factory Building

Office Building Screenshot from Tekla Structures to Unitechnik Export

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Equipment for processing reinforcing steelfrom coils, and wire mesh welding lines

Automatic Stirrup Bender POLYBEND

Entwicklungs- und Verwertungs-Gesellschaft m.b.H.8 0 7 4 R a a b a | A u s t r i a | G u s t i n u s - A m b r o s i - S t r a s s e 1 - 3 | Te l . + 4 3 3 1 6 4 0 0 5 0 | F a x + 4 3 3 1 6 4 0 0 5 5 0 0 | s a l e s @ e v g . c o m | w w w . e v g . c o m


factory a layout for the factory was develop -ed by Prilhofer Consulting and an equipmentspecification for all factory componentswas set up. After completion of the specifi-cation the tender packages were sent outand the equipment supplier proposals werereceived. Following a period of evaluationand negotiation the partners for the projectwere selected by Alabniah. In the end theproject involved 17 different key companiesand equipment suppliers to deliv er a com-plete and working precast concrete factory.

The first period was an intensive designperiod coordinated by Prilhofer Consultingwhere all equipment supplier design infor-mation was received and translated intoconstruction drawings for the factory build -ing like foundations, steel superstructure,crane tracks, mechanical & electrical ser-vices, HVAC, IT network etc. This periodinvolved Radicon Gulf Consult, a multi-disci-pline consulting firm for building and infra-structure design, Arcon as general contrac-tor for the construction works and ZamilSteel for design and provision of the steelsuperstructure of the building.

Crane load information was delivered bySaudi Cranes supplying all external andinternal cranes. Internet based documenthandling and project meetings held inBahrain and in Saudi Arabia on a regularbasis ensured that the design process wentquickly through the required iterative designsteps required to achieve the suitabledesigns for construction.

The Alabniah Precast Concrete BuildingsFactory consists of the following productionunits• Pallet circulation system for production

of solid walls, sandwich walls, latticegirder floor slabs and double walls

• Reinforcement preparation with fullyautomated mesh welding machine, lattice girder welding machine, linkbender, shear line for rebar, mesh cutting and mesh bending devices,cage assembly area

• Special elements area for pre-stresseddouble T-slabs, pre-stressed beams upto 40 m length, columns includingfoundation, stairs and other volumetricproducts

• Hollow core line for hollow core slabsup to 500 mm thickness.

Pallet Circulation System

The main part of the new Alabniah precastfactory is the pallet circulation system spe-cifically designed for the needs of Alabniahand the product requirements of the SaudiArabian construction market. The circulationsystem delivered by Unitechnik, Vollert andWeckenmann is using pallets of 12.5 x 4.5meter length and can produce panels up to12 x 4.2 meters. Daily production capacityof the circulation system is up to 110 palletsper day, equalling to approximately 3.500m² placed concrete every day.

Full integration of all factory componentsinto the IT concept was an essential require -ment. The circulation system, shuttering

robots, concrete spreader, mesh and latticegirder welding machines are fed with pro-duction data created in the Alabniah engin -eering department on specialized CADsoft ware. The Tekla Structures software pak-kage allows the designers to develop thedesigns for the buildings and related pre-cast elements in a full parametric computermodel and with full 3D visualisation. Thisallows a quick design process and ensuresthat all panels required to build a buildingwill fit together. All reinforcement details,connection details between the panels andall built in parts are modelled on the Teklasoftware. When design is completed andall collision checks and quality control rou-tines have been carried out the createddesigns are exported into CAM files in theUnitechnik format 6.0. This is the standardinterface description between the CADdesign software and the machines in theprecast factory. The design packages alsocomprise the workpapers for the staff in thefactory in pdf-format and material lists formaterial procurement and preparation pur-poses. The design data are received andmanaged by the Unitechnik master computerin the circulation system. The master com-puter is used to carry out the daily produc-tion planning using the design data recei-ved and scheduling information of the ERPsystem. First step in the production sequen-cing is the pallet nesting procedure wherethe master computer is arranging the singleelements onto the pallets according to anumber of pre-set parameters, one of themthe best possible use of the available palletsurface. The master computer also offers a


Flexible equipment for processing reinforcingsteel, and for reinforcing precast concrete elements

Hall C3Stand 203/302

Mesh Sheet Welding Line HFBE

Filzmoser Maschinenbau Gesellschaft m.b.H.4 6 4 1 S t e i n h a u s | W e l s | U n t e r h a r t 7 6 | Te l . + 4 3 7 2 4 2 3 4 3 4 0 | F a x + 4 3 7 2 4 2 3 4 3 4 3 0 | m a r k e t i n g @ f i l . c o . a t | w w w . f i l z m o s e r. c o m


full visualisation of the pallet circulationsystem and is managing the productiondata for the single work steps and automa-ted machines. The master computer is alsothe link to the connected reinforcementmachines to trigger the production start ofthe meshes and lattice girders, again speci-fically made to fit for each individual panelto be produced, and it also initiates the han-dover of mesh and lattice girders when thepallets arrive at the reinforcement handoverstations. The production process in the circulationsystem follows the same steps as in mostother pallet circulation system. The stepsare

• placing shutters by robot system• manual completion of formwork, instal-

lation of window / door frames andother inserts like electro boxes

• placing of tailor made mesh reinforce-ment in one, two or even three layersdepending on product type and specification

• completion of reinforcement and instal-lation of fixings like lifting anchors,wire loops for wall connections, mounting parts, etc.

• concrete pouring and compaction• wet surface finish• curing of concrete in insulated curing

chamber

• stripping of shutters• product unloading• surface finish like sandblasting or

exposing aggregates• delivery of complete transportation

units to the stockyard

Specific Features of the PalletCirculation System

The production process starts in the shutter -ing robot which is placing the shuttersaccording to the element specific CAD datafor each single element produced in the fac-tory. The robot is working over two palletpositions. The layout allows continuous wor-king of the shuttering robot without standstilltimes caused by pallet changeover proces-ses. Shutters for solid and sandwich wallsare provided by a separate storage robotwhich is placing the required shutters for thenext pallets onto a conveyor belt feedingthe shutters into the shuttering robot area.The shutter transportation, cleaning, identifi-cation and feeding units are built as inde-pendent units for solid wall shutters andfloor slab/double wall shutters. This allowsa full flexible mix of products in the circula-tion system by decoupling the process ofstripping shutters in the stripping area fromthe process of placing shutters in the shutter-ing robot.After the shuttering robot has completed apallet with placing the shutters and plottingthe additional required information the pal-lets are transported to the stations for manualcompletion of formwork. Upon arrival of apallet at the manual workstation the pallet

Unitechnik Master Computer in Main Control Room




Pallet Circulation System - Overview Shuttering Robot

occupation sheet showing arrangement ofelements on the pallet together with basicelement data and single element sheetswith detailed information of the single ele-ments are printed online and automaticallyfrom the printer installed at the manualworkstations.

From the shuttering robot the pallets are dis-tributed according to preset priorities intothree production lines for the following pro-cesses. Depending on the actual productmix these three lines can either be usedequally for the same product and thereforeallow a high throughput of one product oralternatively the three lines are split formanufacture of different products. This logicprovides a high flexibility for variations inthe product mix. Even the combination of

high runners like lattice girder floor slabs incombination with sandwich walls will haveno negative effects on the overall output ofthe pallet circulation system. In this caseone or two lines are acting as the fast linesand one (or two) lines are dealing with theslower product e.g. sandwich walls whichhave a higher manual work content to becompleted at each workstation.

A big percentage of the products will besandwich wall panels and solid wall panelswith a face shell of white concrete or con-crete with special aggregates like marblechips. For this purpose the carousel systemis equipped with two casting and compacti-on areas. The concrete supply is done bytwo separate concrete shuttles which deli-ver the concrete to two different handover

positions into the concrete spreaders usedin these areas. A configuration like this isabsolutely necessary to allow for clearlyseparated processes required for a highthroughput and to avoid any quality issueson the product due to contamination of theconcrete delivery and pouring equipment.The downtime due to wash down of equip-ment is also reduced to a minimum.For sandwich wall panels a return line fromthe first casting process back into the meshplacing area is foreseen. The sandwich wallpanels will get the one or two layers ofmesh reinforcement in the structural shellautomatically handed over by the meshhandling crane and will then run in max.two of the three available process linesthrough the remaining processes to completethe product.

Process Lines Casting Area


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Production of hollow core slabs

Alle Motive, Halbe Seite hoch, de-en-es-pt-fr-it-ru-pl.indd 2 13.01.2010 11:55:41

Most of the wall panels will have an exposed aggregate or sand-blast finish on the external side of the wall. For the internal side ofwalls or for partition walls it is required to achieve a smooth, readyto paint surface finish. For this purpose a separate wet surface finish-ing area is foreseen in the circulation system. After concrete pouringand levelling by screed the pallets will be transferred into the finish -ing area where two helicopter smootheners are available to workon a total of eight pallet positions. With an achievable concrete ageof approximately 150 minutes the layout provides enough pre-curing time required for the final surface finish. Considering theambient temperatures in Saudi Arabia throughout most of the yearthe installed function of sending pallets into the curing rack for pre-curing is to be seen as worst case backup scenario to support a pro-per surface finishing process.

Alabniah decided to plan also for the equipment to produce doublewalls in the circulation system knowing the product double walls isnot yet known in the Saudi Arabian market. Convinced of theadvantages of the double wall and lattice girder floor slab system ithas been requested by Alabniah to design a layout that implementsthe feature of producing double walls using the vacuum turning pro-cess. For this purpose Prilhofer Consulting planned for an area inthe layout in such a way it will not affect the processes for other pro-ducts neither if no double walls are produced nor if a big quantityof double walls is produced. Also a nearly exclusive use of the cir-culation system for producing double walls would be possible with -out negative effects on the plant’s efficiency.

In a factory producing such a variety of products and offering ahigh flexibility on the product mix one of the most important aspectsis the shutter removal and product unloading area. In many factor -ies the main focus is on the robotic processes in the beginning butall efforts on these areas are badly affected by insufficient solutionsat the back end of the precast panel production process. It is essen-tial to have processes installed for each type of product without suf-fering from negative impacts between the different processes. Asmart arrangement of pallet lines, process cranes for shutter hand-ling, shuttering conveying systems, cranes for lifting wall panels andfloor slabs and product deposit areas provides exactly this featurein the Alabniah factory.

At the end of the process many products require a sandblasted sur-face finish or exposed aggregates finish. The factory layout includesalso an area for this process inside of the covered production facility.

Surface Finishing




It is necessary to integrate the surface finish-ing into the processes of the factory toenable compilation of complete transporta-tion units inside of the factory to avoid dou-ble handling of precast panels on the sto -ckyard. The ready made transportationunits are delivered by a so-called run-offtruck into the stockyard area where theyare handled by a 32 ton forklift truck or bythe stockyard cranes. For site delivery onlyone lift is sufficient for truck loading.

Reinforcement Area

To provide the required mesh reinforcementinto a pallet circulation system as describedabove it is necessary to have mesh weldingplant able to produce tailor made meshnearly just in time. To decouple the meshwelding machine from the pallet circulationproduction flow a mesh buffer store hasbeen designed to hold meshes for a maxi-mum of ten pallets in the circulation system.The Filzmoser mesh welding line is linked tothe master computer in the circulationsystem which is providing the current status

of pallets and related production units tothe mesh welding line. The master computeris also setting the trigger points for meshproduction and mesh delivery into the cir-culation system.

The mesh welding line can produce meshesup to maximum dimensions of 4.2 x 12meters with bar diameters from 6 to 16 mmin both directions. With an hourly productioncapacity of 500 m² of special mesh themesh welding line is a business on its ownfor Alabniah. Alabniah has already takenlarge scale delivery orders for tailor mademeshes.

Complementary to the mesh welding lineFilzmoser and EVG have delivered otherequipment such as a lattice girder weldingline for lattice girders up to 400 mm heightrequired for manufacture of lattice girderfloor slabs and double walls, a link benderfor single links and stirrups, shear line andmesh cutting and bending machine. Thesecomponents are required to deliver the rein-forcement complementary to mesh reinfor-

cement in the pallet circulation system butalso for the special elements area. In a de di- cated cage assembly area the reinforcementfor the special elements will be prepared.

Special Elements Area

For industrial and infrastructure constructionprojects the Alabniah precast factory includ-es an area for special structural elements.One part of this area is a flexible mouldsystem for pre-stressed beams with a lengthof up to 40 m and a height of up to 2.2meters.

The mould is supplied by Technoplan and iscurrently under installation. Pre-stressingequipment from Paul will be used on thebeam mould as well as for the 80 m doubleT-slab mould provided by Weckenmannwho are also supplying a twin columnmould for columns up to 24 m length inclu-ding a column foundation of maximum size3 x 3 meters. For the element delivery to thestockyard two delivery platforms with 25tons carrying capacity each are used.

Shutter Stripping Line Product Unloading Area

Mesh Welding Line Hollow Core Line


Hollow Core Line

The Saudi Arabian construction industry isconsuming huge quantities of hollow core

slabs. To benefit from this enormousdemand Alabniah has installed a hollowcore production line with 6 beds of 150 mlength and the possibility to extend the fac-

tory building for another bay sufficient toinstall of up to 8 additional beds of 150 mlength. The Elematic equipment used forhollow core production is specified to makeslabs of up to 500 mm thickness.

Concrete Batching Plant and ConcreteDelivery System

The product variety of the Alabniah precastconcrete factory sets very specific require-ments to the concrete batching plant. Everyproduction unit consumes big amounts ofconcrete which needs to have different pro-perties for each of the products. For this pur-pose Prilhofer Consulting has specified abatching plant configuration with 3 mixerswith two outlets each where one mixer isdedicated to mass grey concrete for palletcirculation and special elements area. Asecond mixer is dedicated to the hollowcore line and a third mixer is to batch thespecial concrete types like white cementconcrete and concrete using special aggre-gate for architectural requirements. Thecement feeding from the four cement silosinto the mixers offers the flexibility to pro-duce every type of concrete in each of thethree mixers. Two independent aggregate


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storage and feeding units with independentweigh belts and skip hoists ensure a highoutput and flexibility of the plant. Specialaggregate can be used from the large sto-rage bins or in case of smaller amountsrequired from big bags.

The Liebherr batching plant is connected tothe concrete delivery system from Kübatusing 4 concrete shuttles supplying to 7handover positions to concreting equipmentin the factory.The concrete delivery system from Kübat isusing 4 concrete shuttles supplying to 7handover positions to concreting equipmentin the factory. Each of the 4 shuttles canpick up concrete from each of the threemixers.The batching plant configuration as descri-bed above (cf. Liebherr article in CPI 1-10)is not only offering a high output and flexi-bility but also a perfect fail-safe strategy. Incase of failure of one component there isalways a working replacement available sothat the precast factory will never have tocompletely stop because of breakdown ofthe concrete supply.A fully integrated concrete cooling plantsupplied by KTI-Plersch including water chillerand flake ice system is ensuring healthyconcrete temperatures also during the hotsummer months.

Conclusion

Alabniah Precast Concrete Buildings Fac -tory is starting up exactly at the right time tosupply into one of the most vital markets for

precast concrete products worldwide. Ontop of this the enormous construction activi-ties in Saudi Arabia are even topped by thefact that the Saudi Arabian government haslaunched a number of huge infrastructureprojects like schools, universities, hospitalsand others. This is generating a perfectenvironment to lead this project andAlabniah Precast Concrete Buildings Fac -tory to great success in the near future.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

ALABNIAH - Precast Concrete Buildings Factory P.O.Box 1278 Al Khobar 31952, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaT +966 3 8879897 Ext: 108F +966 3 [email protected] www.alabniah.com

Prilhofer ConsultingMünchener Straße 183395 Freilassing, Germany T +49 8654 69080 F +49 8654 [email protected]

Radicon-Gulf ConsultP.O. Box 684Al-Khobar 31952, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaT + 966 3 8954242 F +966 3 894 [email protected]

Omar Khalil Arnout Contracting Est. (ARCON) P.O. Box NO: 3001Al-Khobar 31952, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaT +966 3 8941920 F +966 3 8647185 [email protected]

Elematic Oy AbAirolantie 2P.O. Box 3337801 Toijala, FinlandT +358 3 549511F +358 3 [email protected]

EVG Entwicklungs- und Verwertungs- Gesellschaft m.b.H.Gustinus-Ambrosi-Str. 1-38074 Raaba/Graz, AustriaT +43 316 40050F +43 316 [email protected]

FILZMOSER Maschinenbau GmbH Unterhart 76 4641 Steinhaus bei Wels, Austria T +43 7242 34340 F +43 7242 [email protected]

KÜBAT Förderanlagen GmbH Max-Planck-Str. 14 88361 Altshausen, Germany T +49 7584 92090 F +49 7584 920920 [email protected] www.kuebat.de

KTI Plersch Kältetechnik GmbHCarl-Otto-Weg 14/2 88481 Balzheim, Germany T +49 7347 95720 F +49 7347 957222 [email protected]

Liebherr Mischtechnik GmbH Postfach 145 88423 Bad Schussenried, Germany T +49 7583 949328 F +49 7583 [email protected]

Paul Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KGMax-Paul-Straße 188525 Dürmentingen, Germany T +49 7371 5000F +49 7371 [email protected] www.paul.eu

Saudi Cranes & Steel Works Factory Ltd P.O.Box 10043Jubail Industrial City 31961, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaT +966 3 3410030 F +966 3 341 7337 [email protected]

Technoplan system technik GmbH Schadewalde 1106918 Seyda / Stadt Jessen, Germany T +49 35387 711 61F +49 35387 712 [email protected]

Tekla Corporation P.O. Box 1 02131 Espoo, Finland T +358 30 66110 F +358 30 [email protected]

Unitechnik Cieplik & Poppek AG Fritz-Kotz-Str. 14 51764 Wiehl, Germany T +49 2261 9870 F +49 2261 [email protected]

Vollert GmbH + Co. KG Anlagenbau Stadtseestraße 12 74189 Weinsberg, Germany T +49 7134 520 F +49 7134 [email protected]

Weckenmann Anlagentechnik GmbH+Co.KG Birkenstraße 1 72358 Dormettingen, Germany T +49 7427 94930 F +49 7427 [email protected]

Zamil Steel Industries1st Industrial City,PO Box 877Dammam 31421, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaT +966 3 8471840, F +966 3 8471291 [email protected]

Stand B1.200 Stand C1.303

Stand F9.902/3

Stand F9.902/3

Stand A4.111Stand F8.803-807

Stand C3.203/302 Stand B2.118A

Stand B1.307/410

Stand B1.121

Stand B1.211

Stand B1.211AStand B1.307/410

Stand C3.203/302


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Alabniah Precast Concrete Buildings Factory Flagship ... · ing like foundations, steel superstructure, crane tracks, mechanical & electrical ser-vices, HVAC, IT network etc. This