Monier roofing
ABECE recently finished the first of a two-stage upgrade of Monier’s main production line at its concrete roof tile plant in Jönåker, Sweden. The plant dates back to the 1960s and over the years the production line has gone through several upgrades. The latest upgrade is one of the most extensive.
The main goals, except the obvious – to increase product- ivity – are to optimise energy consumption, ensure a safer working environment, enable 24/7 remote support and to better visualise the production flow, which encourages the operators to run a smooth production.
One of the key parts of the upgrade, apart from the increased number of safety zones and brand new PLCs, is
the visualisation system.
In strategic places, large flatscreens continuously display the current shift’s progress. Weekly and daily goals and every stop are shown in letters, numbers and graphs, which gives the operators a quick overview of the production flow.
“Every shift has almost become a competition among the operators. The visualisation system lets the guys keep track and easily both see and prevent shorter stops, and it lets them to run smoother and more efficient shifts,” says Håkan Öhqvist, Production Manager. “The new system also makes it easier for us to train new operators, as it is now much easier to understand the process.”
the upgrade took place during a three-week-long holiday break, and was planned and designed by the ABECE design team in cooperation with Monier Jönåker’s own development team, six months in advance. The goal was to minimise time on site, and to plan and carry out as much work as possible without disturbing the customer’s production. And because the upgrade is about replacing the entire control system, it affects the entire production.
“The upgrade itself can be compared to major brain, heart and spinal surgery – all at once,” says Erik Lindeberg, Managing Director at abece. “An upgrade like this always requires a stoppage in production and we want to ensure as short a standstill as possible. In a project like this, there is no room for unforeseen errors or delays.”
abece designed the upgrade to take place in two stages to affect production as little as possible. Step one covers racking and curing systems and step two covers extruders, conveyors and paint-drying systems.
Our promise to our customers is giving them “a better coveragetm” in every part of their business. In this case, we were able to provide Monier a better coverage in many ways, mainly by providing the means to further increase their already high productivity. In addition, the plant is now more accessible by enabling abece’s support team to reach the production line via remote support 24/7.
