Fully automatic sawing machine moved flawlessly

Space that serves not only to increase capacity, but above all to work more efficiently. The profile beams department was immediately accommodated in the new halls. To move the fully automatic Behringer sawing machine and have as little downtime as possible, Group Delrue could count on the excellent support of supplier Promatt.

In 1978, Ivan Delrue started cutting, folding and tying rebar on site at the construction site. Two years later, the success already translated into a first production site in Ichtegem. From there it processed rebar and profile beams for customers mainly from the construction industry. Over the years, a second activity was added: the purchase and rental of all kinds of building accessories. Two new sites also followed. In Herseaux, the company significantly expanded its production workshop for reinforcing bars and profile beams, and in Beerse, a second store for building accessories was opened. A growth story that is far from over. With Gunnar Delrue, the succession to the family business is assured. He too is driven to continue to grow healthily and step by step. 

Being able to shift gears briefly

Joris Blomme, responsible for technical services: "The market for rebar and profile beams is strongly driven by price. We try to keep ours sharp by stocking the right materials in the right quantities at the most opportune moment. A large inventory, there are 5,000 tons ready to go here, means we can help customers quickly. In addition, for processing, we try to invest smartly in machines that can create as much added value as possible at a good return. Being able to switch quickly is really the key to our success. To realize that, we question ourselves every day. How can we do better today, tomorrow and in the long term? For our customers, our people and our partners."

Expansion leads to relocation of machinery

An expansion of the company's buildings is currently taking place at Herseaux to continue serving customers at their beck and call in the future. Blomme: "The production space there has been doubled. On the one hand to create more capacity. On the other to be able to work more efficiently. New offices will also follow in 2022." The entire floor area will be redesigned. Thus the production of profile beams had to move to the new halls. A process that required very thorough preparation. "Our production can tolerate little downtime. The starting point of about 90% of all orders is the sawing department that cuts all pieces perfectly to size. So the fully automatic Behringer sawing machine there was the first to go. The challenge was to keep the time between the last cut at the old location and the first cut at the new location as short as possible. Fortunately, we could count on the support of supplier Promatt, who worked out a complete script with us," says Blomme.

Excellent communication

Communication is crucial to the success of a move. The fact that Promatt speaks the same language, both from Blomme and his French-speaking employees, was an absolute asset. "When I first started here seventeen years ago, we were already working with Behringer and Promatt. For one thing, because the machines do perfectly what they are supposed to. We have very few breakdowns with them. On the other hand because the service is top notch. We always get a quick answer, so we also quickly have a plan of action to solve the problem again. This has now become clear again. There was a thorough study beforehand on how we could best place the saw section and how we could get to that result step by step. It was clearly communicated beforehand who would do what. Promatt also allowed our technicians to help where possible. That enabled us to drastically shorten downtime. During the move itself, Promatt's team provided as many hours as possible to get it all done as quickly as possible. I can compare with other suppliers: the cooperation with Promatt was one out of the book. Everything went flawlessly. Two weeks later we were already sawing," concludes Blomme.