Zenith Maschinenfabrik from Neunkirchen has commissioned another single pallet plant with its high-performance Zenith 1500 single pallet machine. This time it was in Palestine at Al Weher, a company that in a short time has been able to develop into one of the market leaders of the region. It was a remarkable project because it was carried out in cooperation with the Chinese manufacturer QGM.
Al Weher is situated in the town of Bala’a in the north-eastern Westbank and is part of the Al-Balaawi group of companies, which is principally engaged in the production and import of construction materials. In the course of the ongoing strong expansion of this family-run company, a state-of-the-art factory for manufacturing precast concrete elements was erected in cooperation with Zenith Maschinenfabrik. Al Weher is living up to its avowed objective of becoming the number one in the Palestinian construction business and has made an impressive step in this direction with its investment in the new production plant. The company offers a wide range of concrete products, such as hollow and solid blocks and kerbstones, having set itself the goal of combating the shortage of high-quality product solutions in the country. An extensive range of the most diverse paving block variations can be added to this.
Having gained some government contracts, Al Weher began looking in 2017 for the most technologically advanced solutions for manufacturing concrete products that could both satisfy high quality requirements and guarantee a high production output. It was thus that in the following year Al Weher paid a visit to Zenith Maschinenfabrik, a leading manufacturer of systems for the concrete block industry in Germany. During a tour of a recently erected production facility with a high-performance Zenith 1500 single pallet machine, General Manager Mahmoud Al Weher was particularly impressed with the Ultra Dynamic compaction system with servo-vibration and its Siemens S7 TIA portal control unit. He was heard to say that he had never seen such an efficient system despite his many years of experience in the sector. After some time spent comparing offers, the final choice fell to Zenith Maschinenfabrik, to whom Al Weher awarded the order to erect a state-of-theart system for manufacturing precast concrete elements in Palestine.
Zenith Maschinenfabrik can supply a wide range of products and services. All types of requirements are covered from small mobile machines right up to cutting-edge circulation systems. One other advantage comes from the fact that Zenith has belonged to the Quangong Machinery Co.,Ltd (in short form “QGM”) group of companies since 2014. The latter is one of the biggest manufacturers of concrete block machines on the Chinese market producing 400 systems per year. Alongside the well-proven Zenith systems, which are 100% manufactured in Germany, combination solutions can also be implemented with Chinese system elements. This means that investment budgets can remain manageable even with comprehensive systems.
Al Weher made use of this possibility and decided on just such a combination solution. The centrepiece of their cuttingedge system is the high-performance Zenith 1500 single pallet machine, which was supplied together with a curing chamber from Germany. The handling system and the moulds were sourced from QGM. QGM also operates a joint venture with MCF, an Italian manufacturer of mixing machines, whose highclass mixing and dosing system was utilised in this project.
Over the last few years, Zenith and QGM processes have become so harmonised with one another that synergies can be optimally exploited and smooth-running operations ensured. Similar projects with combination solutions from both companies have also been successfully carried out in Oman and Iraq. One further system is under construction at the current time in Mali as well.
The Zenith 1500 single pallet machine facilitates a wide range of production possibilities. It can manufacture numerous niche products, products for garden and landscaping as well as paving blocks, kerbstones and masonry blocks. A particular advantage is its great manufacturing volume at constant high quality. According to information from the manufacturer, it is possible to produce some 30,000 hollow blocks or 2,500 m² rectangular pavers with face mix concrete during an 8 hour shift. This very high production capacity means that Al Weher is operating one of the biggest concrete block production facilities in Palestine.
Alongside great productivity and quality, the system features a very low maintenance, trouble-free production process. The consistent utilisation of bolted connections facilitates the easy exchange of all wearing parts in a short time. There is additionally a rapid change system for moulds guaranteeing best possible system availability.
The system also possesses a new inspection and diagnostic facility, which supports the machine operator in managing the system, thereby always ensuring its efficient running. New control and switching technology from Siemens (S7 TIA Portal) is employed without exception in all cases. Machine operations are very easy to learn with its self-explanatory, intuitive visualisation concept.
The Zenith 1500 concrete block machine works with the innovative Ultra-Dynamic servo-compaction system. This highquality vibration system features excellent compaction and dynamics in particular, and makes rapid, efficient production possible with very high quality. The vibration system is especially advantageous when it comes to large-volume construction components as well as in producing high-class construction material manufactured with prior and intermediate vibration. The motors’ good dynamics and efficient control make the unit’s low energy consumption possible.
The suspended filler box has been designed for optimum performance and easy operation in optimally filling a mould at high speed. The filler boxes for core and face mix concrete are also designed to be changed over rapidly.
The exchange of expertise that Zenith can offer its customers also represents significant added value. In the course of several factory tours and meetings, Al Weher has been able to benefit from the knowledge of leading German concrete block manufacturers and long-term customers of Zenith. The company, inspired by the product range of well-known German manufacturers, succeeded in introducing new, innovative paving block variations onto the market in Palestine. Al Weher was also able to profit substantially from the transfer of expertise in the question of selecting raw materials and mixing. Material samples of local aggregates were analysed in a laboratory and recommendations for optimum mixtures given. Al Weher is receiving ongoing support from Zenith service employees with a view to a still greater optimisation of production processes. This does not only take place on site but also by remote maintenance from Germany thanks to the integrated internet access.
Its investment in the system has rapidly developed Al Weher into one of the leading suppliers of concrete products on the market in Palestine. The company’s expansion course is still continuing. Numerous government projects have been processed. Demand keeps growing. Al Weher is very impressed by the Zenith system’s high performance and reliability. Based on this, the company can take pleasure in expanding its market leadership in Palestine still further.
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