An obvious answer to real needs - such is the high-tech prefabrication plant of ÉPI

With a diverse range of products, state-of-the-art technologies and complex software, the ÉPI Ercsi prefabrication plant has become one of Hungary's leading construction manufacturers in just three years. Plant manager Roland Rónai, structural engineer Eörs Thék and commercial manager László Szelmann told our newspaper about their operations, their expansion into the residential market and their results. structural engineer Eörs Thék and sales manager László Szelmann. In April 2021, Épszerk-Pannónia Invest Kft. launched its prefabrication plant in Ercsi, where, as we learned from Roland Rónai:

"In the initial period, we produced mostly stair and slab components for ÉPI in-house projects, and after the production processes became routine, we started to sell our spare production capacity on the market."

Their customer base is very diverse; in addition to the company's own construction projects, they also deliver their products directly to builders, contractors and private individuals; they also maintain good partnerships with other prefabrication plants. This means they can manufacture and deliver significant quantities of elements for larger projects, such as the SK Innovation battery factory project in Iváncsa, which involved the delivery of approximately 30,000 m² of EHC-type elements. rel="noopener">SK Innovation battery factory project in Iváncsa, where approximately 30,000 m² of EHC-type hollow core slabs were installed by the contractors Market Építő Zrt.. In 2023, a large quantity of 500 mm high panels manufactured by ÉPI will also be used in the construction of the CATL battery factory in Debrecen, A significant number of shell ceiling elements were also manufactured and delivered for the project of the new SIEMENS Energy production hall, built by Market.

All elements traceable

Initially, production started with the manufacture of circular slab and bark slab elements and prefabricated staircases in large quantities. As the market became aware of the quality of their products, they received more and more requests for the production of custom-made elements.

"In the framework of interesting and challenging projects, our plant has also produced outdoor street furniture of concrete quality or various decorative elements with patterned surfaces, and today we have expanded our product range to include linear structures (pillars, beams) and wall structures (solid and sandwich walls)" - Roland Rónai emphasized.

A major advantage is that the design of the components manufactured in the plant is also done locally, so there is continuous communication between design and production. Their designers use state-of-the-art software to create 3D production drawings, but they have also introduced production management software that allows the lifecycle of the components to be tracked from design to installation with a single QR code.

"The programming of production, quality control, planning of deliveries is also done in this program," adds Eörs Thék, a static designer, "so all participants who use the program in the same system see the same information about an item. This has minimised the possibility of errors, so that, for example, an item that has not undergone quality control cannot be placed on a truck during a delivery."

In addition to the slab structures being manufactured on 100-metre-long casting beds using technology from a Finnish company, a major investment in 2022 included the purchase of an aluminium template frame technology with a magnetic clamping system, which will allow the formwork for the various structural elements to be assembled with significant time savings - and just as quickly to be converted to formwork for a completely different type of product.

"Thanks to its material," emphasised Roland Rónai, "the elements of the template can also be easily moved by hand, thus relieving the plant's bridge cranes, which we can use for other production and storage processes."

Adapted to needs

They soon reached a point where production volumes significantly exceeded storage capacity. It became a common customer requirement to order batteries much earlier than the actual installation date, so that they had to be stored much longer in the ÉPI plant. It was therefore necessary to expand the existing storage area, which has significantly increased the company's competitiveness.

"With this investment, we have doubled the storage space we will have when the plant starts up in 2021," said Roland Rónai. "With the development, we have not only increased our storage capacity, but we can now store the manufactured elements in separate depots for each type of element, thus speeding up loading and delivery. And on the increased transport route, a state-of-the-art battery-powered transport vehicle ensures the economical, safe and environmentally friendly movement of materials."

Specialisation could be the future

In many countries in Europe, the model of prefabrication has spread, whereby it is not necessarily necessary for each production plant to produce all possible product types and deliver them to a project far away from it. Taking the Scandinavian countries as an example, it seems to be a well-established arrangement that countries have several plants capable of producing several, but not necessarily all, product types: they typically specialise in one or a few products.

"In my opinion, it would be important and forward-looking to introduce this on the domestic market", the plant manager emphasized.

"These products can be produced at a high level, in high volume, with excellent efficiency, so that a project - no matter what its location within a country - can be easily served from all product types and within an optimal delivery distance," Roland Rónai emphasised.

A website now helps customers

The company has undergone a significant change in image and function central website, where information is now available not only about their construction work, but also about their manufacturing units, including the products of the Ercsi precast concrete plant and useful information about them.

„We received an increasing number of requests from residential customers for the manufacture of hollow core slabs for family homes and apartment buildings. We therefore thought it would be useful to create a dedicated access point for this product range, so in October 2023 we launched the fodempanel.hu website in October 2023, where we were able to display the technical characteristics of the EHC type hollow core slabs we manufacture, as well as design and application guidelines and the product's performance declaration.

- pointed out László Szelmann.

This has enabled designers to design with the ÉPI elements, while customers can find all the relevant information on how to store and place the elements correctly.

"Our goal is to further promote this fast, efficient and accurate construction technology to the residential customer base"

- said László Szelmann, adding that the website will hopefully bring an expansion of the customer base to residential customers. It is a good sign that since the launch, orders for single-family houses and multi-family condominiums have increased. And this is expected to be just the beginning.

Promotional projects to meet the products

Circular floor panels and prefabricated stairs were delivered for the construction of the WHB Kft. Katalin Kovács National Kayak-Canoe Sports Academy, but the curved facade elements of the Archduke Joseph Palace were also manufactured at the Ercsi plant, which posed significant challenges for the specialists.

"Another project that we are currently working on is the expansion of the Kreinbacher Estate, Bottle Maturation Plant in Somlóvásárhely, where we are manufacturing and installing large quantities of prestressed reinforced concrete beams, prefabricated staircases and nearly 5,000 m² of bark slabs".

"Although the project executed by Épszerk-Pannónia Invest Kft. is not the latest phase of the Duna Terrace residential complex," the plant manager added, "as a manufacturer we are proud that our prefabrication plant is supplying 164 staircases to both construction companies, which is our largest project ever in terms of the quantity produced per building."