CAST IN CONCRETE

Ramesh Babbar

With customers the world over, Columbia Machines' acquisition of Techmatik has firmly cemented its leadership position in its segment.

Techmatik is a Polish company, from Europe. It started production of block making machines in

2004. It manufactures high-quality equipment for the production of concrete as well as complete manufacturing plants. The company has Polish and also foreign customers from over 50 countries on almost all continents. It delivers its solutions directly to customers in manyEuropean and Asian countries, both Americas, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.

In February 2016, Columbia Machines acquired Techmatik, which is now a part of the Columbiafamily of companies. Established in 1937, Columbia Machines is a third-generation, privatelyheld, world-wide leader in the design, manufacturing and support of equipment for a variety ofindustries, with customers in over 100 countries around the world. Primary business unitsinclude: batching and mixing solutions, concrete products equipment solutions, production equipment molds, mechanical palletizing machines, robotic palletizing solutions, conveyor system solutions, pallet load transfer solutions and manufacturing services.

In line with the products made by Columbia, the Techmatik range complements and supports the full range of products which includes molds for production of paving blocks and decorative concrete products; modern, high-performance concrete block machines; complete process plants; concrete mixing plants; and various machines used for manufacture of vibrated and pressed, as well as ready-mixed concrete.

The equipment supplied by Techmatik is more reliable, has advantage of energy savings, andflexible applications. The company follows the path of providing innovativeengineering solutions. The machines have controlled and integrated systems, which, in turn, ensures the superior quality of products and repeatability of production. The machines havecompact designs, leading to modern manufacturing processes. All machines, when in operation, have low noise emission levels.Globally, in a scenariowhere customers look to find quality equipment at affordableprices, all Techmatik equipment are competitively priced. It actually suits Indian conditions verywell where customers are given value for their money.

Among allthe major brands of black making machines available in India, Techmatik equipment is  most preferred by customers for all the points mentioned above. For the Indian market, the models SHP 5000 PRO C and HP 3000 C PRO are ideal. Beside these two, other equipment made by Techmatik are automatic handling systems (stacker andunstacker), transporting cars (finger cars), crossover conveyer, robomaticcuber, palletdispenser, automatic stretch wrapper, splitters, washmatic - the product washing system,planetary concrete mixers and tumbler.

SHP 5000 PRO C

The main advantage of this machine is the customer can produce a wide variety of productswith height varying between 40 mm to 550 mm. Energy consumption is low due toinnovative drives and kinematic pairs. The products are made on steel pallets which resultin a high quality of products. If a customer chooses to make coloured products, the machine isequipped with the COLOURMIX system for their manufacture. The full machinehas a compact design whereby the hydraulic unit is integrated with the machine. It is fully automatic with the capability to visualize all stages of the production process. The HMI touchscreenoperator interface provides loads of information in an easy-to-understand format. While themachine is in operation, lower noise levels are achieved by accosting insulation of the noisycomponents. The machine is ecologically friendly. Moreover, there are many key features in this model like compression head counter weight. All the structural members that move inside the body of the machine counter balancethe weight ofthe compression head. As a result, the energy required to move the stamp is reduced.

Similarly, the power of the hydraulic unit supplying the machine is lower. Just one hydrauliccylinder is enough to drive the compression head mechanism instead of the two that are usually seen.The other noticeable features in this machine are mold change fork frame and oil-lubricatedvibrator assembly.

The mold changing is much easier now as the hydraulically-drivenmechanism is replaced by the new one. As far as the vibrator assembly is concerned, the newone is not permanently attached to the machine's structural elements; therefore, vibrationstransferred to the machine are significantly reduced. This oil lubrication system extends the lifetime of assembly and considerably reduces the scope of the operator's work.

ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT

There are many equipmentmade by Techmatik to refine the products, such as productwashing stations - WASHMATIC. In this method, products are exposed to decorative aggregates, thus enhancing the aesthetic and functional values of products. It is equipped with a housingand an independent control.

TUMBLER: It is designed for surfacing of concrete paving blocks in order to achieve theappearance of worn paving stones. This is called as vintage paving effect.

SPLITTERS: The splitters are multifunctional, which means precise splitting of low and high concrete products to the height of 317 mm. Its design is simple so that there cannot be any fault in its operation. The items on the work table are accurately positioned. Even large dimensional products can be split as the work table can be adjustable. Even large blocks are precisely split.

PALLET DISPENSER: This device feeds the pallets to the Robomaticcuber which stacks the finished products on them. The pallet dispenser is fitted with a pneumatic drive only. Featuring FESTO actuators. The automatic operations of both the machines are synchronized.

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