Shorter installation time on site, reduced risk of damage, and the new gates were operational within just one day. And most importantly – very satisfied clients. The choice of an alternative delivery model – full pre-assembly at the Heras site – turned out to be just the ticket for installing the first trackless sGate at the BASF site in the southern Dutch town of Nunhem.
BASF recently officially opened its highly sophisticated new breeding centre for cucumbers. Consisting of a 2.5-hectare greenhouse and 1.7 hectares of technical facilities and office space, the site is used for research into innovative new cucumber varieties. Heras was under strict time constraints during the sGate installation: once the drawings were approved, the company had less than eight weeks to the completion deadline. The short lead time forced the project team to find alternative ways to ensure both speed and quality. This led to the idea of full pre-assembly.
Overcoming hurdles
The project team had to overcome a number of hurdles before it could successfully complete the pilot project. Technical Support Engineer Micha Frankhuizen: “A pre-assembled gate requires a different type of transport vehicle. In addition, you need a heavy crane to lift the gate onto the vehicle and remove it again, plus the assembly site needs to be specially prepared.” All process steps were tested extensively. Toine Witlox, Assembly Team Leader: “By the time the gates were ready to be shipped to the client, we were confident we were delivering a superior product.”
Careful monitoring
Coordinator Mark Schutte closely supervised the operations throughout the process: “It was a continuous process of checking and double-checking to ensure that everything was going according to plan.
That required maximum support and close monitoring of every process step. It was good to see how meticulously everyone was involved in the project. Each individual squarely assumed their responsibility to demonstrate that this approach can guarantee success.” Thanks to methodical preparation in the run-up to the project and the dedicated efforts of all parties, Heras can look back on a very successful pilot project that will certainly be continued in the future.
About Heras
Starting in 1952 as a small family-owned fencing and gate company, Heras has grown into an European leading end-to-end supplier of perimeter protection solutions. We operate in 6 countries and employ more than 1200 highly skilled experts.