Plant manufacturer BOMAG has revealed its new state-of-the-art drum roller factory in Germany, which began production in June this year. The $30.4 million (€22.5m) factory represents the largest single investment in BOMAG’s history.
The large-scale drum project started last year in July. About half of the outlay represents buildings, the other half to machines, robots and crane systems.
“The decision to build a new drum plant was absolutely necessary. We had already reached maximum capacity and the new facility enables us to double production output and, additionally, to reduce the costs of external procurement”, explained Ralf Junker, manager production at BOMAG, at the company’s Asphalt Days event which took place in September. 
With a short timeline from beginning of construction of the factory to the beginning of production, the factory has been built around innovative production technology and machine technology to provide a guarantee of quality.
“The new drum plant will continue to increase our competitiveness in the long term. Having the most modern drum facility in the world, we are again setting quality standards in the production of our machines”, said Junker.
The whole concept of the layout follows the value stream design. This means short transport distances, reduced buffer stock at the production line and low stocks in the warehouses. A high value was placed on automation when designing the project. A computer controlled, unmanned transport system ‘organises’ the material flow so that fork lifts are used rarely, he explained.
While there is increased automation, the new factory is still people-focused, with ergonomically designed workplaces. As material is stored near to the assembly location, short distances reduce the workload. Additionally, a state-of-the-art ventilation system ensures that fumes are completely extracted so that clean air circulates at the workplaces.
The first big commissioning phase began with the production of large drums for single drum rollers and tandem rollers.
Work is still underway, and currently the project team is working on an automated and solvent-free paint facility, which will also be integrated into the drum plant, expected to be completed in autumn 2014.
