Oberndorfer GmbH & Co
Franz Oberndorfer GmbH & Co. KG is a family-run business with over 100 years tradition and experience in manufacturing concrete products and precast concrete elements. About 50 years ago, Oberndorfer began manufacturing large-dimension structural precast concrete components in Upper Austria.
In the following article, Werner Pröll, technical managing director, Norbert Vorarberger, production facility manager at the Gunskirchen site and Walter Bruckner, production manager at the same Oberndorfer site will answer questions about the construction of the future and what role a release agent will play in it.
The precast concrete industry must do something to meet the constant clamour for efficient, sustainable construction solutions. Everyone is agreed on that. The basic prerequisites for this are given, particularly in a precast concrete production facility. Components can be manufactured there with high dimensional accuracy, good quality and in a resource-saving manner. Nevertheless, the entire precast element industry must lead by setting a good example and constantly prove itself in new ways.
The same problem can be found one stage further on a construction site. Here, too, precast concrete elements must be made in such a way that they can be assembled without error in the simplest manner possible. Environmental requirements – keyword EPD – and requirements concerning occupational safety and employee health protection are also on the increase. This does not mean just wearing a safety helmet, safety shoes or safety goggles. The handling of (health-hazardous) working materials and other agents is an essential factor that can both make an immediately noticeable improvement in working conditions, and also significantly reduce long-term health risks.
Improvement in two ways at once
Optimisation measures at Oberndorfer have brought about two major benefits in one go. In 2013, intensive discussions between Oberndorfer and Ecoratio, a release agent specialist, led to initial trials to address both employee intolerance to solvent-based mineral release agents and ongoing corrosion problems with the formwork tables. The release agents employed at that time had caused permanent strong odour nuisance in the production halls, and even personal complaints such as headaches. For Oberndorfer, it was clear that employees could not be allowed to work under these conditions, as the health and the personal well-being of its staff are of paramount importance to the company.
In such cases, Ecoratio can provide tailor-made release agent solutions that do not require mandatory labelling and are consequently harmless to humans and nature. The vast majority of Ecoratio release agents are vegetable oil emulsion-based, environmentally friendly and biodegradable. Clearly, these alternative release agents should not be in any way inferior in function to the release agents commonly available on the market.
In the Oberndorfer case, intensive cooperation enabled a release agent solution called Betopro to be developed that perfectly matched operational needs and solved both the aforementioned problems in the best possible way.
With a solution from Ecoratio (Betopro Rail Oil), the formwork elements also made their contribution to a significant improvement in component quality, especially since the corrosion problem was intensified in the curing chamber by release agents containing solvents. It was not only corrosion that caused the problems, but also unclean edges and blemishes due to adhesions on the formwork elements that resulted in rework or even rejects. Since the changeover to Betopro Rail Oil, the results have been perfect and the magnetic strips have always been in impeccable condition. Ecoratio points out that such results can only be achieved with 100% oil; emulsions cannot be usefully employed here. A special release agent is also used in production for polystyrene inserts.
Together with these release agent solutions, Ecoratio can also supply application technology in the form of fully automated spraying systems. These make a vital contribution to overall success, as not only do they save on application quantities per square metre of formwork surface, they also considerably simplify and speed up the application of the release agent. Oberndorfer has also benefited massively from the changeover to an automatic spraying system. The fluctuation range for the surface quality of its concrete elements has been reduced to a minimum, especially because the human influencing factor no longer plays any role. Another benefit from the changeover to Ecoratio’s Betopro, which took place virtually overnight, was the avoidance of footprints that often appear on the surfaces of concrete elements. This phenomenon can be observed primarily with release agents containing solvents. Such unintended appearances are always a basis for customer complaints. Since emulsion-based release agents are in principle heavier than air even when sprayed, their fine particles quickly settle down in the immediate environment (formwork table). With solvent-based release agents, it is known that they mix with the ambient air during the spraying process and settle throughout the factory hall – certainly not a benefit!
Oberndorfer’s vision of positioning precast concrete elements as the benchmark for concrete construction seems to have succeeded. A firm belief in one’s own abilities, a strong team and the will to keep on developing clearly prove that the precast concrete industry has enormous potential that only needs to be developed actively. At this juncture, Werner Pröll also mentioned the fact that employee motivation is incomparably greater when the production department produces beautiful, clean concrete components and the entire team’s appreciation of their own work increases – a point that should not be underestimated.
Ecoratio was able to provide an extremely effective solution to meet the company’s many objectives, and was fully able to meet Oberndorfer’s needs with its strong customer service. Norbert Vorarberger and Walter Bruckner stress clearly that every problem, no matter how small, was taken seriously and a solution was actively worked out in the shortest time possible. Even if the products are only a small factor from a commercial point of view, they contribute to a significant extent at Oberndorfer to guaranteeing the desired quality level with its concrete surfaces – not forgetting the ongoing optimisation of working conditions. Ecoratio basically offers every precast concrete manufacturer the possibility of a customised product.
