10.04.2008

Wilbert moves in

Tower crane manufacturer Wilbert, has started moving into its new production facility, almost 18 months after construction work began. The new plant is located in Waldlaubersheim, Germany, close to the A 61 autobahn four kilometres from its former headquarters in Warmsroth.
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Wilbert's plant in Waldlaubersheim, Germany

The new 166,000 square metre plant includes buildings for steel fabrication, machine shop, control engineering as well as final assembly. The factory floors are equipped with nine 20 tonne Demag double-girder overhead travelling cranes with Wilbert crane controllers.

The property has 37,000 square metres of outside space which can be used for further extension of the warehouse or for an additional production hall. The yard is equipped with a Wilbert designed 20 tonne gantry crane with clear span of 90 metres.

A 3,100 square metre powder coat paint and blasting plant will be completed in August. It can handle components up to 14m x 3.5m x 3.5m with a maximum weight of 20 tonnes.
Franz-Rudolf Wilbert points out that “Tower cranes with a powder coated finish have a considerably higher quality compared to conventionally coated ones.”

The new plant will also allow Wilbert to produce its own steel fabrications for the first time, the company says that it has exhausted the capacity of local steel construction suppliers, so this aspect of the new facility will help expand capacity and build more cranes.

However according to Wilbert the big new plant will only produce six tower cranes this year as the company, less than 10 percent of its initial capacity. “The market potential for our products will not be exhausted for a long time yet. We are desperately looking for suitable employees, including welders, lathe and other machinists. With the right team we will succeed in building more cranes on our own.”

The final assembly are can cope with up to 200 tower cranes per year although the staff shortages in the fabrication and machine shop will limit initial capacity to 60 to 70 units.

Wilbert currently has 110 employees and works a single shift, however the fabrications, machines shops and paint plant are planned to go to two shifts when staff shortages allow.

The first tower crane is expected to ship from the new plant during the last week of April, with the official opening planned for September.

Wilbert’s current crane range includes five flat top models with capacities of up to 16 tonnes and two saddle jib models of up to 32 tonnes and one 12 tonne luffing jib crane. A second luffing jib model is in the prototype and test stage, with a further two models on the drawing board.