The company, EPS Cement AB, is located just north of Stockholm. It has been producing a cement for quick-drying lightweight concrete called EPS-Cement since 2005.
The cement, which is sold to construction contractors and retailers in Sweden and parts of Finland, contains specially manufactured plastic pellets that result in two important properties: low weight and high thermal insulation.
“Our lightweight concrete weighs 17% of typical concrete on the market. The low weight allows for the possibilities of building at height, which is in demand today,” says Jimmy Larsson, EPS Cement’s factory manager.
The factory recently underwent a complete modernization of its production equipment. After comparing three different suppliers in Europe, they finally landed on Swedish Vebe Teknik, which offered a complete line with the compact bag filler Autopac Easy Clean 3.30 at the forefront.
“We had a requirement that the production line not be too bulky, since we have a limited factory area at present. In addition, Vebe’s bag handling is able to fill both paper bags and plastic bags, which was an important future investment for us,” says Rainer Andersson, who has acted as projec manager during the venture.
In the production of EPS-Cement, two raw materials—cement and plastic pellets—are mixed in bags that are sealed and placed on pallet. Handling cement entails dust, and this is where Autopac’s easy-to-clean construction and surface treatment come in handy, explains Jimmy Larsson.
“Vebe has really succeeded with its Easy Clean concept; the machine is easy to clean. We see a clear difference here from earlier.”
Currently, the company meets its need for lightweight concrete by running the production line on selected days of the week.
“But we solidly expect that in a year or so, we will be running at full production every day of the week. After that, we still have the night shift to fill if even greater needs arise,” says Rainer Andersson at EPS Cement.
