References

Until recently Stork Thermeq was located in its 120 year old building in the centre of Hengelo. For the global supplier of advanced water-steam technology, the move to the new business premises at the Twentekanaal Noord industrial estate marked a major advance in the areas of logistics and flexibility. Winkels Techniek installed all the electrical engineering in next to no time, as well as the heating, climate control and data supply.

Omke Poel

Electrical engineering and mechanical engineering

Stork Thermeq’s new business premises consists of a production hall with an adjacent office building where more than 200 employees are currently (Autumn 2015) accommodated. Stork Thermeq wanted to work together with a partner with expertise in both electrical and mechanical engineering for the construction of the office building and production hall. Five suppliers were given the opportunity to show what they could do and Winkels Techniek was chosen in the end.

Winkels offered broad expertise and high quality at a reasonable price.

Contribution

The criteria on which Stork Thermeq evaluated the tenders includes quality and willingness to contribute as well as pricing. “Winkels came out on top because of their mix of broad expertise and high quality at a reasonable price,” said operations manager Omke Poel. “Their professional presentation with additional suggestions, supported by many photos and drawings, also contributed to them being awarded the role.”

...contributing as much as possible to cost savings and flexibility

Combined main distributors

Maikel Pietersen, project manager at Winkels Techniek: “From the very first contact we contributed as much as possible with Stork Thermeq, e.g. in terms of cost savings and flexibility. For example, we presented the idea of two combined main distributors for medium voltage to low voltage instead of a single transformer box outside the building. The fact that the energy distributor is now much closer to the location where the power is needed means we have been able to make considerable savings on copper.”

Flexible approach

“Another example is the application of bus bars for transporting many thousands of watts,” continued Pietersen. “This means the factory can be set up flexibly with production lines and machinery. The offices can also be arranged flexibly with the adjusted grids with workplace connections. “

Multifunctional energy panels

The new construction has the necessary technical highlights, such as the 34 energy panels in the factory with connections for high-frequency power supplies, gas and compressed air. With a water tank of 600 m3, the products can be checked by pressure testing the strength aspects.

KNX and building management system

A KNX system is in use in the factory to control and monitor electrical installations such as disabled toilets and lighting. Installations for, for example, air conditioning and air quality are checked and managed remotely via a panel connected to the building management system (BMS) installed.

Air control in the factory

Due to the welding work performed, Winkels Techniek installed welding fume extraction and ventilation with heat recovery in the factory. In combination with the underfloor heating, this creates a thermal column that contributes to particularly effective air control and high air quality in the factory.

This project was about speed while maintaining quality.

Speed - while maintaining quality

The building was erected and fully set up within ten months. Maikel Pietersen: “This project was about speed while maintaining quality. This was possible thanks to continuous collaboration with the customer and short lines of communication. We also used lean schedules. Our recent experience in setting up the Unipro factory also came in handy here.

The factory is now set up well for the flow of materials within the production process.

Well-conceived logistics

Omke Poel believes the new business premises are a huge step forward from a logistical point of view: “The factory is now set up well for the flow of materials within the production process, and has allowed for a considerable reduction of waste and handling. The often enormous boilers roll straight out of the factory to the ships to then be shipped via the Twentekanaal (Twente canal). Compare this with the old method which involved transporting meter-long and meter-high aerators through the centre using trucks! “

Winkels is a great partner to work together with.

Basis for further collaboration

Stork Thermeq and Winkels look back at a beautiful and, given the amount of changes made in such a short time, drastic project. “The individuals certainly didn’t betray our trust. Winkels is a great partner to work together with. Although we are obviously not going to build anything new on this scale any time soon, it has laid a good foundation for further collaboration”, said a satisfied Poel.