German rebar bender and distributor Eisen-Fischer is in the process of finalising a larger investment spree at its site in Diez in the state of Hesse.
Eisen-Fischer Group consists of 13 locations, most of them for sanitary, construction and D-I-Y products, with three sites specialising in steel distribution. A couple of years ago, the group decided to have its Diez site concentrate on rebar processing and distribution, and moved the miscellaneous other rolled steel products to the affiliates in Bad Hersfeld and Erfurt.
The installation of new and additional equipment began in 2020. Now, the site has three times the space for rebar processing and storage it used to have previously. All fuel-driven stir-up bending machines have since been replaced for new ones with electric servo motors, also with an eye on environmentally sensible operation, site director Markus Wagenbach tells Kallanish.
The company is still waiting for the delivery of a double-bending system of the Permatic type from German engineering company Pendax, which specialises in rebar processing equipment.
With a higher degree of automation, such machines require only one instead of three operators like a conventional machine. Wagenbach notes the decision in favour of a Permatic was made partly because of the difficulty of recruiting staff. Also, some of the conventional machines were fed with coil, while the Permatic can work all from bars, so that the more expensive and scarcer coil material can be saved for other purposes.
With a total of 13 processing machines and seven cranes, the firm will be able to produce 3,000 tonnes/month. On a storage space of 10,000m², it can store 5,000t of straight and coiled rebar, plus 2,500t of wire mesh.
Christian Koehl Germany
