Have Factory, Will Travel (Published March 2007)
If you want nine cu. metres of concrete in the UK you could order a batch delivery and one of those traditional lorries would arrive, turning the concrete constantly on its journey before feeding it onto your site. To ensure there is no shortfall you would probably order 10 cu. metres, and hope you don't actually need
11 cu. metres!
But what if you want only four cu. metres, or you are in Africa and there isn't a concrete factory for 500 miles, or you might need a particular mixture but cannot predict that precisely when you order?
Then you would like the factory to come to you with the cement, the aggregate and the sand, and mix to your precise requirement on your site.
Bob Prince agreed to design such a "mobile batching plant" (MBP) for a large UK group, the customer having committed to a large minimum order. Bob designed, built, and sold several but the customer did not take the agreed number so development costs were not recovered. The resulting loss meant that Bob had to transfer the business to a new company, and has since found it hard to get credit from his suppliers.
Mek-Tek MBP Ltd, www.mek-tek.co.uk, is another of our clients with a world-class environmental product.
"Mek-Tek are scaling up production of their remarkable product to meet world demand"
It takes about 12 weeks to build each "factory", although that will fall to five to six weeks with batch manufacture and more out-sourcing. We buy the steel and components on credit in economic order quantities from the best sources Mek-Tek can find, without them worrying about cash requirements or credit limits. They expect to save more than our fees in better buying. They manufacture to order; the customer pays us before delivery, profit to Mek-Tek.
The MBP fits on a vehicle chassis. Most UK sales are to leasing companies for subcontractors whose supply is more flexible than possible from a fixed concrete factory. There is no waste and other costs can be much lower than for batch delivery, so it can be very profitable for the operator.
Africa wants MBPs because they do not have many concrete factories. The cement is about 20% of the mix; the other components are available locally.
With about 30 MBP's now delivered, Mek-Tek are scaling up production of their remarkable product to meet world demand, with virtually no working capital requirements
Their customers could recycle aggregate for use in the MBP with a Red Rhino Crusher www.redrhinocrushers.net, but that is another client story.
If you are a leasing broker or leasing company with clients who might be interested in a MBP, or you are in Africa or India and can see its benefits for you, please get in touch...
Written by David Ross Director
Download
the Article 'Have Factory, Will Travel' at www.fairfaxgerrard.co.uk/docs/BusMon 0307 Have Factory, Will Travel.pdf
<< Back to News Headlines