Work smarter

Tholen-based Rombouts Kunststof Techniek (RKT) has been an innovator in the world of plastics processing for 36 years, offering appropriate solutions for a wide variety of situations. The company is increasingly focusing on "working smarter" by prefabricating as much as possible under climate-controlled conditions in its own "prefab shop". This both safeguards quality and shortens lead times. 

In our well-equipped workshop in Tholen, we prepare as much work as possible so that in the field it is only a matter of assembling, says Marcel van Pagee, director of RKT. "We make a kit, so to speak, with the only limitation being the maximum dimensions for road transport. In other words, parts of up to 3.5 meters wide and 20 meters long. At the bottom line, this leads to higher quality and lower price."

De Pals and Salt Lock pumping stations.

In the prefab shop, RKT can process both thermosets and thermoplastics. The prefab shops for thermoplastics and thermosets are equipped with a very extensive arsenal of machines and equipment. "With these machines we are able, for example, to realize certain segment bends very precisely. This is also possible in the field, but takes much more time. And moreover, it is then much more difficult to achieve the high level of quality," Van Pagee emphasizes. "For example, we made an important contribution to making the De Pals pumping stations near Halsteren and Zoute Sluis near Nieuw Vossemeer of the Brabantse Delta Water Board fish-friendly. The pipework in GRVE DN 800 and DN 600 was fully prepared in our prefab shop, so that installation on site took only limited time."

PP tanks prefabricated

We were allowed to build six PP tanks for a good relationship last year, continues Van Pagee. "Because the tanks will be placed at a different location in the building, the associated piping also had to be renewed. A very special assignment on which we were able to indulge our creative brainpower lustily. Not least because of the relatively small space where four of the tanks are to be located and the fact that the width of the entrance to this space is 2.2 meters, which meant that the tanks could not be transported in their entirety through the building. We ended up preparing them in parts, transporting them and assembling them on site."

Welding containers

Another example of working smarter, is RKT's contribution to the Seawater Heat Cold Storage at Duindorp. "Here, too, we had a very limited space available to realize all the piping, also largely underwater. By preparing all the piping sections as a ready-made package, the time for installation at the quay and underwater was greatly reduced. In the field, we would have spent at least twice as long." Van Pagee also acknowledges that not everything can be prepared prefabricated. "That is why we have several welding containers for welding on site, so that we can also adjust the conditions in the field to our liking for the most optimal connection. That too is what we mean by working smarter. And so we try to distinguish ourselves in all areas."