No machine the same, but they always do their job

And never has a machine been returned or broken before the end of its service life. In the unlikely event that something doesn't quite work to your satisfaction, Lebotec's service team is available 24/7 to solve the problem. 

"In general, our machines last about 15 to 20 years. There are even some with as many as 63,000 running hours," says Lebotec owner Jacques Bouten not without pride. Much of that reliability of the machines is due to the fact that Bouten looks at each machine built in Wijchen "as if he had to work with it in person in the highest sense," adds sales manager Wil Zwartjes. "I am a bit of a trade idiot yes," smiles Bouten. 

That no two foundation machines from Lebotec are the same is because each customer has its own requirements and working methods. "We once produced a series of eight of our mini-heim machines," says Bouten. "But customers now simply ask for different mast lengths, for outriggers of all shapes and sizes, different widths of the undercarriage, you name it. That sometimes makes our work difficult, because if you change one thing, the whole drawing has to change immediately. But mostly we find it fun and challenging. It never gets boring." 

Registration

In fact, Lebotec likes to think along with the customer and the specific requirements. It not only provides the machine builder with a well-filled order book, but also a good relationship with very loyal customers. "Almost every foundation job is different in our small country," Zwartjes states. Not for nothing do we also maintain a sophisticated pile registration system for our customers. What exactly goes into the ground? Under which drilling pressure? In what composition of concrete or grout? With how many liters of water and in what mixing ratio? We record all that and store it on our servers for 10 years. Customers can always retrieve that data if, for example, Building and Housing Control should ask for it." 

Lebotec prefers to sell not only the foundation machines themselves, but the entire process. "From drilling rig to concrete or grout pumps. The whole chain from supply to actually making the piles," says Bouten. "After all, for a smoothly running process it is best to have one party take care of the whole chain," adds Zwartjes. "And that is what we are good at." 

Managing those complex processes requires that more and more electronics must be able to communicate with each other. And Lebotec is getting that done. For example, it designed an automation process that automatically produces piles on site. Bouten: "You have to imagine that on a construction site there is a concrete mixer, a concrete pump and a concrete screw pile machine. And that the screw is then fully automated to depth, the concrete pump is automatically switched on, the concrete thickness is measured, the concrete is injected and the drill is pulled out again. We can do this with both concrete screw piles and Mini Vibro piles. This is where we really distinguish ourselves."  

Emission-free

Bouten and Zwartjes expect the replacement of foundation machines due to increasingly prescribed zero emission work to increase in the coming years. Lebotec is also responding to this by electrifying its foundation machines. "However, speed and power are essential in our work. So you need a lot of power for that. Technically that's perfectly possible, but we can't do that without our partners who supply motors and battery packs and especially not without a government that provides the right infrastructure. So we invest just as much in cleaner diesel engines," Zwartjes concludes.