In Harlingen, everything is running smoothly

That may be seen very literally. As Martin Slagboom and Frank van de Geijn pointed out during the tour of the production facility where the Levvel blocks are made, "You are literally at the heart of one big machine here." The carousel of carts that transport the molds and Levvel blocks, the filling machine, the cleaning machine and the "mold handler" all come from the ingenious quiver of KTB Machinery of Hattemerbroek.

Performed in-house from A to Z

Johan Kooij, director at KTB: "We took care of the engineering, construction and building and designed the necessary hardware and software for control." Together with sister company Consmema (also a Kooij company), KTB is a unique company by Dutch standards, with so much expertise in-house as well as the ability to carry out projects from A to Z in-house. "For Levvel, I think that was of decisive importance. We are 'around the corner' and, as the architect of the system, can quickly come up with solutions when the need arises. Extensive in-person consultation was also needed during the design phase, so it's nice to be close by," Kooij said.

Ecotop layer for plant growth

All individual machines that make up the production line were first extensively tested in-house at KTB/Consmema. "However, the rails of the carousel were tested on site, because their routing was already defined in the concept." There was a nice challenge in terms of automation: "The line had to be able to run with as few people as possible. We succeeded well in that." A highlight of the production line is the ecotop coating machine. "The Levvel blocks are provided with two puddles and a rough top layer to promote ecological vegetation. After the concrete has about 2.5 hours of hardening, the ecotop layer machine pushes pommels into the top and roughens the surface."