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CONCRETE PRODUCTS & CAST STONE102 CPI %u2013 Concrete Plant International %u2013 5 | 2025 www.cpi-worldwide.comOn the customer side, essential preparatory construction measures were successfully implemented. These included the renewal of the rails for the finger cars and the conversion of the chamber system to increase the number of levels. This adjustment formed the basis for a significant increase in storage capacity.Rekers designed the two new finger cars in such a way that they could be seamlessly integrated into the existing chamber structure. The elevators of the two block making machines and the lowerator were also fully integrated into the new control technology to ensure consistent process optimisation. The retrofitting of modern frequency converters ensures dynamically controllable drive control.The finger cars continue to work according to the proven firstin-first-out principle. The finger car for operating the two elevators is equipped with a slewing gear that enables flexible movement sequences. The second finger car at the end of the chamber does not require a slewing gear, as only straightline product removal is required there.By using special forks with a hydraulic adjustment function, it is now possible to store products up to a height of 120 mm on each level. Products with a height of up to 400 mm can be stored on every second level. This not only increased the usable storage capacity within the chamber by up to 57%, but also optimised the curing conditions. The more even occupancy of the chamber has a positive effect on the thermal behaviour and product quality.A particular advantage: Despite the use of new, adjustable forks with double push, the existing production board could be retained. All moulds of both block making machines also remain fully usable %u2013 a key aspect for the operational continuity and cost-effectiveness of the conversion.Cycle time optimised %u2013 intelligent prioritisation during elevator unloadingA special feature of the promised and achieved cycle time is the integrated prioritisation control for unloading the elevators: If the first elevator is unloaded by the finger car while the second is already partially filled, the finger car first stores the production boards of the first elevator in a reserved buffer space at the start of the chamber. The products from the second elevator are then transported into the chamber. Only then does the regular storage of the intermediate production boards take place. In this way, cycle time losses due to overlapping processes are effectively minimised %u2013 an important contribution to the overall performance optimisation of the system.Intelligent control and visualisation of the new machinesThe new finger car system is controlled by a Siemens S7-1500 PLC, which coordinates not only the finger cars but also the elevators and the lowerator, chamber occupancy and the curing process.An intuitive visualisation system gives the operators real-time access to all relevant data %u2013 from product positions and remaining times to recipe assignments, which are transmitted directly from the block making machines via interfaces.Rotating finger car for storing the products according to the first-in-first-out principle