Bonded anchors for concrete – capsules produced at our new plant

Why Asia?

• The decision to relocate machines and production lines for our range of bonded anchors in glass capsules from the Manufacturing Plant in Wrocław to the one in Bangkok was preceded by a detailed business analysis.
• The main reasons for the decision to embark on the relocation journey were cost optimisation and streamlining of logistics processes, including procurement, production, and transport.
• The aim of the project was to broaden the spectrum of business opportunities (including responding to market needs and challenges even more rapidly).

Rawlplug Thailand, step by step

Rawlplug’s Asian Plant was established in May 2018. In May 2021, the relocation project started, and only two months later, seven containers set off from Wrocław, heading for Bangkok. Two of them carried raw materials and semi-finished products. The other five contained specialised machinery, equipment and spare parts. 

The carefully planned investment also included the following activities:

• preparation of machinery with the relevant documentation (production, technical, quality) accompanying the transfer;
• accumulation of a safe inventory level of finished product line items;
• preparation of master data and their migration to the systems;
• preparation of new infrastructure required to start up the production lines (e.g., general ventilation and local exhaust system, gas installation, fire protection system, laboratory rooms, temperature-controlled storage rooms);
• design and start-up of the Quality Control Department’s chemical laboratory, making it possible to systematically monitor raw material deliveries and control of the production process;
• recruitment of direct and indirect production staff including comprehensive training with regard to the implementation and handling of the production and maintenance process;
• transfer and launch of production of fixings in glass capsules.

European quality, Made in Asia

The minor difficulties encountered along the way were related to the obtaining of the required permits and licences (for production and export). It took the Department of Industrial Works in Thailand several months to issue the relevant documents. Rawlplug Manufacturing Thailand’s launch was also influenced by the time spent waiting to obtain approval for the use and storage of an explosive curing agent (dibenzoyl peroxide 50%) in an industrial area.

The real challenge, however, consisted in something else.

The reasons for the initial problems were mainly the higher humidity (over 60%) and temperature (over 30°C) than in Poland, as both the chemical raw materials and some machine components are sensitive to moisture and overheating.

Another Rawlplug Masterplan success story

Just a glance at the statistics is enough to confirm this. In the test phase, in September 2022, we produced nearly 6,000 capsules in Thailand. In January we managed to more than double that number. The results skyrocketed in the second half of 2023, easily reaching 100,000 bonded anchors in glass capsules. This figure gives us the potential to produce between 1 and 1.5 million units per year.

The indisputable success of the Thai project is an element of the Masterplan embedded in Rawlplug’s strategy, covering all of our company’s manufacturing plants. It concerns, among other things, the implementation and transfer of new processes, knowledge and skills, but also key investments and solutions for development, including automation, already ubiquitous at Rawlplug.