Extension of mörtelpad production

Minister Aigner inaugurates an innovative lime kiln and new "mörtelpad" production facility at Franken Maxit

The maxit headquarters in Azendorf (Upper Franconia) are now being extended to include an additional production hall for mörtelpads and an advanced lime kiln. At the ceremony on July 9, Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs Ilse Aigner (CSU) inaugurated the buildings in front of about 1,000 invited guests. Thanks to the new plant, the mortar pads can be produced step by step on up to 27 production lines - previously there were five. With maxit, up to 200,000 pads per day will soon be coming off the production line. That equals around 66 single-family homes.

"Our investment was necessary because we could no longer meet the demand with the previous number of units," explains Hans-Dieter Groppweis, Managing Director of Franken Maxit. The recently commissioned lime kiln is now providing additional energy efficiency and significantly increased lime burning capacity. At a height of almost 60 meters, it is a major feature of the "skyline" of the company site.

Franken Maxit's mörtelpad has been on the market since the beginning of 2015. The demand for the dry mortar pads, which are distributed through brickwork manufacturers, was so great that maxit is now expanding its production capacities significantly:

 

Up to 22 production lines are planned for the new hall with dimensions of 30 by 60 meters. On the previous five production lines, around three million mörtelpads had come off the production line.

200,000 mortar pads per day

At maximum capacity utilization, the Upper Franconian mortar manufacturer would thus be able to produce around 200,000 mörtelpads per day in the future. In purely mathematical terms, this would allow 66 single-family houses to be built every day in the standard exterior wall formats of 42.5 and 36.5 centimeters and the standard interior wall formats. Looking ahead, Franken Maxit considers the delivery of around 50 million pads within one calendar year to be realistic. This number corresponds to around 16,660 single-family houses.

 

maxit also wants to look beyond the horizons of Germany: "First and foremost, we supply the domestic market with our production - and we are nowhere near finished with that. Nevertheless, we are also thinking about where good marketing opportunities for the mortar pad in other countries" explains Marketing Manager Reinhard Tyrok. Trademark protection for the mörtelpad has also been applied for internationally and the European patent is underway. In addition, the simple use of the pad definitely qualifies it for use across language and practice boundaries. According to the company, around 200 construction companies are now trained in the correct processing. maxit uses their feedback from the construction site for constant optimization: Currently, maxit is working on a new version of the watering system that is also delivered, for example.

A new one supplements two old ones

In addition to the expansion of mörtelpad production, a new lime kiln was also the focus of the latest investment step. It is one of the most modern of its kind in Europe and now supplements the two existing kilns built in 1973 and 1996. The main reason behind this was the desire to increase energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness in lime burning. For example, the new model increases the daily output of burnt lime from around 60 to about 200 tons. Franken Maxit uses the available waste heat in the cooler months to heat the administration building.

Key note speaker Erwin Huber praises willingness to invest

All of the investments are part of a large-scale expansion of the headquarters in Azendorf (Oberfranken). According to the company, some 20 million euros have been earmarked for modernization and expansion measures. In his keynote speech, former Bavarian Minister President Erwin Huber (CSU) highlighted Franken Maxit as an example of healthy cross-generational growth. Medium sized companies are indispensable as an economic motor and anchor for employment, added the current chairman of the state parliamentary committee for economy and the media, infrastructure, construction and transport, energy and technology. With the significant increase in production at the mortar pad, Franken Maxit is now consistently pursuing the path it began on.

Interested construction clients can obtain further information at www.maxit-moertelpad.de. Or directly from Franken Maxit - by telephone (+49 (0) 9 220 - 18 0) or e-mail (info@maxit.de).