Mekoprint invests over EUR 6,5 million in factory and strengthens offers to volume customers
Once again, the Danish industrial concern Mekoprint is expanding the factory in its Mechanics division in Aalborg, and investing in fully automated production equipment. The investments are an important part of Mekoprint’s strategy to expand its position as a leader in metal production, while at the same time focusing on strengthening cooperation with all types of customers in the development of new products.
Growth continues at the North Jutland industrial concern Mekoprint, which has just commissioned a new 2,400 square metre factory hall and new, fully automated production equipment at the company’s largest metal production plant in Aalborg East, where the Mechanics division is located. The investments of over EUR 6,5 million have been made to meet the high demand from prototype and medium-volume sheet production to high-volume customers with coil-based production that is optimal from, typically, 10,000 metal items per year.
“We are experiencing significant growth among many of our major customers, particularly in green tech and automation and obviously we need to keep up with demand. We are already among the largest suppliers of metal products in Denmark and the investment in the production equipment ensures that we will expand our position and become one of the most competitive partners in the market,” says Divisional Director Søren Holmboe from Mekoprint Mechanics, who adds that the investment in the new machines makes Danish production even more attractive throughout the life of the metal product.
The Mekoprint Mechanics division has invested EUR 2 million in a modern, fully automatic coil press that can produce parts of up to 1.5 metres in length. In addition, the company has purchased both a fully automatic Amada punching machine and an Amada laser cutting machine, both with large storage towers, to ensure that the Aalborg factory can meet demand
Mekoprint has, for example, received large orders from one of the world’s leading suppliers of warehouse management systems and a large Swedish battery manufacturer that is experiencing rapid growth. The investment in a second production hall and the expansion of the machinery is not just due to a few large orders. Overall, demand at Mekoprint Mechanics is increasing and the investments will benefit both large and small customers.
“It is crucial that we can meet expectations for very high-quality assurance, short delivery times and competitively priced production in Europe. These investments ensure that we will have a better flow throughout the factory and be able to satisfy our customers’ wishes to an even greater extent,” Søren Holmboe says.
The factory in Aalborg was previously expanded by 2,000 square metres in 2018, and with the latest expansion, the total factory area now exceeds 19,000 square metres. The Mechanics division also consists of two factories in Hornslet and Poland, which together can deliver total solutions from sheet metal to welded system solutions of several metres.
Developing products together with customers
The Mekoprint Mechanics division produces metal enclosures, turnkey solutions and many different types of metal components, which are increasingly developed together with customers in development cycles of up to several years.
“We have more and more partnership-like collaborations, where we participate in the development phase of the metal products from the very beginning. The discussions with the customers’ development teams result in better products, because we can contribute with concrete knowledge to optimise the product’s design, so that it has the best possible expression and functionality, which at the same time suits different types of cost-optimised production flows throughout the product’s lifetime,” Søren Holmboe says.
The significant investments in the Aalborg plant are a result of Mekoprint’s long-term and ambitious investment strategy. The concern has invested heavily in machinery and factories over several years, and behind the strategy is the objective of a leading, fully automated technology park and as many processes as possible in-house.
“Bringing more processes together under one roof is a big advantage for our customers, and we aim to be chosen as a total supplier even more frequently. We have highly automated production equipment and highly experienced employees who can deliver high quality in all parts of the process. For example, we finish customers’ metal parts by providing the required surface treatment including anodising, powder and wet coating, as well as final assembly with control solution and cables as required in Denmark or Poland. There are not many companies in the whole of Northern Europe that can do everything we can do,” states Mekoprint’s CEO Anders Kold.
