BetonTage in Ulm – “Korbwand” also receives German Innovation Prize

On 24th February 2016, Hubert Rapperstorfer successfully celebrated the premiere in Germany of his new Korbwand system on the occasion of the BetonTage in Ulm. His new product was also awarded the concrete component supply industry’s innovation prize at the same time. After the “Austria Cooperative Research Cooperation Prize”, Hubert Rapperstorfer has now also received his first innovation prize in Germany. His invention makes it possible to manufacture flat reinforcement cages fully automatically and totally individually in any size desired on one system.

Ulm/Steinhaus bei Wels, 26th February 2016 – The BetonTage in Ulm are Europe’s largest trade congress for the precast concrete component industry. Once again in 2016, more than 2,000 participants came together for this combination of trade show and congress in Ulm. In the course of his expert talk on 24th February 2016, company owner Hubert Rapperstorfer presented his innovative Korbwand system for the first time in Germany. “After the successful world premiere in Vienna at the beginning of December, not much could really go wrong. Even so, I was really pleased at the great amount of positive feedback,“ said Rapperstorfer, who was also awarded the concrete component supply industry’s 2016 innovation prize at the same time.

Awards in both Germany and Austria
Hubert Rapperstorfer had already been thrilled at receiving the Austria Cooperative Research Cooperation Prize in October 2015. This innovative Austrian was even more pleased at achieving first place in Ulm. “The BetonTage in Ulm are Germany’s most important event in the area of concrete components. Celebrating a debut straight away with a prize means great success for our company.” The tenor of the professional jury was unmistakeable. “The solution combines all production steps in one system. This is really innovative and ground-breaking,” was Hubert Rapperstorfer’s summary of the judges’ feedback.

Fully automated in lot size 1
The core of the innovation is a fully automated system for creating flat reinforcement cages in any size desired. At the same time, Hubert Rapperstorfer and his team have successfully employed new types of production methods to simplify manufacturing processes and enhance quality. Alongside these innovative means of production, in which robots manufacture the steel cages fully automatically in any variations and in lot size 1, the actual “Korbwand” itself awakened the audience’s interest.  “Our Korbwand only needs seven welding points per square metre whereas conventional double walls require 44 points. At the same time, more than 90 per cent of the plastic parts can be eliminated. At the bottom line, our customers can save a great deal of steel, plastic and energy,” explained Hubert Rapperstorfer. But the stability is greater than with conventional walls in spite of these savings. “We can insert the diameter of the bars, as well as their number and position, precisely down to the very last millimetre. This is very valuable in structural terms. It means that we are also capable of increasing the filling speed as desired when erecting a building,” said Rapperstorfer. Together with Maba, their partner in development, he and his team have brought the system to serial production. The next landmark event in the company’s still young history will be the step onto international markets. The starting shot was given at the BetonTage in Ulm.

Corporate data
Rapperstorfer Automation has a simpler, better and more efficient way of solving production tasks. These guiding principles have helped Hubert Rapperstorfer and his team in developing innovative machines for creating the Korbwand. The company is going the right way about becoming a recognised specialist for innovative and “human-friendly” machine engineering thanks to the firm’s values of innovation, enthusiasm and trust. The patented Korbwand®System of this company with its headquarters in Steinhaus bei Wels, Austria, is already successfully in operation.