Siemens

Industrial Partitions for Controlling Manufacturing Environments

Customer: Siemens Electromechanical Components

Location: Marion, Kentucky

Application: 270' Long x 21'-24' tall graduated wall
to divide plant space

Product: XTRA TALL Wall System

Benefits Provided:

• Protect sensitive machinery
• Improve appearance of plant to visitors
• Increase space utilization

The Situation

Siemens, a manufacturer of intricate electrical components, relays and circuit-boards for automotive and other industries, was giving itself a strategic facelift to prepare itself for a bright future. One of the results of this shift involved rearranging the plants for more efficient and cleaner manufacturing.

Enlarging their automated operations at the 110,000 square foot facility in Marion, Kentucky, meant moving many of their manual assemblies to one of their other locations. The few labor-intensive jobs remaining in Marion had to be segregated from the sensitive robotic equipment taking over much of the plant.

The Challenge

Siemens needed to create an environment to isolate the contaminate-producing functions while keeping a high-tech image and ensuring their position as a world-class operation.

Donnie Corley, tooling manager at Siemens, commented on the strategic reorganization of the plants, "The way the plant was set up didn't fit, so we decided to make a move to make it fit. We divided our plant up to move our manual assemblies and our support group across the hall."

The Evaluation

Systematically separating the sound, dust and other contaminants from the automated equipment was a lot more difficult than just packing up and crossing the hall. Siemens had to make sure that the divider stretched the length of a 270 foot area and reached a 21-24' foot tall ceiling cluttered with joists, pipes and hoses. It also had to accommodate a variety of pass-throughs, doors, and windows.

It was determined that the PortaMax XTRA TALL wall system was the solution needed to meet Siemen's complex specifications. It provided the flexibility to effectively divide Siemens' plant with its pre-engineered panels customized to fit around the existing obstructions and its non-progressive construction allowed for easy expansion or alteration to fit Siemens' future needs.

Siemens considered drywall and looked at a few different modular options, but PortaFab could provide the quality, flexibility, service, and high-tech look at a better value than others. Plus, the PortaMax XTRA TALL walls provided excellent sound reduction and non-combustibility that other options did not provide.

The Solution

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The PortaMax pre-engineered panels arrived ready for fast and easy installation with minimal plant disruption ensuring continuous flow of operations in the facility. The sheer size of the project required consistency of appearance and PortaFab's extensive line of panels, posts, window systems created the uniform look not achievable with drywall or other competitive modular systems. Overall, the PortaFab system effectively met all of the requirements for environmental control, increase space utilization, and improved appearance.

"It's difficult to put a price on the new, clean look, but it definitely is worth a lot. We have many more customers visiting us and everyone is very complimentary of the appearance of the structure."