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LOMMEL – It is around 1.00 pm on Friday 6 February and JUMA Beton is unloading the first ship at the unloading quay on the Bocholt-Herentals canal in the Maatheide industrial area in Lommel. JUMA Beton specialises in the production of prefabricated concrete elements for industrial construction, offices, apartments and road-building and is currently one of the market leaders in the production of concrete stairs.
Lommel production site
JUMA Beton, which has been operating as a concrete producer in Balen since 1987, built the first phase of its new production complex in Lommel, comprising a 17.500 m² production hall with social areas and a shipping centre, in 2008. This expansion became necessary as a result of the enormous growth of the company over the last few years and expansion was not possible in Balen, where the production site will be retained. Thanks to the good co-operation with the town of Lommel, the whole process from selecting building land to obtaining a building permit and starting production was completed at record speed in just 10 months.
The second phase of the project, planned for 2010, consists of additional halls with a total area of another 17.500 m². A new office building will then also be built.
Unloading quay
An important factor in JUMA Beton's choice of a new production site was the presence of a waterway so that raw materials such as sand and gravel could be delivered by ship. The fact that there was already an existing unloading quay on the Bocholt-Herentals canal near its site in the Maatheide industrial area was an extra benefit.
The town of Lommel, which had already invested previously in the construction of this unloading quay, is happy to finally see a return on its investment.
“With JUMA Beton, Lommel has not only attracted a major new employer to the region, but also a company that invests in multiple means of transport and in environmentally friendly measures,” says Peter Vanvelthoven, the town’s mayor.
Partly with the assistance of the waterways manager De Scheepvaart NV, the necessary dredging work at the unloading quay was completed faster than anticipated, enabling the first delivery by ship to be made this week.
JUMA Beton intends to have over 100.000 tonnes of raw materials per annum delivered by ship from 2010, thereby greatly reducing road transport.
Production volume tripled
With the construction of the new complex, the production and storage capacity will be increased by 35.000 m². In due course, solar panels will be fitted to the roof of the halls. There is a container to capture rainwater so that it can be fed back into production via a purification process and the water used in the production process is also recycled. The costs for the entire investment project in Lommel will be over EUR 25 million.
The expansion will create some 150 new jobs in the area as well as around another 50 jobs among suppliers.
“The increasing demand for prefabricated concrete was exhausting the capacity at our site in Balen and we could not sufficiently anticipate our customers' demand. By investing in an additional production facility, we can triple our volume and we can deliver the best price and quality with short lead times,” says Tom Vennekens, technical director at JUMA Beton.
Long-term vision
In the longer term, activities at the current site in Balen will be focussed on the production of spiral and straight stairs, an activity in which JUMA is one of the market leaders in the Belgian market.
Since the new site is located not far from the Netherlands and Germany, these markets will also be tapped, in anticipation of which a KOMO certificate was already obtained in 2007.
As a result of the planned investments, JUMA Beton has set a target of achieving turnover of EUR 25 million with a total of more than 200 employees at its 2 production sites by 2012.
BACKGROUND
JUMA Beton
JUMA Beton NV is based in Balen and Lommel. Over the last 5 years the company has evolved into a modern SME, currently employing approximately 125 people. The company is part of the Belgian construction group VALERES. At its production sites in Balen and Lommel, JUMA Beton has the most modern methods for custom prefabricated concrete products for commercial and industrial construction and road building. Since 2007, the majority of production has been both BENOR and KOMO-certified and JUMA Beton has the CE label for beams and columns that is required by law. JUMA Beton generated turnover of EUR 12 million in 2008, an increase of 22% over 2007. With the addition of the new site in Lommel, the goal for 2009 is to increase turnover to EUR 17 million.
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