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Prysmian, the world’s largest producer of cables and conduits, opened a new factory in Prešov, eastern Slovakia. Convoi was contracted to dismantle, assemble and install the existing production lines, an assignment that called for improvisation and flexibility.
Prysmian, which produces cables for the telecom market at its site in Prešov, moved from two leased premises to one new custom-built plant. Convoi was asked to move two 80-metre production lines from the old to the new location. A project which took 6 months and a team of, on average,15 people to complete.‘First we dismantled the production lines in relatively small sections’, Peter Holáni, Project Manager Convoi Slovakia, explains. ‘The largest sections didn’t weigh more than 8 or 9 tonne – in terms of weight a piece of cake. The problem, however, was reassembling the production line at the new plant as the parts had to be aligned with the utmost precision; for some parts, it was a matter of a hundredth of a millimetre.’ Convoi did not only assemble but also installed the production lines at their new location; connecting all the water pipes, electric cabling and the air pressure supply. For that particular job, Convoi contracted a number of external specialists.
"The problem, however, was reassembling the production line at the new plant as the parts had to be aligned with the utmost precision; for some parts, it was a matter of a hundredth of a millimetre." - Peter Holáni, Project Manager Convoi Slovakia.
‘This set-up, where specialists did their work under our supervision, was one of the reasons why Prysmian had awarded the contract to Convoi. Other bidders wanted to divide the job between several companies, and we were the only contender who were able to execute the entire assignment as main contractor, meaning that we recruited the specialists, coordinated the work and were in charge of ensuring that the necessary equipment was at hand.’ ‘The collaboration with the contractors was excellent’, Peter Holáni adds,‘everyone got on really well. We knew how to make the most of each other’s expertise. And thanks to the daily meetings our foreman organised, the work by the various specialists was streamlined to perfection.’ Improvisation to ensure a successful completion that excellent collaboration became even more essential when the job became more complex as time went on. As Holáni explains, ‘while we were reassembling the production line, Prysmian decided to make a number of technical improvements to the production line. Those improvements did not form part of the original scope and it entailed a considerable amount of improvisation and changing of the respective schedules. Luckily, our subcontractors were extremely accommodating, with the result that we were able to perform the entire contract to the client’s satisfaction.’