Befer's company history dates back to 1947, when F. and H. Conrad founded a limited company for the recycling of rub- ble. In 1953, the company was expropriated and transformed into the state-owned enterprise VEB Betonwerk Halberstadt. From 1973, the company developed into a sought-after man- ufacturer of customised precast concrete elements for large construction projects such as the Stendal nuclear power plant, the Palace of the Republic in Berlin and hospitals in Halle and Neubrandenburg. In 1990, the plant was converted into Befer Betonfertigteil- bau- und Betonwaren GmbH in the course of reprivatisation. One year later, Tunnel-Ausbau-Technik GmbH (TAT GmbH) took over the company and began producing patented tun- nel beams. In 2003, the shares were transferred to Richard Schulz Tiefbau GmbH & Co. KG. Under new management, activities were expanded throughout Germany. 2018 saw the introduction of a new ERP system for more efficient planning, combined with a further change in management. Volker Weidemann became the new Managing Director of Befer / Tat GmbH at the end of the year. The spectrum of Befer ranges from the production of sophis- ticated structural precast concrete elements such as columns and beams, solid wall and solid floor elements, energy-effi- cient thermal walls for industry and commerce, the creation of structural designs, the calculation of statics, complete 3D preliminary planning, 3D mould planning and the construc- tion of moulds with a CNC woodworking centre. All products related to residential construction round off the portfolio, whether staircase systems, lift shafts, ceilings and walls as well as components for the enclosure of properties. Last but not least, there are also products for infrastructure, such as flood protection, noise protection, precast concrete elements for bridge construction and railway platforms. Lift shafts The Befer lift shaft is manufactured as a finished, storey-high element with all installation parts for later assembly. The el- ements are manufactured to fit precisely according to storey height, resulting in a uniform joint width. Recesses for light strips or floor slabs can be planned. Execution in fair-faced concrete is also possible. Balconies Befer balconies are formwork-smooth on the upper side, smoothed on the underside and fitted with slopes, drains and built-in components. Drip edges, upstands, corbels or recesses can be realised as required. Beams/downstand beams Prefabricated beams from Befer are suitable for spans of up to 25.00 metres. They are designed as rectangular, T or I cross-sections for parallel, monopitch or gable roofs. Other design options can be agreed by the customer with the tech- nical office. Precast slab with in-situ topping Precast slabs with in-situ topping are manufactured in widths of 2.50 metres and lengths of up to 10.00 metres. Width levelling is carried out using shims. The planning data is re- corded in the technical office, transferred to the mould and the concrete is then poured and compacted. 134 CPI – Concrete Plant International – 6 | 2025 CAD drawing of the new production hall Columns Reinforced concrete columns are mainly used in industrial and commercial construction. They can be customised and carry very high loads with high concrete grades (up to C 50/60). Cross-sections of up to 1.00 x 1.00 m and lengths of up to 25.00 m are possible. Staircase systems Prefabricated staircases can be walked on immediately after installation. The step sizes adapt to the storey heights. Sto- rey-high stairs or variants with landings are possible up to 2.65 m wide and can be supplied ready to surface or ready for covering. Solid slabs Solid slabs up to 12.00 m long and 3.00 m wide can be in- stalled quickly and without support. Recesses for cables are pre-planned. The undersides can be painted after the joints have been sealed. Solid walls Walls up to 12.00 m long and 3.50 m high can be produced in one piece. Wall thicknesses from 10 cm are possible. Sand- wich walls with thermal insulation as well as openings and built-in parts for electrical installations can also be realised. Customised components Customised components are manufactured individually ac- cording to customer plans. Examples include platform gan- tries, foundations, beams, flood protection walls, culverts, bridge abutments, steel composite beams or blocks First project step: New mixing plant With the investment in the new concrete mixing plant from Wiggert, Befer GmbH has a state-of-the-art, automated mix- ing plant that ensures consistently high concrete quality and enables the production of fibre-reinforced, coloured and self-compacting concrete. To integrate the new mixing technology from Wiggert & Co. GmbH in Karlsruhe, a reinforced concrete silo for aggregates and a technical building were erected directly next to the pro- duction hall. This includes the mixing plant, the cleaning level for the bucket conveyor from Dudik and a residual concrete recycling plant from Bibko. The 6-chamber row silo holds approx. 600 m³ of aggregates. It is fed via a flat feed hopper (complete lorry load) and a belt system consisting of a hopper discharge belt, ascending belt and a movable and reversible distribution belt with inductive position control. The chamber allocation is automated via barcode scan on the delivery note. An additional part of the building serves as a foreman's office, storage room for admixtures and installation level for bind- ing agent silos. These are equipped with state-of-the-art air loosening, purge air filters, overfill protection and radar level measurement technology. An integrated access road also en- ables the direct loading of truck mixers. HPGM 2250 planetary mixer The core component of the new mixing plant is a Wiggert HPGM 2250 planetary mixer with a concrete output of 1.5 m³ per cycle. The lining with Wicodur 4000 composite armoured plates ensures a long service life, while the integrated mixer filter ensures almost dust-free production. The automatic high-pressure cleaning system, also from Wiggert, ensures HPGM 2250 planetary mixer 136 CPI – Concrete Plant International – 6 | 2025 ©Wiggert Filling of the lifting bucket thorough and fast cleaning of the mixer and thus minimises downtimes. High accuracy and repeatability The aggregates are dosed onto a weighing belt via double dosing gates. Electronic weighing cells, automatic coarse/ fine dosing and overrun correction ensure high accuracy and repeatability. Moisture probes in the sand chambers correct the effective sand weight. A microwave probe in the mixer floor records precise moisture values during the process. Dry mixing with subsequent moisture measurement After the aggregates, cements and additions have been added, dry mixing is carried out with subsequent moisture measurement. The missing water is then added and the wet mixing time is initiated. The mixer empties the ready-mixed concrete either directly into a truck mixer or transfers it to the bucket conveyor, which supplies the circulation plant with concrete. A water scale on the mixer can be used to replace some of the fresh water with treated wash water from the re- cycling plant. WCS control system Based on the Microsoft Windows operating system and a Siemens PLC, the WCS control system, the heart of every Wiggert concrete mixer plant, offers simple and clear con- trol of all plant functions, including mixer status, moisture correction, plant status, recipe and stock management. Call- off points at the delivery points are used for direct mixing triggering and thus short-term, demand-orientated concrete supply in production. Second project step: New circulation plant Before the decision was made to realise the new circulation plant as it can be found in the production hall today, vari- ous system models were planned and tested. A star-shaped production layout with a central transfer table was also dis- cussed. However, this model could not be implemented and the decision was ultimately made in favour of the Avermann pallet circulation plant with underfloor conveyor technology. This pallet conveyor, which is fully integrated into the hall floor, eliminates disruptive transport components in the pro- duction area. Different concrete elements can be produced in parallel and waiting times are almost a thing of the past. The highly automated system thus creates a significantly im- proved working environment along with greater flexibility. View of the new production hall with the Avermann circulation plant The new circulation plant is also characterised by a very high level of safety for employees thanks to numerous appropriate health and safety precautions and the underfloor solution. Avermann's scope of delivery includes twelve pallets with di- mensions of 14.00 × 4.00 m, special trestle rollers with friction wheel drive for pallet transport, cross transfer units, vibrating compactors with high-frequency technology, a hydraulic tilt- ing station and a battery-powered 40-tonne run-off truck. The hall was also equipped with a 3D steel processing system from the Progress Group and fully automated concrete trans- port with the aforementioned bucket conveyor from Dudik. The Elematic concrete spreader then finally delivers the con- crete to the pallets in precise doses. The project realisation was based on 3D planning with the involvement of all suppliers, employees and the employers' The bucket conveyor from Dudik transfers the concrete to the concrete spreader from Elematic. 138 CPI – Concrete Plant International – 6 | 2025 Together with RIB One Prefab Automation and Avermann, a customised HMI/SCADA system with intuitive touch operation was created. liability insurance association. This made it possible to realisti- cally simulate the working conditions and recognise potential hazards at an early stage. Control system Befer relies on an innovative control and production concept that has been precisely tailored to the operational processes. Together with RIB One Prefab Automation and Avermann, a customised HMI/SCADA system with intuitive touch op- eration was developed that enables flexible route planning across 28 workstations. The new routing system based on a 4×7 pallet grid allows variable processing times, reduces downtimes and increases plant utilisation. This allows manufacturing processes to be efficiently controlled on a product-specific basis. A successful project "The collaboration with the project participants, in particular the companies Wiggert and Avermann as the main suppliers of the system technology, worked very well and the imple- mentation was carried out to our complete satisfaction, also with the active support of our own production team," says Volker Weidemann with satisfaction. The workstations are all freely accessible and the pallets can be moved independently of each other. The bottleneck of the previous production was thus successfully eliminated. However, the special feature of the new system is the gained flexibility regarding the height and volume of the precast elements. "Capacity utilisation is already at around 80%," says Volker Weidemann, who is also satisfied with the order intake. In addition, the reorganisation of the production areas has made it possible to reduce walking distances and thus in- crease efficiency. With the recent investment, Befer is very well positioned for the future to be able to deliver the appropriate solutions quickly, reliably and in very high quality, even for particularly demanding projects. Befer does not see its strength in mass products with highly competitive market prices, but rather in customised components. Volker Weidemann summarises it as follows: "We offer the right products for demanding appli- cations."