Premekon’s customers manufacture modern equipment, entire plants and machinery lines, which are then supplied to international customers around the world. But even the fastest board making machine that produces the widest cardboard sheets, the tallest digester, or the most modern power plant building cannot be handed over to the end customer without safe, high-quality service platform structures. Here at Premekon, during the initial stage of a turnkey delivery project we produce production drawings for the service platforms, after which the structures move on to the production stage.
During the production stage the service platforms must meet the requirements of a number of different standards to ensure their high quality, with the key standard being SFS-EN 1090, which covers the CE marking.
WHAT IS THE CE MARKING FOR SERVICE PLATFORMS?
Load-bearing metal structures play a major role in making an operating environment safe, as their role is to support heavy loads, ensure people’s access to challenging locations, or form load-bearing framework structures for buildings. The aim of the CE marking is to guarantee that these demanding structures are finished to a sufficiently high quality, so that the final structures they become part of are safe.
The transition period for the harmonised EN 1090-1 standard on the execution of steel and aluminium structures ended on 1 July 2014. From this point onwards, steel and aluminium structures supporting assemblies produced for the Finnish or EU markets have been required to have a CE marking. The requirement is based on Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, requiring CE markings on structural products falling within the scope of the harmonised standard.
In summary, the key role of the CE marking on service platforms is to provide assurance that the structures have been made from high-quality materials, with high-quality manufacturing methods, by skilled personnel, and with a surface treatment suitable for the intended conditions.
THE CE MARKING IN PREMEKON’S SERVICE PLATFORM PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
In order to use the CE marking, Premekon’s production operations must include factory production control (FPC) certified by a third party. As the basis of the FPC, Premekon draws up a declaration of performance (DoP) for its service platform structures, based on which CE marking documentation is appended to the documents for all deliveries.
The manufacturing and quality requirements for Premekon’s service platform products are determined by standard SFS-EN 1090-2 + A1, which covers the entire product manufacturing process. At times, uncertainties have arisen surrounding objects to be CE marked, with questions as to whether the product is part of a machine or a structure, or whether it is just a service platform.
Premekon produces all its structures in accordance with the CE marking requirements, so our customers need not worry about any unpleasant surprises further down the line. The attached table sets out the key documents for CE markings in terms of Premekon’s structures.
CE MARKING
| Key documents | Materials used in products bearing the CE marking |
| Factory production control certificate | Structural steel |
| CE marking (at least on the front page) | Aluminium |
| Declaration of Performance | Acid-resistant steel EN 1.4404 |
| Inspection plan (if required) | Stainless steel EN 1.4307 |
| Implementation specification | |
| Installation diagrams | |
| Strength calculations | |
| Proof of welders’ qualifications | |
| Painting protocols | |
| Material certificate |
Premekon’s service platforms are often also subject to our customers’ own quality requirements, which may be more stringent than those of the CE marking. For the most part, our customers’ requirements largely align with the criteria for the service platforms’ CE markings, and the documentation we provide covers both sets of requirements.
FROM LOVE TO HIGH-QUALITY IRON – THROUGH THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
Here at Premekon, due to the growing number of quality requirements in the industry we have invested in modern machinery that helps us improve production lead times and ensure that you, our customers, receive high-quality service platforms. The substances and materials we use are provided by carefully-selected suppliers, who submit material and substance certificates that are stored in Premekon’s database.
In order to ensure the quality of welds on steel structures, we have invested in the Kemppi Weld Eye Management system, which helps make quality control of pieces to be welded even more accurate and raise overall quality levels. The system is connected to all our welding equipment, with each piece of welding machinery requiring a user to signing in with their own, personal credentials.
When a welder starts a new welding task, they scan the work order with a barcode scanner, which provides the pre-defined welding instructions for the structure in question. If a welder does not have the required welding qualification level to work on the required structure, for example, the system will not allow them to start the job.
Our service platforms are formed of a number of different prefabricated parts, such as steel plate sections, railing pipes, support beams, and framework beams. Thinner profiles are cut with a carbon-dioxide laser, while for thicker steel plate sections Premekon has its own plasma cutter. Many of our products pass through the drilling line, where our Voortman drilling unit is programmed project- and beam-specifically, ensuring that holes are made in the right places in the steel structure.
High-quality prefabricated pieces make the rest of the work, such as welding, significantly easier. For example, making steel structures within the permitted measurement tolerances is easier and outcomes are more certain.
The last touch for a steel structure comes in the form of surface treatment, which is the sole barrier protecting the structure from its surrounding environment. Products that are to be painted are sand blasted on Premekon’s shot blasting line, from where they are transferred to our own wet painting facilities. We provide our customers with surface treatment documents for the painting we carry out, detailing the painting system used and the painting film thickness.
For surface treatment of acid-resistant and stainless steel we use spray pickling or pickling baths. The pickling process removes any last impurities that may have accumulated on the steel structure during the welding stage. Surface treatment must be taken into consideration right from the planning stage for service platform structures that are to be pickled and galvanised. For example, the pickling acid must be able to drain out from inside the structure, so that the surface treatment provides a flawless finish of sufficiently high quality.
CE MARKED SERVICE PLATFORMS PACKAGED AND SHIPPED AROUND THE WORLD WITH CARE
At the final stage of a project, i.e. packaging, corrections are no longer an option. The majority of Premekon’s products are shipped by road, but we also package our service platforms into containers for shipping further afield on a regular basis.
Factors to be taken into account in packaging include that the structure will be subjected to all kinds of different stresses before even being installed at its final destination. During a long road journey, improperly secured packages will work their way lose, leading the steel structure’s surface treatment to rub off in the worst case scenario. Service platforms may also end up being stood outdoors for long periods while awaiting installation, which can soften cardboard packaging to the point where it starts breaking down.
At Premekon, we ensure that packaging is as secure and appropriate as possible when leaving for its end destination. Almost all our customers have their own packaging requirements, which we generally discuss at the product sale stage. In general, to support our packaging we only use we use wood packaging with the ISPM 15 mark, and our packages are assembled and secured into appropriate units for shipping. If a product is to remain packaged or stored for a longer period, we often finish the package by wrapping it with protective plastic.
That ensures Premekon’s CE marked service platforms are ready for their voyage around the world!