Festive shutdown opens up opportunities for refurbishment

As the wheels of industry across the country slow to a halt over the Christmas period, those involved in factory and plant maintenance will be gearing themselves up for their busiest two weeks of the year. Festive shutdown is the opportune time to carry-out vital workplace refurbishment and ensure staff return to an environment that is equipped to maximise productivity without compromise to comfort and safety.

Ideal base

For large industrial areas, the floor's quality is paramount. It needs to be durable enough to withstand the long-term rigours of heavy machinery and footfall, as well as remain oil and dirt-free to uphold strict health and safety guidelines. Even the best surfaces deteriorate over time, however, leaving business owners with little choice but to replace the flooring.

When this decision is taken, installation time will be a major factor for clients when considering which flooring to specify for their plant or factory. Understandably, a surface which delivers the quickest application time – in order to minimise plant disruption – whilst offering the best-possible performance in terms of cost, durability and hygiene is high on the agenda when it comes to refurbishment. 

Sikafloor has a range of systems which fulfil that criteria as well as offer rapid installation times and excellent aesthetic properties, making them the ideal solution for a quality installation carried-out in days, rather than months.

Sikafloor^®-264, for instance, a two-part, coloured, epoxy resin – a product part of the Sikafloor MultiDur range – provides a superb, easy-to-apply coating, which can be broadcasted for added slip resistance, especially important for facilities such as large airport hangars and general manufacturing and process – an essential safety benefit in areas containing heavy machinery and motorised equipment.

Rapid proof

Evidence of how easily and effectively Sika's epoxy resin flooring systems can be installed is provided by a project carried out at the BMW plant in Oxford. The client required a flooring system that provided a safe working environment for employees to carry out electrical component manufacturing.

The installation, which took place across three separate areas totalling 3,710m², had to be completed within six days. Sikafloor^®-235 ESD was chosen for this project for two reasons; the performance and suitability of the product in an automotive processing plant and the speed of application.

Installation teams worked during non-business hours including night shifts to minimise plant disruption. Thanks to its easy-to-apply benefits, Sikafloor^®-235 ESD, which is incredibly easy to maintain, supplied this exceptionally prestigious car plant with a safe, sturdy, mechanical and chemically-resistant floor within the agreed timeframe.

This project's success also outlined the benefit of using a trusted contractor that has been trained by the manufacturer to install its flooring to the highest specification. Flooring specialist, IRL Group, which installed the Sikafloor^®-235 ESD, is a long-term client of BMW, with Sika as its preferred manufacturer.

A long-standing relationship between parties reassures the client that from concept to conception, a full-service solution – including technical support throughout and post-installation testing – has been specifically-designed for their project's requirements.

Time is the enemy when flooring needs to be installed to deadline in dormant factories and industrial work spaces, but thanks to Sikafloor's exemplary epoxy resin range, a proven, user-friendly, rapid-apply solution is at hand all-year-round: not just Christmas.

By Sarah James, Sika Flooring Marketing Manager

Visit: www.sika.co.uk