In the mix

Already supplying Irish clients with concrete admixtures for decades, Sika is about to up its game with the opening of its brand new manufacturing plant in Co Dublin. Its latest facility in Ballymun means the company can, for the first time, produce its market-leading admixtures here in Ireland.

The seeds for the new facility were sown during the Brexit years, when the company – which until now has shipped most of its admixtures from its plants in the UK – could see additional costs coming down the line in the form of tariffs (as well as the ongoing expense of transporting everything by sea).

These concerns were compounded a few years later by the pandemic, and the resultant pressure on the supply of raw materials. “We recognised the need for a more secure supply for customers here in Ireland,” says Don Galvin, Business Unit Manager - Concrete & Substructure, Sika Ireland, adding that the industry was also starting to demand more in the way of tailored product offerings – something Sika wanted to address.The solution was clear:start producing on Irish soil. The new plant will make Sika the largest producer of concrete admixtures in Ireland and, crucially, allow it to remain independent of global political and weather events.

He also notes that, unlike many of its competitors Sika is able to deliver in bulk, pumping directly into customers’ tanks in their batching plants.

Being the newest of all Sika’s plants, the facility’s sustainability credentials are as good as any in the company stable. The solar array on the roof of its warehouse, for example, will supply 30% of its energy needs. Also, notes John, its use of rainwater harvesting means that more than 50% of the water needed will come from the rooves on site. Overall, the opening of the plant is estimated to mean a CO2 reduction of about 40 tonnes per year.

Highly automated, the new plant needs little in the way of manual intervention. As Don explains it, the plant operator will select the required product via an LCD touch-panel and choose the batch size. Then the program will calculate the raw materials needed to produce that quantity, determine the correct sequence and activate the mixers for the appropriate length of time. Once the batch is ready for testing, the system notifies the operator so it can be taken to the nearby quality control lab. The finished goods are then discharged into a storage tank at the push of a button.  

Always keeping an eye to the future, Sika has futureproofed its new plant to allow for potential expansion at a later date. For example, as well as installing a liquid mixing tank, the company fitted a powder mixing tank, thereby leaving the door open to the possibility of producing admixtures for the mining or cement industries at some point. 

There is certainly strong demand for the company’s products; its SikaPlast admixtures have been steadily gaining traction since their introduction about six years ago. The main draw for customers is the fact that they reduce water and sand requirements, while simultaneously boosting the durability of the finished product. Although, says Don, admixtures only account for about 1 per cent
of the makeup of concrete, they punch far above their weight in terms of the quality of the result. “It’s a small part of the mix, but has a huge bearing on long-term durability,” he says.

The products have also enabled customers to reduce their dependence on natural sand, which is becoming scarce, in favour of manufactured sand. When you consider that each cubic metre of concrete requires about 900kg of sand, this is certainly a step in the right direction.