The automotive industry is celebrating its 125th birthday

focus partner
Menk builds customized transformer casings
“We focus on reliability and flexibility”
Menk builds huge casings and refrigeration systems for the transformer industry as well
as solid welded structures for mining. The company has been relying on heavy plate from
ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe for more than 30 years.
22 compact 2/2011
The spa town of Bad Marienberg is located
in the Westerwald region and is surrounded
by trees and meadows. The recreational
facilities have always been firmly established
there, but the idyllic community also boasts
an industrial heavyweight – Menk Apparatebau.
A tour of the company’s production
halls highlights the impressive size of its
products: awaiting dispatch is a gigantic
transformer casing measuring almost ten
meters in length, four meters in width and
five meters in height. The imposing shell
made of heavy plate from ThyssenKrupp
Steel Europe weighs in at more than 50
metric tons and is waiting patiently to be
delivered by heavy transporter to the cus-
tomer, ABB, in Bad Honnef. “The dimensions
depend on the transport conditions,”
says Menk General Manager Klaus Horz,
pointing out one of the challenges facing his
business. “We are calculating a journey time
of three hours for the nearly 50-kilometer
route. We are only allowed to drive at night
so that we do not obstruct traffic.” It's no
wonder with a vehicle convoy measuring up
to 40 meters in length and weighing a total
of 70 tons.
“It is quite often the case that we prepare
the route or dismantle traffic lights and signs
for the journey.” This is necessary to save
time and, therefore, transportation costs –