Integrated Mezzanine Creates Space for Both Meetings and Storage

We’re used to seeing mezzanine levels high up in airy premises where the structural framework is often visible. However, for its Service Centre in Halmstad, Tata Steel decided to employ a different solution – a mezzanine that was integrated directly into the fabric of the building, thereby creating two new premises.

Halmstad Steel Service Centre is part of the Tata Steel Group, one of the foremost steel
producers in Europe. Every week, the facility in Halmstad processes around 2900 tonnes of sheet metal that is slit and cut into rolls and client-specific formats. Since 2022, the company has been working systematically with Lean. Today, the daily status meetings are held in the integrated mezzanine that has been supplied by Weland.

Lack of meeting space
By working in accordance with Lean, the company has ensured that it has full control over its production. Each process is time-defined, allowing flows to be planned and any non-conformances picked up at an early stage. Work is continually followed-up at status review meetings held several times during the day. But having these review meetings in the loud production environment became a practical problem – crucial information was lost simply because people couldn’t hear each other. This lack of dedicated spaces for meetings and storage led to the decision to implement a mezzanine. The integrated solution served to kill two birds with one stone; storage on the upper floor and a meeting room below the mezzanine.

Florjan Reka is a team leader and has been involved in the implementation of Lean since its initial roll-out. He holds interactive meetings in the new premises several times a day and checks on how production is progressing. The mezzanine solution not only solved the noise problem, it also made things more time-efficient.
– If you’re short on space, a mezzanine is an excellent option, particularly because it’s so easy to install. Of course, we had to rebuild in line with relevant building codes, but going with a mezzanine has given us a simpler and faster solution that has a high load-bearing capacity, says Reka.

After four months in use, Reka is very satisfied, both with the solution itself and the collaboration with Weland, which supplied all the necessary documentation for the installation.
– Unfortunately, one of our installers broke a beam, but Weland managed to get a replacement to us within two days, which meant that work didn’t have to stop, says Reka.

Service Centre’s new innovation hub
The new meeting room has already opened up several intriguing possibilities. Over the course of the next year, sales and business development planning will be moved here to create even more interactive meetings. This will help turn the integrated mezzanine into the Service Centre’s new innovation hub.