SC-Steelframes: “We saw our production capacity quintuple in less than a month”
SC-Steelframes, based in Houthalen-Helchteren, produces and constructs modular custom-built structures for a wide range of applications. From private homes to holiday cottages, and from office towers to emergency shelters. Since the company was founded in 2020, growth has been rapid. In less than five years, their production space grew from barely 400 m² to an impressive 9,000 m². Veldeman played a key role at a crucial moment in the company’s further growth.
The challenge: a race against the clock
On August 7, 2023, SC-Steelframes won an important tender from the Flemish government to build an emergency village for Ukrainian refugees. The deadline for delivering the emergency homes: end of February 2024. A very tight timeframe, recalls CEO Davy Knoops.
“Concretely, this meant we needed to start production by October 1, 2023. The problem: we didn’t yet have the necessary capacity. We already knew it was going to be very tight. Every additional production day beyond the agreed deadline would result in hefty fines.”
Before Veldeman: only 20% of the required capacity
“Modular construction requires a lot of storage space. At the time of the tender award, our total production area was around 3,000 m². To guarantee the needed capacity, we had to nearly double that space. Up to that point, we could produce an average of two 50 m² modules per week. That had to increase to two per day.”
The turning point: no time to hesitate
Time was clearly not on Davy and his team’s side, and the site still needed significant preparation.
“Given the temporary nature of the project, we quickly decided on a solution using demountable tent structures. When we first contacted Veldeman, we were already hard at work reinforcing our site so we could start building immediately.”
“Fortunately, Veldeman quickly understood the urgency. They proposed two tent structures with a total area of 2,450 m². This immediately allowed us to quintuple our production capacity.”
The execution: right on schedule
“Although our Veldeman contact assured us of a smooth process, the pressure was intense. Literally every day counted. When the two tent structures were delivered on site, a huge weight was lifted from our shoulders. From that moment, we knew everything would work out.”
“In just four weeks, we went from first contact to delivery. The full assembly of each tent took less than a week, so on October 1 – exactly as planned – we could start production. As CEO, it was impressive to see this all unfold in such a short time.”
No more limits for SC-Steelframes: figures and details
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2 column-free tent structures, 40x35m and 15x70m
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Total area: 2,450 m²
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Side wall heights: 3.8m and 5.4m
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1 large crane passage via a 10x5m sliding fabric
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3 sectional doors
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Translucent roof fabrics
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Wall panels
The impact: a stepping stone to further capacity growth
All’s well that ends well. SC-Steelframes met its commitments to the Flemish government perfectly, without paying a single euro in fines.
“Investing in these two tent structures was absolutely the right choice. The speed, price, flexibility, and urgency with which Veldeman worked for us were decisive, not only for this project but also for our future plans.”
“Since then, we have continued to grow, so we decided to extend the rental of the Veldeman structures to further scale up. Until January 2026, when we move to the former Echo site in Houthalen-Helchteren, where no less than 25,000 m² of production space awaits us. We will always be grateful to Veldeman for giving us the space and time to take this important step in our growth story.”
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