Shariatpur block brick machines getting popular
The factory operating on a trial basis has already sold four machines and received orders for seven more
Highlights:
- FK Hydraulic Engineering Works' factory will launch operation formally in June or July this year
- The factory aims to produce four machines per month
- Currently it sells brick-making machines at Tk12-22 lakh, making Tk4-7 lakh profit per machine
Since starting operation on a trial basis 10 months ago in Shariatpur, a factory that produces block brick manufacturing machines has received a good number of orders from different districts.
FK Hydraulic Engineering Works set up the factory in the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation's (BSCIC) industrial estate in Shariatpur in June 2021 on a pilot basis.
The factory currently operating on a trial basis has already sold four machines and received orders for seven more.
Besides making the machines, the company has also taken initiatives to teach people the technique of making block bricks with this machine in a space beside the factory.
In June or July this year, the factory will launch operation formally, said Faruk Ahmed Choukidar, the owner of the factory.
Initially, the factory targets to produce four machines per month.
Rezaul Karim, an engineer at the factory, said it took two months for eight workers to make a machine.
Iron brought from Dhaka and Chattogram is used as raw material for making three types of machines in this factory – auto, semi-auto and manual.
Depending on the size and type, the cost of making each machine varies from Tk8 lakh to Tk15 lakh.
The factory sells these machines at Tk12-22 lakh, making Tk4-7 lakh profit per machine.
Faruk said earlier such machines were imported from China, which cost the brick makers too much.
Mentioning that all preparations have been made to go into production formally, Faruk said, "This will create small entrepreneurs in the block brick sector. They will be able to set up brick-making factories with little capital."
He further said currently there are 10 workers in his factory. The number of workers would rise to at least 80 when the company starts operating in full swing, he continued.
"The prices of the machines could be further reduced at that time," he added.
Monir Hossain, deputy general manager of Shariatpur BSCIC industrial estate, said the production of automatic brick making machines by FK Hydraulic Engineering Works had enriched Shariatpur's industrial estate.
"The government has announced that the number of brick kilns will be reduced to zero after 2025, so an industrial unit for this item is certainly a timely step. The BSCIC has set up a block brick manufacturing factory called Shariatpur Industries with the help of automatic brick making machines," said Monir Hossain.
A block brick producing machine has four chambers. The raw material for making bricks is loaded into the mixer machine and then it is passed to the main machine with the help of a conveyor belt. Then the bricks come out from the machine through the hydraulic press.
