GCMC takes delivery of manufacturing plant to boost cylinder production

The Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company (GCMC) has taken delivery of the first consignment of a new automated manufacturing plant which is expected to boost its daily production from the present 1,500 to 3,900 cylinders.

The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Ms Frances Asiam, who received the equipment on the premises of the company in Accra yesterday, told the media that the arrival of the facility marked a new beginning for the GCMC, which was positioning itself for the proposed cylinder recirculation programme.

“We would like you to know that since the inception of the company, the machines put in place by the Koreans, in partnership with the government, in 1998 have never been changed and that has slowed down the progress of the company.

“With the demand from West Africa and the local market because of our quality, it was imperative for the company to look at ways of revamping, so the new automated cylinder production line was procured,” she explained.

Job opportunities

Ms Asiam said the arrival of the new machine would open doors for more employment opportunities, since the company would now have to undergo three shifts after every eight hours.

“This is the first of the consignment and we are expecting the rest, which are about 30 containers, by September,” she added, saying: “The GCMC is ready for the cylinder recirculation programme and the arrival of this machine will reposition us to be up to the task.”

Reaction

Some of the workers kept cheering while the equipment was being offloaded. They told the Daily Graphic that the arrival of the machine was timely and expressed their appreciation to Ms Asiam and her team.

New policy

As a result of frequent gas explosions at sales points, the government came up with a new policy to decommission the LPG refill plants.

To that end, all gas cylinders will be filled at cylinder bottling plants for onward distribution to retail outlets.