Semco’s recipe for success: Investment in automation and efficient plants

Performance increase

The reason for the investment in glass cutting and logistics at the site in Nordhorn was the machine park, which had aged. On the one hand, the objective of purchasing the new systems was to increase performance, and on the other, to provide physical relief to the workers.

Frank Heckmann, Technical Branch Manager in Nordhorn: “The new glass cutting system currently achieves 260 m2 float glass and 75 m2 laminated safety glass (LSG) per hour. Previously, we operated three LSG cutting systems with four people per shift; now we have an LSG cutting system that we can operate with one person in three shifts.“

Köttering adds: “We’re increasing the level of automation, because it becomes more difficult in the future to find employees for physically demanding work. Several tons of glass need to be moved every day at numerous workstations. Overall, the goal is to no longer need to touch the glass by hand, since we want to rule out the risk of damage to the glass and the danger of injuries, as well. However, we need employees who are qualified to operate automated systems - so we need brains as well as brawn.”

Challenges in a tight space

At its start, the challenges of the project certainly include the definition of the objectives, as well as the compact space constraints on-site.

Heckmann continues: “We needed time to specify the mutual requirements and expectations we had. Ultimately, LiSEC was the only provider, who was able to implement our needs within the limited space constraints. You can’t find a system as compact and personally tailored as LiSEC installed for us a second time. Now it’s all about fine tuning, which we’re working on together. Potential can only be fully realised if your business partner really understands the processes involved and is also able to contribute a certain amount of flexibility.”

One example of this type of cooperation is the approach of using tilting tables as a storing station - this provided Semco a performance increase of nearly 30% in one single step.