A systron proHD replaces three different glass processing machines

With around 120 employees and a production area of 10,000 square metres, Interpane Sicherheitsglas GmbH, based in Hildesheim (Germany), processes around 200,000 square metres of flat glass per year. The core competence lies in the production of safety glass. In 2022, approximately 102,000 square metres was processed into laminated safety glass made of tempered safety glass and 98,000 square metres into monolithic tempered safety glass, generating sales of more than EUR 14.5 million.

The special décor variants such as sandblasting, screen printing, digital printing, groove cutting as well as coloured foil combinations and laminated photos as well as glass with alarm transmitters and model variants in every shape result in an unrivalled product portfolio.

Expansion of capacities
To avoid bottlenecks in production, plant manager Frank Matz decided to invest in a new glass processing centre in consultation with the investment managers of the AGC Group. The specifications were extensive. Decision criteria such as short set-up times, high performance, space-saving operation, ease of maintenance, good spare parts availability, low operating costs, and top service were ultimately decisive in choosing the vertical glass processing centre systron proHD with integrated waterjet.

Minimizing set-up times even with batch size 1
Frank Matz sees the challenge in the further development of the company at the Hildesheim site, among other things, in the fact that it is a steadily growing factory. “We have to get along with limited space and we basically manufacture batch size 1. Consequently, we need very precisely coordinated, selective automation solutions. We don’t want to rebuild the entire production,” he explained. With the installation of the 5029proHD vertical centre including the systron WM washing & drying station in February 2022, an important step was taken towards more efficient and space-saving production.

“We previously had to use 3 different processing machines to produce slightly more complex glass, a horizontal processing, drilling station and the single side edging machine. Not to mention the handling effort and the washing stations in between, this was also very costly to map in the production planning system. Each step had to be scheduled one after the other and provided with transition grids. Now we clamp once and get the finished glass with free shapes, holes and a brilliant polish. This speed optimization was enormously important to us,” concluded Frank Matz.