Flachglas Wernberg, one of the top innovation leaders in Europe, relies on the automated all-in solution from systron, especially for processing inner and outer contours of complex glass, as well as for coated panes and vehicle glass.

As the largest location of the Flachglas Group, Flachglas Wernberg GmbH, with 600 employees and a production area of more than 80,000 m², primarily serves the architecture and transportation sectors. “Here in Wernberg we process over 1.5 million m² of glass annually and are often the first point of contact for the implementation of the highest requirements in national and international project business. For high-speed trains, we supply complete window systems, multilaminates for yacht construction, functional insulating glass for facade construction, as well as a comprehensive range of products for customers in the fields of construction, trade and industry,” explains Marketing Manager Walter Schöpf.

In order to steadily increase the degree of automation and thus to manufacture in a contemporary way, the Flachglas Group continues to set new standards. They regularly invest in the training of employees as well as in innovative machinery. For industrial engineer and project manager Martin Werner, the acquisition of the systron glass processing centre proHD in 2020 was exactly the right step towards Industry 4.0: “Due to the remarkably positive experience with systron machines at our subsidiary Glasprofi in Luhe-Wildenau, we decided to develop a tailor-made systron processing line for our production facility in Wernberg.” The main goals were a space-saving vertical solution for a one-man operation with approx. 400m² of external glass processing per shift, as well as better planning of production through buffering and automated loading.

“The all-in solution with robot loading, which systron developed especially for us, was one of the main reasons for this investment,” says Martin Werner. Thanks to the automated rack loading system in combination with the robot, production goods for a whole shift can be buffered. Depending on the product mix, an average of 300 glasses (> 400m²) can be seamed, ground and polished in one shift. “In terms of internal machining with waterjet we even have cycle time savings of more than 50% compared to conventional horizontal CNC technology,” he adds.

The main areas of application of the proHD, including the washing station, are the external processing of coated panes, especially low-E and glasses with temperable coatings, the external processing of vehicle glasses, as well as the external and internal processing of highly complex glasses.

 “With the unique technology such as the water jet and the large water cushion we receive excellent quality results. Especially for coated glass, it’s particularly advantageous as there are no mechanical points of contact with the glass,” explains Werner.

The proHD has been in use at Flachglas Wernberg for 1.5 years and still convinces with a remarkable machine availability. “We produce in 3 shifts, 5 days a week and so far we have had very few or no technical troubles with the machine. I also want to positively highlight the after-sales service from,” says Werner, he adds, “service manager Martin Simmer and his team are highly competent and always open to questions and suggestions. Subsequent requests from us were always implemented promptly. I would also like to especially mention that this service hotline is free of charge and there is no expensive maintenance contract to be concluded. Also, the maintenance costs are reasonable.”

“With the new system, we got a good boost in terms of output and the associated improved competitiveness. Despite the corona crisis and intensifying competition, especially on an international level, we can maintain and even expand our strong market position. Thanks to the steps we have taken in terms of automation over the past few years. In future we will continue our optimizations at this location as well as at all other locations of the Flachglas Group,” says CEO Robert Meier.