For three years now, GVG Deggendorf has been grinding, polishing and cutting every glass that deviates from the rectangular shape and must meet the highest quality standards with the vertical glass processing centre proHD plus the washing station by systron GmbH from Austria.

Glass processing with the highest flexibility for grinding and polishing of inner and outer contours, milling and drilling, as well as cut-outs utilizing a patented and highly sophisticated waterjet technology. There are no set-up times between different glass thicknesses and types. With the specially developed systron TOOLS series you can further optimize cycle times and output. It is a very stable machine, with a stiff, vibration-free construction, which allows oblique edges or radii with perfect precision. Coming in 3 standard machine sizes 3525, 5027 and 6033, systron has also implemented a proHD 9033 for glass sizes up to 9.3 x 3.3 metres. “Thanks to our patented systems and our systronTOOLS we can grind very various glasses with grinding speeds up to 12.5m/minute and polishing speeds up to 7m/minute,” says systron CEO Franz Schachner.

The Glasververarbeitunggesellschaft (GVG) Deggendorf – a subsidiary of the global Saint-Gobain Group – has belonged to one of the leading glass processing companies since 1988. They specialize in the main areas of laminated safety glass and toughened glass for interior construction. With 160 employees, a production area of 12,500 m² and an annual turnover of 19 million euros they produce almost 700,000m² of processed glass annually. Their single pane production requires perfect timing. “We go for just in time supply, which means that the finished pane is delivered within 3-4 days of receipt of the order,” says Heinrich Breu, Operations Manager at GVG Deggendorf.

His expectations for the new CNC processing centre were clearly defined: “Above all, increasing the capacity and the grinding, polishing and cutting speed, as well as the system availability, were my focus.” So they decided to purchase a systron proHD glassprocessing centre with integrated waterjet.

“The sophisticated waterjet technology is a real plus, because it guarantees top quality cuts and contours,” says Breu.

Up to 4000 bar pure water power cut inner- and outer contours with the most complex geometrics with the highest precision. These contours can be toughened without post-processing, reducing the production time considerably. There are no limitations caused to the need for cutting tools and the maintenance costs are minimal. Breu also mentions the perfectly integrated systron water purification system: “Clean water is essential for the final quality of the glass. We use the systron system in connection with our central water treatment, which increases the cleaning interval to around 1x / month – another increase of efficiency.”

Heinrich Breu and his team have meticulously evaluated the system availability for about a year: “We produce in three shifts, 6-7 days a week, so every downtime costs an enormous amount of money.

At systron, both the after-sales service and the rapid delivery of spare parts work extremely well. That was an important argument for us.”

The ROI was achieved in a very short time, the service life is calculated with 10 years. The output demonstrated by systron at the beginning is keeping the same after 3 years of continuous use. “The setup and training of our machine operator by systron’s technicians were very professional, it is really important that the machine is set up correctly and that the operator has the know-how. This is how the best result can be achieved from this highly efficient system,” says Heinrich Breu.

The main areas of application for the proHD at GVG Deggendorf are shower doors and mono panes that are connected to form laminated safety glass. Therefor 100% congruence is essential. “Everything that deviates from the rectangular shape and all glass processing with minimal machining tolerances is done on our proHD,” says Breu. The general manufacturing tolerance and the repeatability is +/- 0.2mm. In addition, the process forces on the glass are generally low, as the waterjet technology works very gently. The quality is increased accordingly and the scrap rate is minimized.

Although GVG Deggendorf belongs to the Saint-Gobain Group and is therefore one of the largest glass manufacturers in the world, the current glass shortage is also noticeable here. “Despite Corona, we have hardly recorded any declines, but a reduction in the availability of raw glass makes the product even more valuable. From my point of view, Industry 4.0 is the next challenge in the glass industry, the degree of automation still has to increase. We have already created good conditions for this with an extensive software changeover. In the future, the machines will be connected online, an optimized cycle including automatic packaging is the next goal,” says Heinricht Breu.