When transferring Vetrotech production from Aachen to Würselen, A+W implemented one of the most demanding software projects in its company's history. Will it work? New workshops, new highly automated machines, new software?

Guido Plum, Director of Operations at von Vetrotech: “The construction of automated production in Würselen is a challenge for all participants, because in the 20-year partnership between Saint Gobain and A+W, our plan has never been done. For software, we rely on A+W, although we know that we will use a completely new system-20 years of fair and successful cooperation in a level playing field and A+W’s complex SmartFactory concept make it easy for us to make decisions."

Today, A+W SmartFactory is a state-of-the-art production system that automatically controls Würselen's highly complex fire and safety glass production.

Based on the A+W patented automatic sorter before and after the tempering furnace, for the first time, intelligent software is used to control the multi-level production of reverse planning throughout the entire process-without paper, lists and long routes. Even now, the new system can ensure faster production times, which is especially evident on the TPS insulating glass production line, LAMI production and tempering furnace.

A+W SmartFactory is a top-level production system that can coordinate the process flow to optimize the glass process. The system can use the provided production data to responsively control all coupled machines and software modules. The machine communicates continuously with the system through the so-called A+W SmartFactory client; this can control the machine status and machine capacity.

According to the principle of reverse scheduling, the scheduling requirements and ultimately the customer control the production sequence. The plan is completed in real time and can be adjusted at any time in the future, if this is necessary for urgent orders, capacity bottlenecks, machine failures, etc.

Dispatch usually doesn't even notice this, so it can almost always deliver on time. Vetrotech customers benefit from improved performance and delivery reliability.

The intelligence required for this is only the software that controls the communication between machines and between machines: the new industry standard on the road to Industry 4.0, which is continuously optimized through the expertise of our pilot customers.

The implementation phase went very smoothly, especially thanks to the active input of the Vetrotech project team. They handled the project with A+W planners with great efficiency and brought it to a successful conclusion.

Guido Plum commented: "Despite the inevitable problems in these projects, the implementation phase created a win-win situation. We learned about the new software in great detail-we thank our colleagues at A+W for their help We have on-site projects! At the same time, we are able to use our expertise to shape and improve A+W SmartFactory from the very beginning-benefiting both parties."

If there is no possibility of direct machine communication, the A+W SmartFactory client can be used as a simulated machine. Thanks to the integrated factory data collection, the status and capacity of each machine can be determined. The control center provides production managers and general managers with various information from A+W SmartFactory, and allows them to directly intervene in production when necessary, such as manually adjusting the production chain.

In this way, even companies with a low degree of automation can profit from this development. First of all, in such production facilities, A+W SmartFactory will regulate the activities of employees and notify the necessary production steps and changes in the production process in real time. Here, it is the first thing that needs to be produced in the scheduling; there is no problem with the integration of urgent orders, and the WIP (work in process) is greatly reduced.

Swedish insulating glass manufacturer Osby Glas tried this variant of A+W SmartFactory, which eliminates paper in the production process and guarantees a shorter delivery time. Osby Glas CEO Joel Rosenqvist (Joel Rosenqvist): "We have worked with software partner A+W for many years. During this time, we have implemented many innovations together to make our processes better and better. This is why we are very happy to try out the new production software A+W SmartFactory. We believe it can make Osby Glas more successful. We are proud to be able to use our knowledge and experience to contribute to the enhancement and continuous improvement of this software."

Log in or register to post a comment

260 Campus Drive Aurora, OH 44202 United States

Limbuška cesta 2, Limbuš 2341 Limbuš Slovenia

Polígono Lalín 2000 36512 Lalín Pontevedra Spain

carat. Km from Estacion. 15.8 44415 Rubielos de Mora Teruel Spain

Peter Lisec Straße 1, 3353 Seitenstetten Austria

Im Vogelsang 18 3340 Waidhofen/Ybbs Austria