Stemeseder is known in the industry for its front doors and window systems made of aluminum, combined with wood or plastic. High-quality aluminum products for windows were also the prerequisite for an additional business area: the innovative sun and insect protection products developed since 2018 were spun off into a separate subsidiary in 2020. Even coronavirus couldn't stop the new TS Altotec. Thanks to GS Perfekt, a unique and patent-pending complete system that combines windows, sun protection, insect screens, window sills, fall protection and thresholds, and a highly efficient production facility that was rebuilt in Pinkafeld in Burgenland, the subsidiary of G.S. Georg Stemeseder is now a success.

Profiles with high repeat accuracy

Engineer Johannes Maultasch, Head of Development and responsible for setting up production at TS Altotec, explains the business idea: "Whether integrated into window systems or surface-mounted: sun protection is no longer just simple shading, but an intelligently controlled and central component for building climate control." When setting up the production line, the field of applicants for folding the large boxes for the external venetian blinds quickly became clear: "The Schröder machine is quite unique in terms of length and height. The ability to precisely process up to 3 mm thick aluminum sheets up to 4,000 mm was one requirement. Clearance under the upper beam was the other - in addition to the high tools," says Johannes Maultasch, explaining the requirements. Maultasch and his team stood in front of the Evo-Center for the first time at Blechexpo 2019. With a rotating suction plate stop, up-and-down folding beam and extremely fast automatic tool changer, the Evo-Center performs the entire bending program without manual intervention.

"The automated processing by the Evo-Center convinced me completely - as a manufacturer, Schröder really sees the entire process for its customers," praises the engineer. The machine was ordered and Johannes Maultasch traveled to the main plant of Hans Schröder Maschinenbau in Wessobrunn, Bavaria, for acceptance. Installation and commissioning of the machine in Pinkafeld went smoothly, even if the Covid-19 pandemic did present the odd hurdle when setting up the production line. "You can feel the experience in sheet metal processing. Schröder has good technicians and the support was excellent and fast." The fact that Johannes Maultasch is so full of praise is also due to an improvement to the suction plate, which Schröder implemented very quickly. When processing particularly large plates, there was a slight slippage under certain conditions. A new plate with more and smaller suction cups now reliably fixes even the largest sheets.

Further automation step is being prepared

And this is what working on the bending center looks like: An employee places the sheet metal on the stop fingers of the Evo-Center on the machine and calls up the bending program. The so-called Advanced Handling System (AHS) - the turntable with suction plates - fixes the sheet pneumatically and guides it to the bending edge. The upper beam fixes the sheet for bending. All these processes are monitored and precisely controlled by an optical measuring system. Once all the bends on one side have been completed, the turntable takes over again and positions the other side of the sheet for processing. Once processing is complete, the pneumatic manipulator pushes the finished workpiece onto the automatic stacking device at the rear of the machine.

Despite subsequent powder coating, the boxes, which can be up to four meters long, are visible surfaces of the final product. Manual handling at the start of the bending process always poses a residual risk of scratching the sheet metal. In future, a robot will also be used to automate the loading and unloading of the sheet metal. The space for the robot between the punching machine and the bending center has already been provided in the factory. Only this one step is still missing before the production of the external venetian blind boxes can be fully automated. The sheets already come out of the punching machine with a barcode label, which is then used to call up the corresponding bending program.

Increasing quantities

Around 300 sun shading systems are manufactured daily in two shifts in Pinkafeld. The focus is on project business with individual solutions as well as classic sun shading and insect screens. Stemeseder's portfolio is being expanded here - in increasing quantities and with sufficient capacity for further growth. The new plant already employs 117 people. "Ultimately, we want to offer our customers complete 'wall opening solutions'," says Maultasch, describing the strategy of the innovative medium-sized company. "With our Schröder Evo Center production line, we are ideally prepared for both individual items and series production."