CUSTOMER REPORT Rakvåg: On their way to Glass Industry 4.0 with A+W

CUSTOMER REPORT HoffmannGlas: Software-optimized Production flow

SOFTWARE A+W iQuote: The Webshop for Glass

SOFTWARE A+W Dashboard: Mobile Production-Monitoring

Glass Industry 4.0: A+W Worlds of Production

DIALOGI N F O R M AT I O N F O R G L A S S A N D W I N D O W S

www.a-w.com

September 2016

Currently, we are discussing how it is possible to work more efficiently on a higher level with many companies in the flat glass industry. Glass Industry 4.0 offers exciting possibilities, but it also raises questions. What is a “smart factory”? Is this also some-thing for medium-sized companies? What is A+W’s opinion of this development?

We have been considering many of the topics that characterize Glass Industry 4.0 for many years already. A+W manufacturing environments optimize the value-creation chain even beyond company boundaries. Machines and workpieces communicate via intelligent interfaces – even if one machine is at the glass processor and the other is in his customer’s or the supplier’s manufacturing.

All of this is not entirely new, but it is constantly improving – at a rapid pace. Work-flows are becoming more mobile. Orders are entered in the Webshop: with A+W iQuote, your customers configure and order complex products – with online access to your current data. A+W Dashboard, the control panel and control software for people in charge of production, works according to the philosophy of Industry 4.0 with real-time machine data and results from the PDC – on the go on the iPad and other end user devices.

The design of highly-automated production environments can only take place in the innovation network of producers, their machine suppliers, and software part-ners. This is why you will find us in our partners’ booths at glasstec; together with HEGLA, BYSTRONIC, and VIPROTRON, we will present the solutions we have devel-oped jointly.

Visit us in Düsseldorf – we look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely yours,

Peter DixenCEO A+W

Dear Readers, Dear A+W Customers:

On glasstec, you will meet us not only on our booth in Hall 14 / E 28, but also at our machine partners:

Bystronic Hall 14 / A 38HEGLA Hall 14 / A 56Viprotron Hall 14 / D 34

On these partner booths, competent A+W experts are looking forward to inform you about our long term technology-cooperations!

HALL 14, STAND E28

Cooperation with our Machine Partners

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E D I TO R I A L

4 C U S T O M E R R E P O R T Rakvåg: Top Products Thanks

to Maximum Automation On their way to Glass Industry 4.0 with A+W

7 S O F T WA R E A+W iQuote – the Webshop for Glass

From the webshop directly into production

8 C U S T O M E R R E P O R T HoffmannGlas: Investment

in State-of-the-Art Machine Technology Software-optimized Production flow

11 S O F T WA R E A+W Dashboard – mobile

Production-Monitoring Realtime-Data through Glass Industry 4.0

12 A + W N E W S Sailing and Keeping the Ocean clean

Already more than 1,860 liters of plastic waste collected!

Meet us at glasstec-evenings in the GPD Pub! Share information, relax and have fun

Customer report HoffmannGlas Group invests in innovative machine technology.

8Customer report Rakvåg in Molde/Norway relies on state-of-the-art A+W Software and consistent automation.

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To help you to discover more at glasstec, we invite you to experience virtual reality (VR) !

Find our four winning words throughout the show. One word is hidden in our booth in Hall 14 / E 28 and you will find the other three hidden words in the booths of our machine partners Bystronic (Hall 14 / A 38), HEGLA (Hall 14 / A 56), and Viprotron (Hall 14 / D 34).

Find them all and you could win an iPad – one of three great prizes. 

Responsible for content as per § 6 MDStV: Peter DixenEditing: A+W Company Communications, Dr. Michael KüttnerLayout and typesetting: Bettina Kammer, ReiskirchenPhotos and illustrations: A+W Software GmbH

DIALOG is published by: A+W Software GmbH Am Pfahlgraben 4 – 10 35415 Pohlheim · Germany Tel. 06404 2051-0 · Fax 06404 2051-877 info@a-w.com · www.a-w.com

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CO N T E N T S

In Molde in the Norwegian Fjordland, a medium-sized company has become one of the state-of-the-art flat glass finishers and insulated glass producers in Norway. To achieve this status, the company relies on state-of-the-art A+W software and universal automation. Founded more than 50 years ago from a glazier’s workshop, today Rakvåg supplies the most demanding customers in Norway with highly-specialized glass products produced on state-of-the-art CNC machines. The company is managed by Roy Rakvåg, a member of the second generation of the founding family. His son Petter is the second Managing Director, primarily responsible for IT.

Three state-of-the-art CNC processing centers ensure short production times and the greatest delivery reliability – for large orders and for a lot size of 1.

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C U S TO M E R R E P O R T

The competition is stiff in the Norwegian flat glass industry. There are few qualified workers in this land of five million inhabitants, since many people seek employment in the ubiquitous oil industry. At the same time, quality requirements continue to increase. Consistent readiness to in-novate is a prerequisite for successfully conquer-ing this difficult market. The people in charge at Rakvåg understood this early on: the company has been using A+W software since 1999 both in the commercial sector and in production.

Sophisticated product rangeFrom Rakvåg the demanding customer can get sophisticated building glass and interior products that not just any glass processor can produce: glass elements beyond the mainstream for architects, facade builders, interior design-ers, and manufacturers of exquisite glass-metal

structures. This includes high-quality architec-tural glass for facades, shop glazing, window and glass/metal systems, and also products for interior design such as showers, staircases, doors, and glass room dividers. The share of safety glass continues to grow. This is why, in addition to toughened glass, Rakvåg produces laminated glass in-house and has therefore become a true full-spectrum manufacturer. Rakvåg’s insulated glass products are most certainly high-quality performance glass; they include an increasing number of triple-glazed units.How is it possible to produce this sophisticated product range profitably at a slim, family-owned company?

“The focus is always on information”Petter Rakvåg: “The A+W software controls and checks all processes from entry of the order to

Rakvåg: Top Products Thanks to Maximum Automation

control of the machines, on through to delivery of the finished products. Thanks to consistent bar code control and the A+W Production Moni-tors, we always know where each sheet is at any point in time. All commercial and technical data is available company-wide – and this without having employees running around all the time with folders and stacks of paper under their arms in order to determine what they must do with which sheet. It is easier to detect errors and initiate reproduction immediately. Since the in-formation gained through plant data collection is also reported back to the A+W Business order system, the critical status information is available everywhere in real time, so that (among other things) we can inform customers about the cur-rent status of their orders. All employees work productively! The focus is always on information, all the time and everywhere.”

Consistent digitalization: you will seldom find paper on Roy Rakvåg’s desk. Roy has an eye not only on his figures, but also, thanks to A+W Dashboard, on his production in real time; if necessary, he can react immediately.

Thanks to continuous plant data collection, all necessary status information is available on the processing stations and it can be displayed on the A+W Production Monitor.

From the Webshop directly into production: the Rakvåg team is enthusiastic about A+W iQuote and was among the first users of the program.

Petter Rakvåg enters a shaped sheet with several processings and marks it as a rush order. The production data is forwarded to the CNC processing center via CAM-DXF; the machine operator uses A+W Production Monitor to trigger the production and print the label here. Within an hour, the sheet is ready for delivery.

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A+W Service: perfect advising – expert supportAll software is only as good as the service for advising, installation, and support that stands behind it. A+W does not seek short-term sales successes; instead, it seeks to build long-term customer relationships that rely on mutual trust: we sell what the customer needs – not more, but if possible, also not less. At Rakvåg, Pontus Levin and his flexible service team ensure this. Service inquiries are answered quickly and handled on-site in timely fashion if necessary; advising is always done relying on the company’s great flat glass and software expertise.“Other companies that sell software for the flat glass industry in Scandinavia,” reports

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Pontus, “do not even have Scandinavian em-ployees. Frequently they cannot be on-site when problems occur. We are always on-site, wherever we are needed.”Pontus’ team is flexible: if the Swedish spe-cialist for a particular software module is handling an order in Stockholm, if necessary a colleague from the UK or Poland can lend a hand in Finland – this is the advantage of a large, service-oriented company like A+W. We spoke to the technician Steve Mason from Pontus’ team, who is currently install-ing an update and taking care of smaller problems together with Rakvåg’s employees. Steve came in from England to help.“Since our software has been in use and stable for decades,” says Steve, “larger errors hardly ever occur. But if there is a problem,

Working toward Industry 4.0 with intelligent interfacesThanks to A+W’s high-tech data collection and machine control, it does not matter whether the lot size is 1 or 100: Rakvåg’s production is always economical, even for extremely exclusive indi-vidual products. For when it comes to control of both of their CNC processing centers, Roy and Petter rely on A+W’s CAM-DXF interface.From technical order processing, a CAD file is sent to the CNC machine; in addition to the usual geometric data for grinding, hole drillings, cut-outs, etc., this file also contains all machine pa-rameters, for example for selection of the tools, alignment of the sheet, and suction positioning. The CAM-DXF file is transmitted to the CNC cen-ter, where all machine processes are now han-dled completely automatically. Roy rejoices: “This means that there is no need for time-consuming manual machine programming.” This method corresponds to the requirements for a smart fac-tory in the world of Industry 4.0.

A+W iQuote: order entry in the WebshopEarlier, people said “the money is earned in pro-duction.” “This is no longer always the case,” says Petter, at least since we have been using A+W iQuote. Order entry has changed completely. Customers configure and calculate their prod-ucts in peace and quiet on the iPad, and we are no longer responsible for the entry work and all of the associated advising services. The data is always correct since customers are working with our current database. In particular, glass workers are happy to take this opportunity. Nat-urally we still offer personal advising and services such as virtual digitalization in our glazing shop in Molde, but A+W iQuote is available 24/7. In Norway, distances are long, so customers usual-ly don’t live just around the corner. Why should someone travel many kilometers by car and ferry because of a broken sheet if he can configure and order it easily from the couch using his tablet? We will take care of the delivery, for service is our business!”

we react right away. We make sure that our customers’ systems work reliably 24/7 if necessary.”

Contact: www.rakvaag.no

In addition to the main plant with over 6,000 m2 production area, Rakvåg has a second branch in Molde with a glazery, sales of glazier demand and an attractive exhibition.

On the path to Industry 4.0: robot loading the double-sided automatic edging machine.

Steve Mason (left) of the A+W service team with production manager Ernest Mielus: “We make sure that our customers’ systems work reliably all the time. If necessary, we react right away.”

Petter Rakvåg (left) is constantly advancing the digi talization of his family-owned company; as the IT manager, he is the most important contact person for A+W. Right: Pontus Levin, Director A+W Scandinavia and Sales Support Agent for Rakvåg.

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C U S TO M E R R E P O R T

In the Webshop, it’s easier to buy things!Inquiries, quotations, and orders are processed not just more quickly and easily, but also with greater security. And manufacturers can also improve their pro-cesses this way: all too frequently, producers are focused too strictly on production when it comes to automation and improving logistics. But inte-grated information processing and process orga-nization begin with a request for a quotation and end with optimized dispatch logistics. There is a whole lot of optimization potential here!

Configuration with A+W iQuoteA+W iQuote is currently being used successfully by several A+W customers on various markets including Scandinavia, Central Europe, and Latin America. What gets customers excited: even highly-complex products can be configured and ordered reliably in a Web browser.Configuration with A+W iQuote is easy: the user is guided intuitively through the process, right on through to the completely-calculated quo-tation including graphically-appealing drawing. Thanks to tight integration with the manufactur-er’s A+W ERP system, products, prices, discounts, and restrictions are always up-to-date.

From the Webshop directly into productionWith A+W iQuote, producers have a 24/7 order entry system like the ones we are familiar with from the B2C world. This spares you endless telephone inquiries, misunderstandings, and requests for products that cannot be manufac-tured, for these are caught by the system. Nearly all inquiry and ordering options of the “big” A+W ERP systems are available here.

New target groupsInitial experiences indicate that smaller produc-ers and dealers are eager to use A+W iQuote, even those who were previously skeptical of the “effort” that is associated with classic order en-try. Producers’ sales force employees also regard browser-based configuration as a mobile, easy-to-use tool. Embedding into an existing home page is possible, as is adaptation to the “look and feel” of a company’s own CI.

A+W iQuote – the Webshop for Glass

A reliable and easy-to-operate Webshop for browser-based product configuration – without an installed ERP system, mobile and flexible – is a desirable sales tool for commercial enterprises and installation companies, but also for end customers and a company’s own external sales force.

Your benefits: Request browser-based quotations

quickly and securely and place orders.

Operation is intuitive and easy. No training is required. Regardless of the settings, there is

a selected spectrum of insulated glass, toughened, laminated, and special glass available; all shapes and processings can be ordered.

The user sees the complete order history, can remove products from or add them to the shopping cart.

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S O F T WA R E

The company HoffmannGlas has started up a Forel insulated glass line in its Halle /Peißen plant – this is the first one anywhere in Germany. At the same time, an automatic edging machine, also from Forel, is being integrated into an existing insulated glass line that is designed for jumbo dimensions, that is, large-format shaped sheets. This is how the HoffmannGlas Group can offer its customers, especially those in the demanding project business, even more services in the future. All of the new systems are controlled by A+W interfaces.

HoffmannGlas Group’s Halle/Peißen plant: the focus is on the demanding project business.

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C U S TO M E R R E P O R T

For the successful and flawless integration of the new Forel technology, it was helpful that A+W and Forel have been working hand-in-hand for years on the development of state-of-the-art interfaces. Managing Director Thorsten Hoff-mann: “A+W is a reliable partner that continues to enhance its products and offer new solutions. A+W has many interface solutions with other providers and it works exceedingly well with all machine partners.” Soon, another Forel line will be started up at the company’s main location in Peine.

Now that the cutting technology and op-timization software at both plants have been modernized completely, the Hoffmann Group is equipped throughout with state-of-the-art production technology. The high-performance lines with Viprotron quality scanners make a contribution to quality assurance. This indepen-dent full-range producer and glass wholesaler has thus reinforced its capabilities in insulat-ed glass manufacturing, especially for project business.

The Peine plant is also equipped for finishing technologies such as CNC grinding, sandblast-ing, digital printing, laser processing, and UV adhesions: thus the HoffmannGlas Group also addresses all of the needs of the interior sector.

HoffmanGlas supports all customers from glass workers to facade builders; the focal point, es-pecially in the Halle plant, is on the demanding project business. In this context, the group’s cur-rent investments make sense: “The demand for ground insulated glass is increasing,” explains Thomas Queitsch, Managing Director and Mana-ger of the Halle plant. “With the new edging ma-chines,” according to Queitsch, “we can produce seam edges, bevels, and polished edges even for coated glass. We now offer triple-glazed insula-ted glass up to a thickness of 80 mm.”

In the project business, HoffmannGlas sup-ports the whole process from initial consultation for technically-demanding projects to produc-tion and delivery, on through to installation  – here, HoffmannGlass is a sought-after partner, even for the most complicated installations. In Halle this task is handled by the in-house ten-man team in the Glass Construction department with its extensive installation equipment.

Data exchange in real time: plant-spanning communicationThree locations – one fully-networked system: Since 1992, the HoffmannGlas Group has been using A+W Enterprise for order processing and company controlling; this is a database-based

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system that is especially well-suited for the control of compa-nies with several locations. HoffmannGlas works with a central server that is connected to all three branch offices via fast dedicated lines. Thomas Queitsch: “With this modern design, A+W Enter-prise is the reliable basis for all of our corporate logistics.”

High-tech cutting environmentAnyone who wants to offer all types of common-ly-available performance glass and simultane-ously have proper throughput needs an auto-matic compact warehouse with quick feeding, the latest cutting technology, and efficient and economical residual sheet handling in cutting. At HoffmannGlas, HEGLA portal conveyors supply the high-performance cutting tables in its Peine and Halle plants; the tables are mostly HEGLA ProLam combi tables with Remaster, where the residual sheets – Float and VSG – are stored di-rectly between operations and, controlled by the A+W Realtime Optimizer cutting control compu-ter, are fed into the ongoing optimization.

Using this system, batches that have already been optimized for one cutting table can be redi-rected to the other one. This way the machine op-erator can put aside a VSG batch so that a rush float

HoffmannGlas: Investment in State-of-the-Art Machine Technology

Software partnership for more than 20 years: Thomas Queitsch (right), Managing Director of Hoffmann Glas and Manager of the Halle/Peißen plant in conversation with Heiko Schuh, A+W Sales Manager Central Europe and software advisor for Hoffmann Glas.

For the last six months, the new Forel insulated glass line and edge grinding machine have been doing their work reliably.

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batch can be cut on the ProLam: this is exactly the great flexibility that HoffmannGlas needs in its pro-duction processes.

The storage organization after cutting planned with A+W Production is the first step towards clean insulated glass production logistics: controlled by the software, all glass is available at the right time in the right sequence, from the washing machines to the insulated glass lines. However, the logistics are much more complex.

Software-optimized production flowGiven the fascinating machine technology in cutting and insulated glass production, it is easy to overlook the sophisticated, continuous soft-ware control without which the state-of-the-art multi-site production like that of HoffmannGlas would not be possible. The intelligence of the whole production network determines whether the individual machines can be used up to their

maximum capacity without bottlenecks and un-necessary downtimes.

Everything starts with intelligent planning in the A+W Production production system. In the course of backward scheduling, the order items are scheduled according to their manufactu-ring depth. This means, that depending on the necessary start date for production, orders are taken apart and put back together. Production lots consist of different customers’ items and are only put back together by the dispatch logistics at the end. Bar code production labels control the sheets through production, consistent plant data collection allows precise sheet tracing and status updates, which are reported directly back to the database. Thus it is possible to know at all times which sheet is where, which processing has already been completed, and what the next production step is.

The greatest power of innovation – and still better customer serviceIn order to maintain delivery reliability and pro-vide the best customer service, especially in the demanding project business, the Group relies on quality and innovation. Heiko Schuh, A+W Soft-ware GmbH: “HoffmannGlas has been an A+W customer for 24 years. Along the way, we have learned that this corporate group always cooper-ates in the innovation network with mechanical engineering firms and with us as software part-ner, and with a sense of proportion, it has always made the right investments.”

Therefore, the Hoffmann Group is in a position to react quickly and flexibly to market changes. The constant process of innovation reinforces the group’s spectrum of services and underscores its consistent customer orientation on an ever- more-competitive market.

Contact: www.hoffmannglasgruppe.de

Marion Unbekannt, responsible at Hoffmann-Glas Halle for work preparation and IT, has been an expert contact person for A+W for many years.

Hoffmann Glas produces, delivers, and installs large-format special sheets properly and reliably – up to and including sheets with jumbo dimensions.

Flexible batch formation, intelligent residual sheet utilization: from the compact warehouse with more than 100 types of glass, the stock sheets are fed to the float and combi cutting tables controlled by the cutting and control computer A+W Realtime Optimizer. Depending on the situation, it is possible to re-plan in real time, e. g. for rush orders and reproductions. The HEGLA residual sheet manager Remaster is incorporated into the A+W production control and thus makes the first cuts available automatically.

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C U S TO M E R R E P O R T

A+W Dashboard – mobile Production-Monitoring

Your benefits: Can be opened in any Web browser Real-time data from highly-digitalized

machines Can be used on smartphones, tablet

computers or PDAs Quick data access and constant

updates High information density Efficient display of the current KPI

data from production

Anyone who wishes can have it along at all times and can therefore react if something at the other end of the factory has to be taken care of right away. A+W Dashboard shows you key figures for critical production areas, ensuring great transpar-ency and allowing you to react quickly. You get in-formation about individual production areas such as cutting, IG lines, processings, ESG production: for example, you can see the current utilization, status of each machine, course of productivity, all in real time.

The program can be used both on large monitors in different production departments as well as on mobile end user devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and PDAs. The prerequisite is an Internet browser and access to the program (address, user account).

Thus the display serves as an online monitor-ing and decision-making tool if machine states change in the course of a shift or if the quantities to be produced cannot be adhered to. A+W Dash-board includes pre-defined displays, however it can also be adapted individually to a particular

machine or department – individual screen dis-plays are easy to create. This way, the person re-sponsible for production can keep an eye on the most critical areas of production and take action immediately in case of emergency.

Real-time data with Glass Industry 4.0The data that A+W Dashboard displays on its clear interface comes from different sources: e. g. from PDC; however the share of machine data that is transmitted in real time continues to increase as the digitalization of production environments in-creases. Today, people responsible for production in Smart Factories use A+W Dashboard to access machine data that just a few years ago a machine could not even have generated: thanks to A+W software, Glass Industry 4.0 ensures that there is greater information density.

People responsible for production in flat glass operations are always on the go. In today’s production environments, which can be large as several thousand square meters, they frequently travel several kilometers in a day. In the meantime, they are also elsewhere, in other branch offices, and sometimes they must take a break too. In short, they cannot always be everywhere, guiding, finding workarounds, and intervening when there are problems. That’s why we developed A+W Dashboard.

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S O F T WA R E

As a sponsor of the rich in tradition GPD Pub, we welcome you at the glasstec after-work venue No.1 !

For the 8th time in 16 years glasstec, we would like to share information, relax and have fun with you after long and exciting exhibition days.

Join us in the heart of the Altstadt in Bolkerstrasse 55 to meet, in a relaxed atmosphere, the worlds leading experts of the flat glass business!

According to this motto we are energet-ically supporting a great project of two German sailors, who are on their sailing trip through the Mediterranean Sea and free the beaches from plastic waste. At this point we would like to pay particu-lar attention to their initiative “Keep the Ocean clean”. The two enthusiastic sailors are the best example for showing that ev-eryone can make a contribution to protect the environment and reduce the pollution of beaches by plastic waste.

When we became aware of the initiative of the two initiators Jessica and Stefan, we im-mediately knew that we want to promote this worthy cause. Since the start of their initiative, they have already collected more than 1,860 liters of plastic waste. We are pleased to be able to not only provide gar-bage bags for collecting and for the remov-al of tons of plastic waste. Pro filled bag we also support the collection campaign with a financial donation.

THANKS Jessica und Stefan that you are helping to reduce all our “plastic waste footprint” on earth, step by step. On their blog (only in German), they regularly report on the development of their collection campaign. In Addition there you can also see images about our cooper-ation, many other impressions of their sailing trips and much more. A visit to their blog is definitely recommended! http://sy-sundowner.de

Meet us at glasstec-evenings in the GPD Pub!

Sailing and keeping the ocean clean:A+W – PLASTIC = KEEP THE OCEAN CLEAN!

www.a-w.com

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