'Fabrik2022': Koenig & Bauer is one of the final 5

" Rudolf A. Vogl is prepared for all eventualities. Photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the halls cover a fifth of the electricity demand here, at the M?dling assembly plant for securities machines, which Vogl manages with Robert Galik . Soon the output of the PV system could be tripled with an additional 1,200 kilowatts. Oil generators for heating have been ordered in case of gas shortages over the winter. Two emergency generators guarantee the power supply in the event of a power failure. Measures such as switching to LED lighting pay off. They keep energy consumption low at Koenig & Bauer-Stra?e 2 in Maria Enzersdorf.

At the same time, a radical rebuild of the Koenig & Bauer (AT) plant, which is entering the home straight, is having a positive impact on the energy balance. The centralised pre-assembly of the three press lines is expected to boost efficiency by eleven per cent. In a completely redesigned hall aisle, they will replace the pre-assembly islands that were previously spread across several halls. In mid-July, a team from Fraunhofer Austria evaluated the plant of the participant in ‘Fabrik2022’, Austria's toughest production competition. After a small construction delay, the final preparations are underway before the big move and consolidation of processes here.

The hall floor shines. Three rail systems embedded in the floor, including a shorter line for the assembly of smaller units which takes around three weeks, will offer the greatest possible flexibility in the assembly of printing units, coating units and aggregates on one and the same line. Almost the entire length of the hall wall is taken up by an automated circulating storage system that uses the paternoster principle for deliveries and occupies hardly any floor space. Every six o'clock in the morning, plateau wagons are used to deliver parts from here to the final assembly line," Vogl explains. Vogl knows that this is "innovative" in plant construction.

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Tailored to customers

This dynamic of change fits in well with a company that overcame the cuts in 2014 - the relocation of the assembly of the sheetfed offset units substructure and feeder to Radebeul in Saxony - and is considered a centre of excellence for operations in the Banknote Solutions Security business unit. Eight out of ten banknotes in circulation worldwide are printed on presses from Koenig & Bauer - a company with over 200 years of tradition.

The banknote business is proving to be constant. With 320 employees, around 130 in assembly, the company produces between 20 and 30 machines per year in a stable core market: from single machines to interlinked systems, as some key markets are currently experiencing. Although almost every machine is customised, as is typical for special machine construction, the efficiency is improved year after year.

This becomes obvious for the experts from Fraunhofer Austria on this July day right at the first station of the tour - the apprentice workshop. An apprentice KVP leads to the optimisation of tool carts. Shadowboards - also for assembly parts - "made their way into the factory", describes Christian Kapper . He is the local assembly manager and has been with the company for 33 years. The idea, not only born out of a love of order, but also economically sensible - keyword tool turnover - is catching on. The practical foam inserts are also to be used in a standardised way at other group locations, says Ernst Gram, head of the order centre and logistics, who has been with the company for 32 years, close on Kapper's heels.

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Automation aids

Progress is visualised on boards based on the Gemba Walk principle - as in the assembly hall Security 1 (WP1). In addition, the SCRUM boards provide orientation in the form of checklists on which measures and actions employees take in a week "with regard to process improvement", describes Christoph Schefberger , head of assembly planning and assembly scheduling, who has taken on the lean topic in the company.

In mid-July, WP1 is currently taking delivery - with virtual support - of a Super Simultan IV offset press for a customer. This press prints the front and back sides of a banknote simultaneously in ten colours with a page accuracy of around ten micrometres. Another press of the same type is going to another customer. Retrofit business is also strong in M?dling: a decades-old gravure press of the type Super Orlof Intaglio, which was previously used by an international customer and has long since completed its ice cleaning, is about to complete its general overhaul, says Roland Gerdenitsch , Senior Manager Field and Support Services in Customer Service.

A second - brand new - Super Orlof Intaglio, on the other hand, shows how automation is making its way into the product world: an assembly robot will add paper to this machine by reaching into a 100-sheet magazine reservoir.

A few steps further on - in assembly hall WP2 - Koenig & Bauer manufactures the smaller machine types, namely the OptiNota-H for foiling and applying the silver strip, and the NotaScreen and Super Numerota screen printing machines for numbering. Night cooling is used here - in the warmest hall on the site - to reduce temperatures in summer. With the realignment of the assembly layout, the tugger train can now "deliver on a daily basis," says assembly manager Christian Kapper. According to CEO Rudolf Vogl, the use of AGVs has been evaluated.

The result: for the time being, time-shifted driving with classic wagons is hard to beat in terms of driving economy. In the assembly hall WP3 - the last stop before the in-depth afternoon evaluation discussions with Fraunhofer Austria - the assembly of a 38-metre-long "customised" Super Numerota/CutPak, which is interlinked up to the film packaging, is about to start. "

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Source and all credits to INDUSTRIEMAGAZIN?, find here also the german version of the article.