The new LiSEC center of competence in Hausmening, Lower Austria, was opened on 8 October 2015. The ‘Glass Forum’, in which LiSEC invested approximately EUR 5 million, houses the latest LiSEC technologies for every stage in the processing of glass – from glass cutting and edge processing through to an elaborate glass logistics system and up to the production of insulating and laminated safety glass, including tempering. In the Glass Forum, flat glass is processed under real-life production conditions. With its state-of-the-art production lines and software applications, the Glass Forum is used for research, test, training and demonstration purposes.
International guests for live glass productionFollowing the welcome speeches by CEO Mag. Othmar Sailer, Prof. Dr. Thomas Keppert, Chairman of the board of the Peter Lisec private Foundation and Mag. Christoph Neumayer, Secretary General of the Federation of Austrian Industry, the Glass Forum was officially opened on time at 9 a.m. The numerous attending international guests from business and politics visited the live glass production and, in presentations by experts, learnt about current topics such as automation, Industry 4.0 as well as quadruple insulating glass units with thin glass membranes. A factory tour of the mechanical engineering in Seitenstetten was provided in the afternoon.
“With our investment in the new centre of competence ‘Glass Forum’, we massively expand an essential distinguishing characteristic: We are t...
The new LiSEC center of competence in Hausmening, Lower Austria, was opened on 8 October 2015. The ‘Glass Forum’, in which LiSEC invested approximately EUR 5 million, houses the latest LiSEC technologies for every stage in the processing of glass – from glass cutting and edge processing through to an elaborate glass logistics system and up to the production of insulating and laminated safety glass, including tempering. In the Glass Forum, flat glass is processed under real-life production conditions. With its state-of-the-art production lines and software applications, the Glass Forum is used for research, test, training and demonstration purposes.
International guests for live glass productionFollowing the welcome speeches by CEO Mag. Othmar Sailer, Prof. Dr. Thomas Keppert, Chairman of the board of the Peter Lisec private Foundation and Mag. Christoph Neumayer, Secretary General of the Federation of Austrian Industry, the Glass Forum was officially opened on time at 9 a.m. The numerous attending international guests from business and politics visited the live glass production and, in presentations by experts, learnt about current topics such as automation, Industry 4.0 as well as quadruple insulating glass units with thin glass membranes. A factory tour of the mechanical engineering in Seitenstetten was provided in the afternoon.
“With our investment in the new centre of competence ‘Glass Forum’, we massively expand an essential distinguishing characteristic: We are the only machine manufacturer in the market that processes flat glass itself and that in a profitable way,” says Sailer. “We know and understand the problems and challenges of our customers because we have them ourselves. That is what we call operational know-how.” With this, LiSEC is, at the same time, setting an example in the region: Apart from the investment in Hausmening, LiSEC has planned investments for about EUR 16 million at the production site in Seitenstetten for the next three years. Sailer: “We have committed ourselves to the location of Lower Austria, and this on a long-term basis.”
Mobile solar energy sourceThe smartflower is an invention and product of the Austrian business firm smartflower energy technology GmbH and is the first all-in-one autonomous energy source in the world: In the morning, the smartflower orients its large 18 square metres solar module surfaces to the rising sun fully automatically and immediately begins to generate electric currents. It is fitted with a two-axes solar tracker, so the ‘petals’ follow the sun over the course of the day. The capacity of a smartflower is about 3,400 – 6,200 kWh per year depending on the region; thus one station generates the entire average power consumption of a household in central Europe. Depending on the product, the generated electric current can either be supplied to a power net or directly stored and used locally.
According to the manufacturer, the (storage) system reaches a degree of private use of up to 100 per cent (for comparison: a rooftop installation attains an average of only 30 per cent) and holds the power supply steadier than with a static rooftop installation. Smartflowers are intended for private households, but also for communes, shopping centres, companies, hotels and gastronomy.
Probably the most complex flower petals in the worldEach smartflower consists of twelve petals. At first glance, one such petal does not appear to be anything spectacular. Andreas Winter, Managing Director of Glass Forum: “No manufacturer dared to produce this; we are the only glass processor in the world who accepted this job.” Each petal is 2.1 metres long and has a diameter of 1.2 metres. Winter: “The petals consist of two millimeters thin white glass. Each piece of glass is given a C-cut, after which it is tempered.” And this combination is exactly why this production technology is unparalleled. Winter continues: “We have a vertical processing machine and can then temper, with optimal batch availability; everything is highly automated.” LiSEC currently produces about 1,200 such glass petals in the Glass Forum every year. Winter is not without pride: “The manufacturing runs as if on rails: The quality has just what it takes, we meet delivery dates and rejects are virtually nil. I am happiest about those jobs where LiSEC can show what we are capable of!”
Interview with Othmar Sailer, CEO Lisec GroupHow would you describe the philosophy of your company?Sailer: A clear answer to that question is our claim: “best in glass processing”. Our philosophy and mission is to offer the best products and services one can find for flat glass processing. Being second best is not an option. Customer orientation is our highest priority - in this way, we live our vision: to be market leader thanks to satisfied customers.
Lisec often presents innovative products, how important is R&D for you? And how has R&D led to the founding of the Glass Forum? Sailer: Our market claim with “best in glass processing” has as a logical consequence that R&D is highly important to us. Every year, we invest about 8% of our turnover in R&D. LiSEC has always had, and this is unique in the industry, its own glass processing plant. The Glass Forum is essential for R&D – we can make tests of any kind in our own plant, be it spacer bar tests, cycle time optimization tests or software tests – other machine builders have to ask customers to do so …We are able to test and optimize prototypes ourselves – and this under real production conditions. This is what we call our operational know-how: we understand the production issues of our customers, because we have them ourselves.
Speaking about the Glass Forum, we know that one of the main projects 2015 was the manufacture of the glass petals for probably one of the most complex glass ‘structures’. What can you tell us about this project?Sailer: It was a really difficult and challenging job. We turned out to be the only glass processor who was capable to offer the entire service. The project is special since we talk about two mm thin glass sheets that are cut, get a c-grind and are tempered as well.
Are there any other important projects in the pipeline you would like to speak about? Yes. We are developing and about to introduce a range of new products. We optimized our CleanSeal sealing roboter offering a new option that allows uninterrupted metering – which is highly interesting for producers of xxl insulation glass units. Another new product that is to be introduced soon is a new glass insulating production line for very large insulation units of up to 18 meters. Furthermore we have redesigned our HAL range of tempering furnaces, in the future to be called Aeroflat. They are about 50 per cent lighter now and easier to install and service. The first tempering oven of this kind was installed at Internorm about half a year ago and the customer is highly satisfied. We manage a level of flatness on the glass sheets after tempering that has been unachieved so far. Another great benefit: operators are fit in a few days only. Just to mention but a few – there is even more to come.
Lisec means, in the mind of many people, mainly high-quality machinery, but you also produce software too. How important is software production for the company?Sailer: You are right: we offer glass processing solutions for every type and size of plant. Since about two years we have also covered emerging markets and start-up businesses with our base range of products.
Software is highly important to us. On the one hand we are the only machine builder in the flat glass processing business who also offers software, on the other hand we have a very interesting cross selling effect here: software cus-tomers buy machines and vice versa. As to the importance with regards to turnover, software makes up about ten percent. In order to be able to offer top- notch software solutions, you need an in-depth understanding of processes, which we have, thanks to our Glass Forum.
Of course you have clients worldwide but in this moment is there any market more interesting than others? What are the company’s future projects and strategies?Sailer: To us all markets are interesting. Some are flattening or stagnating, but also here you can do business. Attractive markets right now are SouthEast Asia, India, Africa and eastern European countries.
What is the current turnover of Lisec, did you see growth in the last years? What are the forecasts for the future?Sailer: 2014 we generated a turnover of 212 Mio Euros. Forecast for next year is a moderate growth. Our growth strategy foresees a doubling of revenues by 2024.
In 2008, the building industry entered in a global crisis that is still not over, how did you – and are you – facing this crisis? Sailer: Obviously it also had an impact on our business, but that was long before I became CEO of the LiSEC Group. I prefer to focus on the future, which looks pretty good for the glass industry. Studies have shown that the global amount of glass per person will increase six percent annually for the next few years. Glass is an ‘in’ building material.
One related question regarding finances – how do you help, if you do, your customers willing to buy your products but unable to obtain loans from banks?Sailer: We offer financing options, which of course need to be discussed from case to case.
This year the global glass world will be at glasstec once again. What is Lisec working on to take to the event?Sailer: All of the products I mentioned before, we will be showing two other highlights that will be announced before the show, but it is too early to reveal anything more…
LISEC Austria GmbH
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