A+W software controls Hegla ReMaster
The breakthrough in glass processing changed cutting processes fundamentally. Thanks to an ingenious, persistently realized idea, the precious residue plates which invariably occur at the cutting table, could be temporarily stored within the cutting line – automatically, swiftly, and saving material – to be added to cutting processing operations if and when required. That was ten years ago.
Since that time, the innovation network consisting of Hegla engineers, A+W software specialists, and enthusiastic users has never stopped developing and perfecting the residue plate management functions. Users all over the world are saving millions of tons of the precious raw material glass, year in and year out. Not only the business results benefit from this, but also our environment. Saving glass, in fact, helps to reduce the CO2 emission and saves precious energy reserves. Modern performance glass of which IG producers and other glass processors regularly process about 60-100 types, are simply too expensive to be stored by hand “just somewhere”, only to be thrown away eventually.

Optimized machinery processes
Material savings further profit from the optimization of the cutting process. Thanks to the process- and time-optimized functions of the ReMaster system, unnecessary down times resulting from manual withdrawal of residue plates from the cutting and breakout lines, are avoided. Production jobs can be handled much more flexibly, and the use ...

A+W software controls Hegla ReMaster
The breakthrough in glass processing changed cutting processes fundamentally. Thanks to an ingenious, persistently realized idea, the precious residue plates which invariably occur at the cutting table, could be temporarily stored within the cutting line – automatically, swiftly, and saving material – to be added to cutting processing operations if and when required. That was ten years ago.
Since that time, the innovation network consisting of Hegla engineers, A+W software specialists, and enthusiastic users has never stopped developing and perfecting the residue plate management functions. Users all over the world are saving millions of tons of the precious raw material glass, year in and year out. Not only the business results benefit from this, but also our environment. Saving glass, in fact, helps to reduce the CO2 emission and saves precious energy reserves. Modern performance glass of which IG producers and other glass processors regularly process about 60-100 types, are simply too expensive to be stored by hand “just somewhere”, only to be thrown away eventually.

Optimized machinery processes
Material savings further profit from the optimization of the cutting process. Thanks to the process- and time-optimized functions of the ReMaster system, unnecessary down times resulting from manual withdrawal of residue plates from the cutting and breakout lines, are avoided. Production jobs can be handled much more flexibly, and the use of machine capacity is improved further. Manual residue plate handling with the risk of damages is completely omitted.
Using the ReMaster together with A+W control software can increase the utilization of the cutting lines by up to 10 per cent.

Continuous improvement
Major milestones in the development of the system have been the introduction of the Tandem Remaster with two lift levels for even more flexibility, the Laminated Glass – Remaster, the adaptation of the storer to the existing cutting environment (even for machinery of other suppliers), and the multiple use of slots with software-controlled, random unloading of the residue.
An essential asset has been the development and enhancement of A+W’s premium optimization systems which control the ReMaster: The dynamic optimization DynOpt for instance allows the seamless integration of the residue plate storer in complex, sequence-creating cutting concepts which include the Hegla SortJet.

Create residue – save material
Other enhancements are less spectacular but still help to save a lot of material. Creating residue to improve yield – whoever would come up with such a solution!
The A+W team of software developers have done just that. They have integrated the option of specifically enlarging the residue plates to allow them to be stored in the ReMaster which requires a minimum size of the cut plates.
If a residue plate is too small to be stored in the ReMaster, it usually goes straight to the cullet box.
If the sub-plate is enlarged by means of intelligent optimization however, it can still be used and thus increases the yield at the end of the day.
Together, Hegla and A+W have implemented a multitude of successful projects for residue plate management and glass cutting optimization worldwide.
“We would like to congratulate our machinery partner Hegla on its brilliant success of the ReMaster machines. A+W is proud to have been able to contribute innovative automation and optimization concepts for the optimum use and development of this ingenious concept. My team and I are looking very much forward to future common developments and new, fascinating projects in the field of residue plate management,” says Dr. Uwe Schmid, Managing Director of A+W.

Total re-branding
The re-branding of A+W comes with an impressive, totally redesigned website which was launched at glasstec 2012. The new homepage is currently accessible by the internationally valid web address www.a-w.com.
A+W CEO Dr. Uwe Schmid: “The A+W homepage is more graphics-oriented, more user-friendly, and more informative. We are happy with the lots of visitors on our new homepage and have received lots of positive feedback on this new web appearance.”
Dr. Michael Küttner, A+W Company Communications: “In the past two years we have been setting up a completely new product generation, have improved our service organization, and are now, after being taken over by Friedman Corporation, international totally redesigned. Our customers all over the world will profit from that. The new, fresh branding shows that instead of merely adapting to changes, we rather live and create those changes ourselves, with lots of innovative power.”
True to this statement, A+W together with leading machinery manufacturers have implemented several large projects in medium-sized glass processing companies, mainly with a focus on process optimization and automation. Uwe Schmid: “Many companies prove to have lots of elbow room for substantial improvements which can bring decisive advantages on the market. We are happy to see that our customers and machinery partners trust in our competence. The new A+W CI shall help to openly demonstrate this competence to the market.”