Certainly a Good Connection

The combination of translucence and protection makes glass a very popular material in architecture. Whether it is for interior fittings or the façade, the transparent material has multiple applications. In particular safety glass is used where personal security and increased safety should be combined with an attractive design.

Rüdiger Göpferich, Managing Director of sitec.glas, identified this trend long ago and started with the production of SSG as far back as 1999. Today, the company based in Waghäusel, Baden in Germany, produces approx. 250,000 sqm glass per year. "There is still a great demand for single-lite safety glass, however, in the past few years, LSG has experienced a true renaissance", says the company´s founder. For this reason, the company decided approximately two years ago to extend its product portfolio. Today, LSG makes up about one third of the production.

The latest plant on the market
The plant on which the company sitec produces LSG comes from the Bystronic glass group. "Our good experience with the handling devices from the Armatec Technology Centre made the decision in favour of the LSG plant easy for us", Rüdiger Göpferich recalls, adding: "The favourable price/performance ratio and the certainty of having purchased the latest machine on the market were additional convincing arguments." Visitors can admire the production of laminated safety glass lites up to a size of 2.60 x 6.00 meters in sitec´s light-flooded halls with a total production area of 7,200 square meters. The blue painted plant first’lamiline fits perfectly into the production hall, because when the hall was constructed, Rüdiger Göpferich had this investment already in the back of his mind.

What is special about the LSG line from Bystronic glass is the high productivity of the plant: Starting from a highly-efficient provisional laminate, which very accurately places the glass plates on top of each other at high even assembly pressure, the heating zones with infrared radiators and convectors, up to 3,500 square meters of laminate safety glass are produced in every shift. The company´s founder is particularly pleased that he could purchase all components from one supplier: "Bystronic glass not only installed the LSG plant in the hall, but delivered and put into operation all components necessary for LSG production, from the washing machine, the clean room with air conditioning, the reel unwinders for 16 PVB films, the autoclave car, to the handling devices." Thomas Fuchs, Director of Production, soon found out that operation of this high-tech plant is very easy. "Using the Laminoptic software, I am always in control of the production. Different orders are administered and operating data are recorded via a user-friendly PC interface", he reports.

Good experiences – good partnership
But it was not just the technology that convinced Rüdiger Göpferich. "We have now worked with the LSG plant for about one and a half years, and we are still very satisfied. Already during our first meetings, I was impressed with the good advice that was offered. Over time, it came into notice that the exceptional service was also an argument for Bystronic glass", he states and explains that, for him, what matters most is professionalism, speed and a pleasant unobtrusiveness on the part of the service personnel. All in all, Rüdiger Göpferich is satisfied when he looks at his investment and is convinced that cheaper Asian glass will not be competition for his company over the medium term. "I am convinced that our high product quality and flexibility are the decisive factors for retaining customers." Sitec-glas will therefore continue strengthening its competence in individual and fast production and manufacture high-quality products with love for detail.