For almost 20 years, the Madrugada Group has been producing PVC and PVC/aluminium windows at its Palota site in the western Romanian district of Bihor. The motto of the company’s founder and sole agent, Sergiu Turcu, is ‘to produce outstanding quality for enthusiastic customers’, and has been the driving force and secret to success of what has become one of Romania’s top three window manufacturers. The company employs more than 400 people in a two-shift pattern at its vast 40,000 m2 production site, which has the option to expand further. In 2020, turnover amounted to 44 million Euros. A large warehouse for different types of PVC profile, an automatic film coating system for surface finishing of PVC profiles and a range of state-of-the-art automatic cutting and welding systems ensure that the company can produce up to 1200 PVC and PVC/aluminium windows every single day.

On a visit by one of LiSEC’s managing directors, CFO Oliver Pichler, production manager for insulating glass production, Beniamin Buta, agreed to be interviewed to talk about why the Madrugada Group opted to establish its own insulating glass line in 2019. The head of production also offered insight into future development of the company and told us how solutions from a single source from LiSEC are helping to deliver not just top quality but other benefits to aid the company’s success. 

LISEC: THE MADRUGADA GROUP, WHICH HAS UNDERGONE CONSIDERABLE GROWTH SINCE 2003, IS NOW ONE OF ROMANIA’S TOP THREE AND IS ALREADY EXPORTING MORE THAN 30% OF ITS PRODUCTS TO THE EU. WHEN AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO START PRODUCING INSULATING GLASS?

Mr Buta: Founder and owner, Mr Sergiu Turcu, started to consider producing insulating glass for PVC windows himself at the end of 2018, primarily due to the significant growth the company was experiencing, and thus produce the complete end product in house. Being independent of the market and advancing quality through investment in state-of-the-art production technologies were fundamental motivations. At the start of 2019, contact was made with LiSEC which led to an initial data analysis and capacity design for future insulating glass production. The aim was to design one of the most state-of-the-art production systems and to assist with planning the production hall, for which LiSEC utilised its comprehensive expertise for turnkey solutions. With LiSEC’s leading knowledge, which we used to both plan the production site and learn about handling glass and the production planning process, we quickly moved from zero to starting our own insulating glass production line, without having any extensive prior knowledge.

LISEC: HOW DID THE PLANNING PROCESS AND SCOPE LOOK?

Mr Buta: At the start of the planning process, current data on our insulating glass requirements and trends for future development, as well as the level of automation we were looking for, were analysed so that our future production could be mapped out. From the very outset, it was obvious that we wanted to implement highly automated, linked insulating glass production in which manual handling of the glass sheets was kept to an absolute minimum. We opted for a sorting buffer, which we can expand as the need arises. With this, we can ensure continuous production and remain flexible at the same time. During the planning process, LiSEC also took into account future expandability, which is now proving to be another benefit of having such an experienced partner on our side for projects of this size. Specifically, we opted for the following solutions:

Systems and machinery

Glass storage with a FlyOver loading system for particularly high flexibility (PKL + SBH)

Linear cutting system and automatic breakout system for float glass (SprintCut)

Automatic laminated glass cutting with particularly low wastage (VSL-A)

Sorting and buffer system with shuttle for minimal sheet handling (ASM + SHL)

Glass edge machine with diamond belt for optimal edge quality (KSR + KSV)

Insulating glass line with applicator for thermoplastic spacers, gas filling press and sealing machine for edge sealing (TPA, AGP, VFL)

Software

ERP system for order management (gps.order)

Production planning and monitoring (gps.prod)

Machine status monitoring (lis.assetcheck)

Delivery process planning and support (lis.delivery)

LISEC: WHAT WERE THE MAIN DETERMINING FACTORS WHEN IT CAME TO OPTING FOR AN ALL-IN-ONE SOLUTION FOR LISEC, AND WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Mr Buta: The key determining factor when it comes to LiSEC was the ability to procure machinery and software from a single source. With highly automated production, the information systems and interfaces to systems are the key to success. Whether order entry or production planning, everything needs to interact with the systems, and it must be possible to query the status of individual products in real time. Paired with state-of-the-art technology and the high system availability of LiSEC products, it was undoubtedly the right decision.

LISEC: HOW DOES FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MADRUGADA GROUP LOOK? WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

Mr Buta: Our aim is to continue working with LiSEC to optimise the insulating glass line one step at a time. To do this, we will continue to analyse the data together, to identify potential for improvement in our organisation and to optimise processes. We will then expand production to include an additional shift, thereby further expanding our production capacity. Additionally, we will start planning and implementing a pre-stressing system and start expanding the cutting system and sorting buffer. At the same time, we also plan to invest in another insulating glass line for thermoplastic spacers. We are in the fortunate position that demand for our high-quality products is growing, and we intend to take advantage of this opportunity in the future.