5000 parts
a day…

To keep things that way, we at the REINHOLD KELLER Group have invested consistently in our production, both in terms of space as well as technology. What sets us apart from many other companies is that we consistently develop our own resources. Translated from corporate speak, it means we invest in our locations – no matter whether it involves technological extensions or staff – whereas many of our competitors have made it a rule to hand over as much as possible to outsourcing. This is how we’re able to produce almost all our interior fittings solutions in-house. This depth of production is rarely found elsewhere. Our customers obtain from us quality, made in Germany – which they also appreciate and several have done so for many decades.

In order to be able to provide this quality to our growing customer base in the future as well, and to respond to inquiries even more flexibly and faster, following around 18 months of planning, simulation as well as reconstruction and assembly, we opened our new, partly automated cutting and edging plant in mid-2018. This investment in technical progress has been a totally logically consequence for us to be able to service our customers even better in the future. Increased warehouse options for our wood raw materials, generally higher capacity in production as well as faster, smoother processing that is less susceptible to errors make our project handling even more effective and efficient – a clear benefit for our customers.

As the partner company for the implementation of this not exactly minor assignment, we chose the IMA Schelling Group, the specialist in executing sophisticated construction solutions for woodworkers. We were not interested in a basic panel cutting system but rather one that involved a minimization of interfaces through direct digital connections between individual process stages. The whole thing was combined with production control technology – which means each part is traceable at any time. We therefore now know when which part arrives where for a particular project, and it is all of course process-optimized and automated. At the same time, our objective was to optimize our warehouse capacity. In combination, this has resulted in a noticeable increase in our production capacity.

But these were only a few of the demands we made of our new production facility. We also wanted our huge range of parts to run smoothly on the new system. Which means we now operate 2 shifts to produce a capacity of up to 5,000 different parts of batch size 1. In addition, there were also a few other minor items to take care of, such as the space we operate in. The new system was to be integrated in the existing production hall. Of course, there were also a few construction issues to consider. The IMA Schelling Group accepted the challenge.

You could describe the production facility as a tailored suit for our business or similar, which our affiliated company designed and created for us. This begins with our warehouse space. It was constructed on two levels to make use of the full capacity our hall provides. The delivered boards are now scanned after they are unloaded, stored in the relevant storage space and automatically fed to the saws when needed and depending on the project. Because the system knows which material is stored in which place.

The boards are then cut to size using three saws, before these parts are transferred using an automatic transport system to what is known as a buffer system between the saw and the edging device. In this way, output peaks can be balanced out properly and orders can be processed in an even and sensible manner. This is because only when the downstream edge bonding machine, the Combina, gives a green light, are the parts sent forward. The edges are given high quality treatment – on one to four sides. The edges are glued with PUR adhesive.