As part of the factory conference held in Bludenz (Vorarlberg) in autumn 2023, Engel St Valentin was awarded both the overall prize and the "Efficient Factory" category.
"The winning work by Engel is characterised by very good or excellent results across all competition categories," said the jury. Key success factors were the consistent sustainability strategy and the pioneering role in the field of digitalization.
In addition, the injection molding machine manufacturer's well-thought-out production process contributed to the award.
"The right layouts and the right transport routes are of particular importance for our part weights of up to 150 tons. The implementation of this must be clean and coordinated," explains plant manager Martin Weger.
A project that took this approach into account was the expansion and redesign of the flow assembly. With the recently implemented optimizations, the plant's performance limit has been increased by 15% and throughput times have been reduced by 65%.
The jury also recognised the facility’s intelligent C-parts management. This is the automated reordering of consumables such as screws. The use of automated guided vehicles for tool dispensing and the highly automated milling centers were also highlighted. "Thanks to these measures, our specialists can take on more demanding and complex tasks," says Weger.
The final of the 2024 competition will be hosted in St Valentin.
