Felbermayer Fenster und Türen was founded as a joinery back in 1964. In 1993, Helmut Felbermayer took over the company from his father. Back then, only two employees worked in the small company in Klosterneuburg, in Lower Austria. Over the years that followed, Mr. Felbermayer gradually expanded the company. Today, 210 employees work at the site in Unterwaltersdorf, Lower Austria, on the production of windows and doors, insulating glass manufacturing and powder coating. Felbermayer works together with subcontractors on installations.
Previously, Felbermayer always bought in the insulating glass. He said, “I always purchased exclusively from Interpane. Then the company’s managing director, Mr. Hattmannsdorfer, recommended that we manufacture the insulating glass ourselves because the required quantities and scale were suitable for in-house production. Initially, I literally laughed at him. However, one time while away on holiday I mentally went over the scenario and relatively quickly came to the conclusion that it wasn’t such a bad idea at all.”
The project was originally planned for 2023/2024, but thanks to an investment grant it was rescheduled and could be started at the end of 2020. Within a very short time, a new hall for insulating glass production had been built and intensive work had taken place on the layout planning.
“Over a period of two months, plans were sent back and forth almost daily to identify the best possible solution – and I think we succeeded. The collaboration worked really well. It was a joint project that was also thoroughly enjoyable,” said Felbermayer. And he is delighted with the project progress to date. “Top performance was delivered by everyone involved. The excavator arrived at the end of February and beginning of March 2021. In August, the hall was ready on schedule and installation of the machinery began. This continued in stages at full throttle, right up to the start of production. We had an outstanding team from LiSEC.”
Felbermayer went on to report that everything on the project worked, from the machines to the software, and no mistakes were made, “We would do everything exactly the same again. Throughout my career – during which we have bought numerous machines and planned plants – I have never experienced such perfect implementation within such a timeframe.” Felbermayer is the only contract window company that manufactures the insulating glass itself. Mr. Felbermayer is confident that “thanks to the full automation, output and the actual costs, we enjoy massive advantages over the competition.”
LiSEC’s solutions satisfy Felbermayer’s expectations. He has always known the LiSEC name, and said, “I have always had an eye on insulating glass production – we are genuine machine freaks at heart. We’ve been attending trade fairs for years and we have seen LiSEC machines and the machines offered by competitors. It has been clear to us that LiSEC tops the list when it comes to machinery construction.”
He also thinks the software is just as impressive, adding, “Machines are one thing, but the software behind them makes a big difference too. The installation went without a hitch – we had nothing to worry about. Our LiSEC software contact worked together with my colleague Gerhard Czervenka to compile all the basic data and update the master data and the whole thing was up and running.”
Felbermayer highlighted the advantages of obtaining solutions from a single source: “With the project being highly complex in nature, it was hugely beneficial to work with LiSEC – because everything came from a single source. LiSEC is actually the only machine manufacturer that can supply all the elements you need: Machinery, software and services. Thanks to the all-in-one solutions at LiSEC, all coordination takes place internally and you don’t really notice (or only rarely notice) the coordination and planning measures that are taking place in the background – yet another huge advantage with LiSEC: they make it look easy.”
Felbermayer was also impressed with the electronic plans. Planning had to be accurate down to the last centimetre here, because all connections are in the ground and were laid before the concrete slab was cast. Felbermayer emphasised that although other suppliers also offer good stand-alone machines, you just cannot beat LiSEC when it comes to high-quality fully automatic machinery and high-output processes.
