Wall and room solutions from PAN+ARMBRUSTER with a system and machines from HOMAG

2024/10/02   |   Oberkirch   |   Germany

The economic situation in Germany leaves a lot to be desired, meaning that proactive and sensible measures to safeguard survival are needed now more than ever before. With its individual and tailor-made wall and room solutions, PAN+ARMBRUSTER successfully relies on uncompromising quality, reliable service — and machines from HOMAG; a winning combination.

"The reliability is what makes the difference. And the quality, of course." Matthias Armbruster recognizes the importance of such factors for the future viability of his company. Back in 1988, Matthias' father, Martin Armbruster, started to rethink working environments and, using innovative technologies and flexible systems, to create room concepts in which people can work in a more efficient and relaxed manner. Since then, PAN+ARMBRUSTER has not only built up a solid reputation and firmly established itself on the market, but is one of the industry leaders across Europe today.

This has worked with the aforementioned quality, without any mass or series production in the manufacturing of tailor-made room-in-room solutions, office and partition systems or acoustic solutions. Flexible, functional, modern and expandable — the intelligent, high-quality and versatile portfolio is tailored precisely to the individual requirements and premises of the customer or the project.

Increased quality

As an industrial engineer, Matthias Armbruster adopts a holistic approach, from consulting and planning through to production and assembly. This is how the extraordinary products and systems of PAN+ARMBRUSTER are created, enabling improved relaxation, concentration and atmosphere in the design of offices or when setting up modular constructions.

The customer-oriented family business continues to prosper in its second generation and the 65 qualified employees generate annual sales of €22 million in the B2B sector alone, with an average order volume of €40,000. No two orders are the same, but for every project—large or small, new building or renovation—optimal work results are the top priority.

"When a customer chooses us, they are also choosing the exceptionally high and consistent quality of our products. We achieve this by consistently monitoring each individual process step. We are able to do this because our products are developed, produced and assembled in-house. Our room, cabinet and partition systems are produced in our state-of-the-art factory halls with perfectly coordinated machines and cutting-edge robot technology — and at a reliably high level of quality." Innovative, with a clear vision for the future and open to progressive developments: Matthias Armbruster considers his father's traditional values such as reliability and precision to be fundamental even in today's transient throwaway society.

With detailed planning, process-oriented implementation and consistent, final quality control, the company has been able to demonstrate its capabilities many times over, including as a partner for large projects. Thanks to the high degree of automation and a number of machine reserves for panel production and the processing of wood, chipboard, glass, aluminum, metal and steel in the plant, this was an easy task for the specialists from Oberkirch. "My gut feeling didn't let me down" — Matthias Armbruster wanted to have enough capacity precisely for this type of situation and placed great emphasis on this when equipping the machine pool: "Precision, reliability and quality. Are you familiar with this? So are we. We have not only also found ourselves reflected in these values, we have also come to appreciate our machine partner in many other areas relating to their systems."

The machine partner

Mutual appreciation: The HOMAG Group, based in Schopfloch, equipped its newly renovated site in Holzbronn, where the company's own production of the panel dividing saw takes place, with connecting partition walls from PAN+ARMBRUSTER. The company has been working with one of the world's leading providers of integrated solutions for production in the wood processing industry and woodworking shops for more than 20 years now. Armbruster does not know exactly when the first HOMAG machine found its way to Oberkirch. However, to this day, five machines continue to perform their loyal service and digital aspects such as serviceRemote, DataSave, ServiceBoard and MachineBoard are always present in production.

Around 2004, the KTD 820 was the first manual edge banding machine to enter the halls of PAN+ARMBRUSTER in Baden. Four years later, the BAZ 200/300 CNC processing center was added. In the following year, several products from HOMAG followed, with the combination of the SAWTEQ S-300 panel saw, the STORETEQ P-500 storage system and the KAL 330 edge banding machine with return. In 2015, production was expanded once again with the EDGETEQ S-500 profiLine with return for precisely glued edges. The selectable feed rate enables demand-based productivity, which is an ideal solution for companies such as PAN+ARMBRUSTER with varying performance requirements. Automation and further functionality can also be added for these series on an individual basis.

Stronger together

In 2019, the quantum leap was made: The SAWTEQ S-300 flexTec panel dividing saw was put into operation in combination with the space-saving STORETEQ P-500 storage system. The high-performance panel dividing saw for fully automatic cutting is geared toward automatic mode with robot support, but can also be operated manually as usual if required. "With the S-300 flexTec, we have 85% automation. This value can still be increased, but is certainly not to be sneered at as a basis," says Armbruster with a smile. "And in robot mode, the SAWTEQ even cuts three hours after the working day has ended..."

Since the company started working with the saw/storage combination, production at Armbruster has been running more smoothly and consistently; the manufacturing process is more relaxed and, despite the fast order processing, there is no hectic rush. The EAP control system works just as smoothly as the storage process, one operator is enough. "I was really surprised at how well this all worked," says Armbruster. Five years is a long time in the service life of a machine, and HOMAG has now issued a new, advanced edition of its S-300 flexTec robot saw. The saw offers a cost-effective first step into the world of fully automatic panel cutting and benefits from the knowledge gained from customer applications, which allows us to pass the ball, or the panel, back to PAN+ARMBRUSTER: Matthias Armbruster and his team served as field researchers and their experiences with the toleranceCheck, which has been (subsequently) integrated into the SAWTEQ, will be eagerly incorporated into the next generation by HOMAG.

Zero tolerance

"Zero tolerance for errors, we are just like HOMAG in that respect. We have already collected data, analyzed it and looked at where the errors came from, and which delivered batches have proven to be inferior. Of course, we were interested in how we could reduce the number of rejects." Armbruster appreciated that he was allowed to really get down to business with his pioneering work for the machine partner. The toleranceCheck installed on the saw helps to detect material curvature at an early stage and to ensure that parts always have the individual dimensional and angular accuracy required.

"The toleranceCheck is a really great and practical aid. It gives us information about the quality of the parts during production: If a part is outside the tolerance, the operator is informed and can prevent the parts from being cut and therefore avoid rejects. In addition, we collect the data from all scanned panels — this means that in future, this pool of data will give us a better negotiating position with our suppliers in the case of low-quality material. One shortcoming of the toleranceCheck is that although it shows if a part is outside the tolerance, the post-production of the part is still quite complicated or not automated. That hadn't been quite thought through."

But thanks to its field test customers, HOMAG is one step ahead: The reproduction of parts was actually in the development plan and has been implemented. Active exchange and close contact has paid off for both parties. Armbruster now has fewer reject parts and production is continuously optimized. And HOMAG has implemented important feedback from the Oberkirch field test customer on the toleranceCheck in the new edition of the SAWTEQ and will present this to the public at the HOMAG Treff in September 2024. With this new edition, the reject parts can be collected in post-production lists and sent to optimization. Matthias Armbruster is happy to share his expertise and will talk about his practical experience with the toleranceCheck, the robot saw and the storage system at the aforementioned HOMAG Treff on September 26, 2024.

Close partnership

There is a continuous give and take between the two companies from Baden-Württemberg. "Our partnership has intensified over the years. The Service department was always on hand when we needed it, and HOMAG has always responded quickly to our needs. The Schopfloch employees always listen to the needs of the customer and if there are problems, they are resolved. It goes without saying that the machines and digital aspects are first-class…"; as an industrial engineer, Armbruster knows what is important when it comes to managing a company and safeguarding its future. The dynamic CEO wants to develop his innovative products further and establish himself firmly among the market leaders in the industry. Growth is another important point — it should be in terms of sales and not in terms of space. This requires, among other things, better utilization without additional personnel and with increased automation. Which finally brings us back to HOMAG: The next EDGETEQ S-500 edge banding machine with return has already been ordered and will be put into operation at the end of the year.