Replacement of a glass production machine

Crystal clear, despite bottlenecks: this job at Wiegand Glashüttenwerke in Steinbach am Wald, Bavaria, was almost a home game for the SCHOLPP installation professionals from the Erfurt site, just 100 kilometers away. An old glass production machine had to be removed from the plant, and a new machine brought in. The team had four days to complete the project. The two machines had to be maneuvered over a total height difference of six meters and through many narrow passages within the plant.

The glassmaking tradition at the Steinbach site dates back more than 450 years. Today, Wiegand-Glas is known for its state-of-the-art glasses and bottles. Wiegand products are mainly used for packaging in the food and beverage industries. When a glass production machine in the production plant needed replacing, the SCHOLPP team brought all the necessary equipment from its technical center in Erfurt. Alongside the Chemnitz branch, Erfurt is the main base for installation equipment in central and eastern Germany.

Creating an access point on the first floor

The glass processing machine at the Wiegand plant measured approx. 8 x 2.50 x 3 meters and had a total weight of 33 tons. Some preparations had to be made on site to enable the removal and installation to go ahead. An assembly platform had to be designed by the SCHOLPP engineers and erected by the fitters in front of the access point in the factory hall, for example. The factory wall was opened up on the first floor. Inside, the machine site was located on a steel scaffold at a height of six meters.

This temporary platform in front of the workshop made it easier for the truck-mounted crane to remove. In addition, the new machine could be unloaded directly onto the Robot 40 heavy-duty transport trolley, which was able to drive right up to the platform. Space for both the platform and all the driving and lifting maneuvers was limited, as the crane was located between two factory buildings. The pivot range of the crane boom was significantly restricted. The route for factory traffic between the two halls needed to remain passable, at least as a single lane. The platform could therefore only take up half of the driveway.

Project proceeds precisely on schedule

The routes within the factory building were also extremely narrow and winding, but with the maneuverable Robot-40 transport trolley, the SCHOLPP Erfurt team was able to skilfully maneuver the almost eight-meter machine through even the narrowest sections. A number of hydraulic jacks (weighing 20 t each) were used for final positioning. The old machine was removed and the new one installed precisely on schedule in two periods of two days.