When Weinig commenced line assembly in 1970, it was a first in the sector that drew much attention. Series production was not yet the norm and placed high demands on organisation and construction. With 26 workstations on the first assembly line, the ambitious company was also making a declaration of intent.
Subsequently, series production would be continually expanded to several lines and increasingly tailored to requirements. The most important development came in 2007 with the shortening of throughput times achieved by reducing the number of workstations. Simultaneously, material supply trolleys were linked in accordance with the Kanban principle. The average throughput time for a Weinig moulder is currently 10 working days.
The first assembly line commissioned was a breakthrough in accelerating growth and guaranteeing quality for today’s market leader. On the one hand, it enabled modern production technology to supply growing markets with large volumes. On the other hand, it guaranteed consistently high standards. Over 43 years, the Montage 1 assembly line has paved the way for the production of the globally renowned
Unimat, Hydromat and Powermat moulder lines. The line currently produces the premium Powermat 600, 1200 and 2400 models, which also account for the majority of sales revenue from Weinig's core business of planing and profiling machines.
In fact, it was a Powermat 1200 that rolled off the assembly line to mark the 35,000 milestone. Weinig used its traditional summer festival to celebrate the event, which also chronicled a large portion of the company's production history: If you were to arrange all the machines produced on the Montage 1 assembly line in a row, they would stretch over 175 kilometres.
Several million working hours have been spent on the now legendary production line. Indeed, this is a particularly relevant aspect for the people living in the vicinity of the Weinig factory: "The assembly line has not least made an important contribution to creating jobs in Tauberbischofsheim (Weinig’s HQ)," underlined Wolfgang Pöschl.
The Weinig CEO went into more detail on the financial potential harnessed within the assembly line. In terms of sales, Montage 1 has generated billions of euros. This has provided a solid foundation for developments that have made Weinig the leading technology provider for industry and small businesses.
The milestone machine is one such innovation. Equipped with the patented PowerLock tool system, the machine is the epitome of modern production technology with low set-up times and is made in Germany with perfect results in surface quality. The Powermat 1200 also features state-of-the-art control technology and can be integrated seamlessly into high-performance industrial production lines.
The customer who received the milestone machine perfectly complements the history of the assembly line, said the CEO. Traditional company Sörnsen Holzleisten GmbH, based in northern Germany, is a longstanding Weinig customer that has fully embraced the company's technological advances from the outset and used the benefits of its partnership with the full service provider from Tauberbischofsheim intelligently to expand its European business.
Sörnsen now runs its entire, highly efficient and economic production process using Weinig systems technology. This comprises a number of moulders as well as the tool, tool grinding system, measuring system and automation – all from a single source, all from Weinig.
The celebration of the 35,000th moulder was also an opportunity for the board to thank the employees whose commitment has made possible the success of the Montage 1 assembly line. Some 700 employees and guest of honour Georg Sörnsen looked on as the milestone machine was presented to the celebrating crowd on a forklift to rapturous applause. “The 35,000th machine from this assembly line will not be the last milestone we celebrate together,” says a confident Wolfgang Pöschl.
