49 rapid-rolling doors ensure peace and quiet

Huge processing centers pull endless stainless steel bands from coils. The fischer plants produce high-quality longitudinal seam welded stainless steel pipes from these metal bands. Approximately 123,000,000 meters of pipes of various diameters leave the factories of the fischer group each year. This amount would be enough to lay along the Hamburg-Mannheim highway in a single day. It is obvious that the manufacturing process of such a number of stainless steel pipes cannot run quietly.

The plant of the fischer group is located on the outskirts of the small district of Achern-Fautenbach, at the foot of the Black Forest. It is surrounded by plenty of greenery but is also close to residential areas. For the responsible planners, this situation is a strong contradiction, a challenge they must face.

Mr. Schneider is responsible for Mechanical Maintenance at the headquarters of the fischer group. It is quiet as he walks across the factory grounds. But when he opens a hall door, the muffled noises of production immediately reach outside. Only after he closes it does it become quiet again. Only the chirping of birds in the trees can still be heard.

"That’s exactly one of the reasons we are looking for hall closing doors that do not make noise outside," he describes the situation. "Very high noise protection regulations apply to this production site. We are surrounded by residential buildings. Therefore, it is important that the residents are not disturbed by the production or by the running noises generated by the doors themselves."

After extensive comparisons and detailed consultations with the door manufacturer’s field service, the decision of the plant planners fell on EFAFLEX. The doors are installed where forklifts deliver materials to machines, transport products, and load trucks.

Forklifts also frequently use EFAFLEX doors in the material and shipping warehouses. In these areas, doors with short opening and closing speeds were needed. "It really pulls through here in winter," explains Schneider. "Our company cannot and does not want to afford that the doors remain open for long. We want to save energy."

Immediately in front of some doors in the plant, there is a lot of maneuvering and cross traffic. To prevent these vehicles from triggering unnecessary opening impulses, the doors are additionally equipped with EFA-SCAN® laser scanners.

The right decision

As a maintenance technician, Schneider is naturally particularly pleased with the long service life and robustness of EFAFLEX products. Besides the required noise protection and the speed of opening and closing, EFAFLEX offers him real added value: The technicians are in-house and highly trained. The field service’s advice is customer- and project-oriented. "Our calculations paid off. We decided on EFAFLEX doors and have now installed 49 of them. We do not regret this decision."

Laser scanner EFA-SCAN®

EFA-SCAN® is the world's first laser scanner for door applications, combining a reliable impulse generator and safety system in one. The innovation from EFAFLEX detects the entire area in front of the door—completely gapless and with intelligent direction recognition, more reliably than all other systems.

The sensor creates a three-dimensionally monitored area with individually adjustable geometric and dynamic detection ranges tailored to the location. This provides maximum safety for people, transported goods, and also protects the door itself from accidents and damage.

The EFA-SCAN® generates two seamless zones: a safety zone immediately near the door and a detection zone further away. In this zone, the EFA-SCAN® sensor functions as a highly modern command device for opening the door.

The speed and direction of detected objects are calculated. Reliable direction recognition ensures that only vehicles or people moving directly toward the door can trigger an opening impulse. If they move parallel to or away from the door, they are filtered out, effectively preventing "false" openings.

The sensor also detects rain, snow, and ambient light. This makes EFA-SCAN® one of the few laser scanners suitable for outdoor installation.

Precision along the entire length: company information fischer group

The fischer group, headquartered in Fautenbach, is the second-largest manufacturer of high-quality stainless steel pipes and components worldwide and a technological leader in the production of longitudinal seam laser-welded pipes. Over its 50-year history, the fischer group has evolved from a small operation into a multinational corporate group with currently 20 companies and approximately 2,450 employees.

As a logical, systematic extension of the pipes, the fischer group has developed numerous options to further process the pipes into demanding components or assemblies. Whether automotive, aerospace, heating and sanitary technology, consumer electronics, or industrial applications: the high-quality, stable, and corrosion-resistant products of this internationally active company have a wide range of applications.