Multitalents with clear view slats ensure visibility and safety

Wilfried Fladl

The company Fill stands for performance strength, flexibility, stability, precision, and dynamism both in machinery and plant engineering and in its own development. Over the past three years, new halls for urgently needed assembly and logistics areas have been created at the site in Gurten, Austria, as part of the expansion. For the completion of the buildings and the transitions between the halls, the planners chose Efaflex rapid-acting doors.

"We also apply our values to suppliers, service providers, and partners," explains Wilfried Fladl. He is the team leader for quality and process management, facility management, and safety officer. "We are a niche specialist with a high level of manufacturing depth and build our machines and systems precisely according to the requirements and special wishes of our customers. Efaflex also adapts its construction and installation of doors to customer wishes and special solutions, which fits very well together."

The first fully automatic spiral rapid-acting door from the Lower Bavarian specialist for high-speed industrial doors was built by Fill about ten years ago. Today, 30 doors ensure unobstructed logistical processes at the Gurten site and, outside working hours, secure the buildings. "Gradually, we have also replaced old doors from other manufacturers with those from Efaflex," reports Wilfried Fladl. The Austrian subsidiary Efaflex Torsysteme Baden has been responsible for the maintenance of the doors, which is hardly needed beyond scheduled inspections. "We have few or no problems with the doors." The company has also proven to be a reliable partner in service and during project planning.

The requirements for the 13 new high-speed doors of the type STT (Schnelllaufturbotore) were very diverse. In the machining sector, a constant temperature is essential for the dimensional accuracy of metal parts. The material is stored at the same temperature before processing and must also be processed accordingly. "We are talking about precision engineering in the thousandth of a millimeter range. We need doors that open and close very quickly to keep temperature differences in the halls very low," explains Wilfried Fladl. For this reason, a separate pedestrian door is installed next to each normal door for regular personnel traffic, which also serves as an emergency exit. This means the large doors do not always have to be operated, which also improves energy efficiency and positively impacts the lifespan. The main door and the doors in the warehouse already perform about 100 cycles per day. "Furthermore, we are an environmentally oriented company. Efaflex doors contribute significantly to a positive energy balance in our operations." In various functional areas, such as the warehouse and magazine, the doors are additionally equipped with electronic access control for authorized personnel. Clear-view slats let in plenty of daylight into the halls, so additional lighting during the day is rarely necessary. Wilfried Fladl also sees a significant safety aspect in the clear-view slats of the new doors: "Forklift drivers can see if there are obstacles behind the doors. Additionally, employees can see from one hall to another and react quickly if they notice a disruption in the operational flow. And on top of that, the doors look good."

Functionality and safety are, of course, of paramount importance in this case, but good design is also not insignificant, because interested parties and buyers from all over the world frequently visit the Gurten plant for complete final assembly, such as for inspections, approvals, audits, and discussions. "We want our customers to feel comfortable with us."

Not only customers but also employees are given the highest attention by the very socially oriented corporate management. Founded in 1966 by Josef Fill, the company today employs 590 people. The internationally leading company in machinery and plant engineering serves customers from various industrial sectors. State-of-the-art technology in management, communication, and production characterizes the family business. The business activities encompass the fields of metal, plastics, and wood for the automotive, aerospace, wind power, sports, and construction industries. The company is a world market leader in aluminum core removal technology and in manufacturing machines for skis and snowboards. Andreas Fill and Wolfgang Rathner are the managing directors of the company, which is 100 percent family-owned. The company has been operated as a GmbH since 1987 and was ISO 9001 certified in 1997.