Trade Press Day 2021 (Aluvision): Meeting complex aluminium requirements

Roto Window and Door Technology’s (FTT) aluminum activities are concentrated in Velbert, near Düsseldorf. Around 220 members of staff are employed at the Aluvision site, with around 11,500 square meters of manufacturing and office space in total. Photo: Roto

Velbert / Düsseldorf – “Companies whose top priority is a focus on customers and their satisfaction must consistently align their structures and strategies based on these objectives, especially in the very challenging aluminum market.” As part of Roto Window and Door Technology (FTT), Aluvision defines its identity and actual actions equally on this basis. For Jordi Nadal, the positive development in recent years is confirmation of the “high level of implementation achieved.” As the General Manager for Aluvision Customers and Markets emphasized during the Roto Group’s 16th International Trade Press Day, this is reflected in double-digit growth in 2021. At the key site for aluminum in Velbert, near Düsseldorf, an extensive information program – including a look behind the scenes in production – was in store for the media representatives in mid-November.

Set apart exclusively and efficiently

In the international aluminum market segment, approx. 70 percent was attributed to commercial and public building construction and around 30 percent to residential construction. The latter is likely to be the driving force behind the further slight increase in demand that is predicted for the next two years. Compared to the market average, Roto obviously would like to continue to perform better in the future.

Combining a wide, high-quality range of “AL” products for all opening types, a variety of specially tailored solutions, efficient logistics, project-specific expert advice, professional support services, and, last but not least, the global presence of FTT, Aluvision boasts “an equally exclusive and efficient program that sets us apart”—tailored to specific requirements, this benefits system manufacturer, architects/planners, and metal constructors. At the national and international level, the company’s own organizations can comprehensively achieve growth locally.

In this context, the multi-stage Object Business plays an important role. It ensures that customers are provided with the tailored hardware project solutions that are almost always needed for aluminum structures, especially in the commercial and public sectors. Nadal explained that six different service modules make this possible. He specifically listed technical consultation, prototyping, validation and certification, production support, special colors, and project-specific logistics. The tools available ultimately provide market partners with the crucial ability to meet even the most complex requirements quickly, flexibly, and reliably.

Real insights

The high degree of customization is also reflected in the wide range of items. In Velbert, this enables very flexible production. “This helps us ensure the variability desired by customers,” underlined Nadal. A total of around 11,500 square meters of manufacturing and office space are home to design, sales, management, and a showroom, alongside production, and about 220 members of staff work there.

During a factory tour, the journalists who made the trip to the site gained real insights into the different manufacturing stages. The Mechanical department produces finished milled parts and blanks in three-shift operation. According to the producer, several millions of components per year are powder-coated or wet-painted with RAL or electrolytically oxidized aluminum colors in the paint shop. The “assembly and packaging” stage also illustrates the significant degree to which the wide product variety shapes processes and procedures. The expertise in customer-specific solutions is also apparent in threshold production. The relevant range includes various items, and the length of assembled thresholds far exceeds one million meters per year.

Dedicated to the brand essence

In general, our guiding principle is: “We do everything in our power to ensure that the customer receives their goods in high quality at the right place, at the right time.” For instance, the shop floor is designed for complete production control. Systematic troubleshooting and fault rectification are implemented according to the PDCA method during daily meetings. It splits each problem-solving process up into the four steps of plan / do / check / act.

Jordi Nadal believes that Roto Aluvision boasts an “equally exclusive and efficient program that sets us apart,” which is tailored to the specific requirements of system manufacturers, architects/planners, and metal constructors. The General Manager for Aluvision Customers and Markets sees this as an important reason for the positive development over the past few years, as he highlighted during the Roto Group’s 16th International Trade Press Day. Photo: Roto

Ultimately, there is a comprehensive quality assurance system in Velbert, like in all Roto factories. This involves continuous internal and external planning, monitoring, measurement, checks, and improvement of each quality-relevant criterion and process. The suppliers are always involved in this task. Nadal concluded: “Top quality is part of the brand essence of Roto and therefore also Aluvision. This is what we must and will let ourselves be judged on.”