In Austria, the name of Filzmoser has been associated for 170 years with the working of iron materials. This continued to be true when, in 1984, they started to serve the needs of the prefabricated part construction industry, specializing in machines for cutting, bending, manipulating, positioning and welding reinforced steel. Since last year the company has been trading as a subsidiary of Grazer EVG. Around 40 machines are now shipped from the company's workshops each year. The take-over has helped the company, as Bernhard Schwarzer reports: "The group is also involved with bending businesses who just handle constructional steel and iron supplied to construction sites for on-site installation. This means that we have been an effective complement to the group's product range, so that we are now also handling the EVG sector and it's worldwide sales offices. This provides us with a wider market than our traditional customer base, companies making prefabricated concrete parts complete with their reinforcements."

The solution to the problem: TwinCAT
"Our machines pull the steel from the coil, straighten it and cut it automatically to the correct length - control is provided here by the
TwinCAT automation software. The master computer specifies the required lengths. This can be followed by a variety of other processing modules, such as bending machines, handling systems, or even fully automatic welding machines. This varies from case to case."

Why were Beckhoff chosen as suppliers? Bernhard Schwarzer outlined the situation: "It was four years ago that we began to replace the classic PLCs and their instruction programming with more up-to-date systems. Now we knew that we operate using very large quantities of data, and that a visualisation system had to be integrated into each of our systems, so that an optimum data connection to PC systems was needed. We therefore approached Beckhoff with those requirements. At trade exhibitions we saw more and more systems operating with Windows technology. Beckhoff were working with Windows NT, and for us that was a crucial point. On top of this, we reckoned on a price advantage of up to 50 percent if we were to migrate to TwinCAT." Another significant advantage, according to Schwarzer, was that TwinCAT would not need additional development software to be purchased: "The Beckhoff system, where the runtime and development software are part of the machine's PC, is a huge advantage", he said in support of his controller supplier.

Training, support, service
He went on to explain that at the beginning an intensive training course was followed at Beckhoff's German headquarters. They then had to rely on themselves: "Of course we still needed a lot of support, and that was always quickly provided. In the course of time we became more and more independent. You get used to the peculiarities, so that now - if it's really necessary - we can get around them." He is particularly enthusiastic about having being involved, as a customer, in continued development - the latest training courses make it possible to keep up-to-date, and if needed the latest features can be quickly implemented. Another advantage is Beckhoff's worldwide representation. The branch office in Bürs means that sales and support are directly available in Austria. Armin Pehlivan, manager of Beckhoff's Austrian office, and a man of practical experience, was also able to give Filzmoser appropriate support.

Filzmoser use the latest technology to help provide service, and maintain their installations via modem. Schwarzer explained that if, for instance, a customer rings up to report a problem they cannot solve, a screenshot is taken of the parameters obtained by remote servicing, and then this is transmitted to Beckhoff's support department by e-mail.

In summary, Bernhard Schwarzer has an entirely positive impression of TwinCAT: "We have now managed, with the aid of a forecasted order agreement, to reduce our own delivery times even further. This was only possible with Beckhoff's co-operation. With Armin Pehlivan as a practically oriented representative, and with Beckhoff's helpful service department at our side, we feel well-prepared to take on the challenges of the future."

Interview by Dieter Schaufler, Editor in Chief at MEGATECH -
the Austrian Technology Magazine, www.megatech.at