Bright, innovative, and state-of-the-art—that’s how Schreiner ProTech’s newly established Pressure Compensation Seal Process Center (PCS PC) presents itself. The new facility has now been officially opened after a construction period of a little less than one year.
In the nineteen-nineties, the direction in which this product segment, whose birth a little more than 25 years ago was practically marked by a customer’s wish for a gas-permeable yet watertight membrane, would ultimately develop was certainly not foreseeable at Schreiner Group. Yet with ample expertise and a constantly growing product portfolio—for instance of self-adhesive, ultrasonically weldable, or printable high-performance PCS—the Schreiner ProTech business unit successfully established itself on the market as an all-in-one solutions provider offering everything from the initial idea to the application system from a one-stop shop: an evolution that became obvious also in terms of space requirements. “Especially in view of electric mobility and autonomous driving, we see enormous potential in the field of pressure compensation seal due to increasing electrification in the automotive industry because the potential uses of these special functional parts are extremely varied. That’s why the creation of a dedicated process centre was the next logical step in the evolution and I’m delighted that thanks to the solid planning and teamwork of all the parties involved the project was completed so fast and smoothly,” said CEO Roland Schreiner.
Teamwork and technical cleanliness
In an area of 900 square metres, the new facilities provide an innovative, efficient work environment equipped with state-of-the-art technology enabling seamless collaboration between all manufacturing-related stations—from the receiving department to the final product. “Due to the physical proximity alone, our team members can communicate with each other along the entire PCS value chain,” explained Christian Liebetrau, the head of the new process centre. “That collaboration makes it possible to identify and jointly resolve challenges clearly faster. Aside from strengthening team cohesion, the new process center helps to further enhance the previously high level of quality of the work results and thus the products.”
Compliance with new and future technical cleanliness requirements was a key element of the entire planning process for the process centre. Currently, Schreiner ProTech’s PCS PC exceeds the requirements imposed on a clean room according to VDA 19 and clean room certification according to ISO 14644 is even conceivable as well. “Among other things, “said Christian Liebetrau, “our new venting system enables that: the air in the production hall is completely recirculated, filtered, and treated up to ten times per hour, and that is obviously a decisive step in terms of technical cleanliness.
Milestone and standards
The move of a precision die from the previous facilities to the new process centre in summer no doubt was an important intermediate step in the project. That move was special in that the machine weighing six metric tonnes had to be hauled in one piece to avoid errors during the removal and reinstallation of the cutting die. That posed not only a logistical challenge but also marked a milestone in establishing the process center.
High quality standards, extended receiving and in-process inspections, and short throughput times—the PCS PC standards are high. But with this new process centre, Schreiner ProTech is ready for the next level because its PCS team is already in the process of planning and sourcing new technologies and machines to secure Schreiner ProTech’s innovation and quality lead for the next product generations as well.
Caption: Delighted about the new facilities for the pressure compensation seals product group (from left to right): Christian Liebetrau, Head of PCS PC, Roland Schreiner, CEO of Schreiner Group, and Adrian Marggraf, Product Manager PCS