Medicke Metallbau GmbH

“elumatec delivers what others promise”

 

The flexibility of the machine pool is the decisive factor for the long-term sustainability of production. 360° visited the Medicke Group, a medium-sized metal construction firm in Saxony which uses elumatec exclusively for production. Managing director Marcus Medicke provided some insight into his investment decision.

 

Medicke is a full-service provider for high-quality, durable building shells, whether for offices, retail sales, hotels, or administrative, residential, athletics or cultural purposes. In the company’s own production facilities, 180 staff manufacture and assemble windows and doors, mullion and transom facades and facades using special profiles as well as curtain wall and element facades. The business successfully acquires large contracts regularly for the development, production and assembly of facade solutions in Germany’s population centres with a volume of 2-6 million euros (2016 annual performance: 32 million euros).

Medicke conducts development and production work at three sites in Saxony: Glauchau, Borna and Leipzig. There is also a branch in Berlin which opened in 2016 and manages large-scale projects in the capital and surroundings. The core expertise of the metal construction firm includes the design, production and assembly of aluminium and glass facades. In the 25 years since the reunification, the enterprise has been able to establish itself on the market as an individual, fullservice provider of facades.

 

Medicke became a well-known name in the industry sector in 2015 when they acquired the contract for the facade of the SAPPHIRE residential and commercial building by architect Daniel Libeskind in Berlin. “It was an exceptional project for our company. We entered new terrain with regard to several aspects of the construction business. It was one of the most complex construction projects we have every undertaken,” states managing director Marcus Medicke in summary. The facade was completed at the end of 2016.

“Over the long term, I wanted to engage in production for challenging projects. That’s why I looked for the right machines during the investment phase.”

 

An investment decision in the medium-sized business sector

The sensational, irregularly shaped building cubature realizing the ingenious design of Daniel Libeskind contains an absolute masterpiece in terms of facade technology: a back-ventilated curtain wall with biologically active, self-cleaning ceramic panels. In order to realize challenging projects of this nature, Marcus Medicke decided in 2013 to undertake the largest capital expenditure in the company’s history: A new facility for production and assembly was constructed at the main location in Glauchau. In September 2015, everything was finished right on time for the 25th anniversary celebration.

 

“Over the long term, I wanted to engage in production for challenging projects. That’s why I looked for the right machines during the investment phase,” says Marcus Medicke in retrospect. After extensive consultation with his production managers and machine manufacturers, he decided on elumatec. The production facility was fitted out entirely with elumatec equipment. This included an SBZ 628 pass-through centre and an SBZ 151 five-axis profile machining centre without which the complex cutting geometries and notches for the SAPPHIRE facade could not have been realized.

 

Moreover, an SBZ 140 four-axis profile machining centre and a DG 244 double mitre saw were also in the package. In addition, Medicke purchased all of the operating equipment for assembly processes from elumatec as well.

Machine pool for a diverse range of production options

As a businessman with a middle-sized, family-operated enterprise, Marcus Medicke gives considerable attention to value in his machinery. Quality, reliability and a long service life play an important role for him: “With these machines, value creation is possible over a period of many years.” The practical experience gained in production operations over the last two years has shown how important a partnership with the right manufacturer actually is. Not only the machine is important, but so are maintenance, help with problems and good advice concerning the choice of tooling: “We wanted to have the right machine for each requirement in our production facility.

“Our new production facility was an investment in the future and is a mix of large capacities and flexibility.”

 

elumatec gave us very good advice regarding the various concepts for how to structure our production operations. And that’s why we decided on a complete machine pool from a single manufacturer,” says Medicke, explaining his investment decision.

Of course, human interaction factors were also decisive for the purchase decision. Marcus Medicke mentions time and again the pleasant manner in which consultations were conducted. “As a medium-sized firm, you are looking for partners that are down to earth, who treat you as an equal and who clearly understand the needs that are important to us,” explains Medicke. Over the course of talks, he gained confidence in the technical competence and the assurance of service and support being offered. “Our new production facility was an investment in the future and is a mix of large capacities and flexibility. We can realize high-volume projects in large-scale series as well as individualized production in small series,” says Medicke.

High variability and system availability

Apart from the machine itself and the service, the production staff at Medicke especially recognize the advantage of the eluCad software being open for all profile systems. With the multitude of facade designs and clients, this is a must in today’s business environment. An additional benefit is the high level of variability in the tool range, especially in the area of compound-mitre saws as well as drills and cutters. At the moment, the dry-machining cutting tools developed recently by elumatec are being tested under actual production conditions at Medicke.

Many fine-tuning opportunities of this nature offer potential for continuous optimization of the production flow. This applies not only in the short term through user consultation provided by elumatec, but also long-term through focused modernization of the machine pool. In times of rapid change, the resale value of machinery is also a point to keep in mind, as Marcus Medicke knows from experience: “Selling a used elumatec machine is no problem due to the high level of value retention.”

“elumatec delivers what others promise”

 

Medicke and elumatec already worked together as a team in this connection a few years back. Continued cooperation with elumatec remains a permanent factor for Marcus Medicke. In a pointed remark, he comments on his experience: “elumatec delivers what others promise.” The resiliency of a partnership becomes most evident when problems arise. But that in itself is not a problem for Medicke because virtually everyone understands the complex nature of mechanized production. If there is a problem, elumatec is at hand and re-establishes operational readiness: “elumatec doesn’t leave the premises until truly everything is done. I know that I can simply rely on that,” says Marcus Medicke.