Working more productively and flexibly 

Swiss window and door manufacturer opts for Belgian-made automated production line

Swiss set the bar very high when it comes to quality. That includes Buchs Frères SA, which has a strong reputation for wood processing and production of windows and doors in wood, wood-metal, aluminum and PVC. This family business replaced an outdated machining center for plastic profiles in the spring with a customized, automated production line from Soenen Hendrik. The result: faster and more efficient production, without sacrificing quality.

The history of Buchs Frères SA dates back to 1934, when Oscar and Robert Buchs started a wood processing company in La Côte-aux-Fées. Today, their brainchild has forty employees and is renowned as a sawmill, joinery and carpentry shop. They saw the most diverse types of wood in various forms. The experienced team not only produces and installs roof and facade structures, but also interior doors, cabinets, stairs, kitchens and parquet, among other things. In addition, the Buchs name has been synonymous for years with high-quality windows and doors in wood, wood-metal, aluminum and PVC, also in EI30-certified fireproof solutions. Some 2,500 windows are produced annually, most of them for the much-demanding Swiss market.

Quality is key

"The family business may have evolved enormously, but our vision has always remained the same: we want to always guarantee our customers the highest quality and reliable delivery times. Moreover, everything is produced in Switzerland at competitive prices. This is why we continue to invest in facilities, people and machines. The machinery, for example, has been completely modernized to make production even more flexible and efficient, without sacrificing quality," says Managing Director Pascal Buchs. 

"For example, we recently decided to replace an outdated machine on which PVC profiles for windows and doors were still largely processed manually and in several steps. We made a thorough comparison of the possible suppliers on the market. The word-of-mouth advertising of several partners also brought us to Soenen Hendrik. We did not know the company and its solutions, but the first contact with Jean-Marc Ramadier, their technical-commercial salesman for Switzerland, was very promising. Especially the expert explanations and no-nonsense approach with direct communication from him and the parent company in Belgium was an important asset for us."

"However, we were completely convinced only after a trip to Belgium, where we visited not only the factory with its engineers, but also a customer who already had experience with a similar custom-made production line for PVC from Soenen Hendrik. They told us that the production lines are purely customized, and we established ourselves that there was actually much more possible than we had originally thought and envisioned."

Custom automated production line

As with every project, Soenen Hendrik's specialists first listened to the customer's needs. Thus, it became clear which profiles are used at Buchs Fréres SA and which machining operations must be possible. Next, the West-Flemish machine builder developed an automated production line that is precisely tailored to those needs and wishes.

"In the existing situation, the operator received the drawings and performed the operations one by one and often manually. Thereby, the profile had to be moved and retaken several times to perform all the operations," explains Jean-Marc Ramadier,. "Thanks to our intelligent machine centers, the production process is much more efficient and faster, while also greatly reducing the risk of errors. As soon as the operator places the profiles on the feed table, they are recognized by the system, after which the requested operations are performed automatically. Sawing, milling, drilling, counter-profiling... everything is also done in one run. If a tool breakage does occur, it is immediately detected by the machine and another available tool continues the job. So machine downtime is avoided at all times."

"After a preliminary reception in Belgium, the new production line was installed at our site in mid-March. We obviously still have a lot to discover, but it is clear that the processing time is significantly shorter. Our operators place the profiles on the feed table, which are cut one by one and machined very precisely. This also applies to the reinforcements, which play a very important role in the production of our typical windows for the Swiss market. Since the machine can operate unmanned for long periods of time, our people can be called on at other points in the production process in between," summarizes Pascal Buchs. 

"The first experiences with their technology are positive, and so is the cooperation with the people of Soenen Hendrik. They tuned the production line completely to our wishes and even during the process, even up to the final reception, details were still adjusted. The support does not stop with delivery and commissioning, because even now we can still contact the manufacturer directly with all our questions. Buchs always wants to guarantee its customers the highest quality and then this high-quality production line fits perfectly into the picture."