Swisspacer drives automation forward
The warm edge manufacturer is working on automation solutions that insulating glass manufacturers can use to optimise their production processes. Matthias Bach, who has been CEO of Swisspacer for a year, sees good growth potential with the help of technical innovations and services on both the national and international insulating glass market. The CEO and former Technical Director of Swisspacer, who is very familiar with the challenges facing the industry, explains which developments are in focus.
Energy efficiency will continue to be the main driver in the insulating glass market in 2025. Demand for energy-efficient buildings is rising steadily, particularly in Europe and North America. In more and more countries, stricter legislation is also driving this trend in terms of climate protection. “This creates fundamentally good prospects for manufacturers of insulating glass units that offer immediate benefits for energy savings, building efficiency and aesthetics with coated low-E glass, for example,” explains Matthias Bach. “Our spacer bars are a comparatively inexpensive, pragmatic and visually attractive answer to increasing the thermal performance of windows.”
Increasing efficiency is always a top priority for companies, emphasises the CEO. With new automation solutions, the Swiss company aims to provide even better support for insulating glass manufacturers in future. This applies to order management as well as the processing of spacer bars. This includes, for example, intelligent load carriers, EDI interfaces or AI-supported processing of customer orders.
Automated processing for shorter cycle times and excellent aesthetics
“Together with a professional external partner from the industry, we have developed a machine that can be used to automatically insert and process our spacer bars. This means that much shorter cycle times can be realised with significantly reduced personnel deployment compared to the previous options – and productivity is ultimately the key,” says Matthias Bach. In times of constantly rising labour costs and the omnipresent shortage of skilled workers, productivity is crucial to remaining competitive. This new processing machine is expected to be ready in summer 2025 and will offer “a very high-quality solution for processing our products, especially with pre-butylised corner keys.”
Swisspacer also has its sights set on other topics, such as additional functions for the spacer bars – for example in terms of acoustics and sound insulation or with regard to the reinforcement of insulating glass elements. The Swisspacer CEO adds: “We are also working on completely new types of spacer bar systems that will perfectly complement our current portfolio in the future. We can therefore look forward to further innovations from Swisspacer.”
Sustainability remains an ongoing focus
Another ongoing topic at Swisspacer is the optimisation of its own processes to make them even more sustainable. “We have found a recycling solution to fully return our own production waste and, in the long term, our customers’ offcuts to the production cycle,” reports the CEO. “This recycling process is expected to start in the course of 2025.”
In the coming months, Swisspacer will publish new EPDs that reliably demonstrate the lower environmental impact of Swisspacer products. The production site in Gliwice, Poland, is already powered 100% from renewable sources. “We continue to see ourselves as the market leader for the complete package: quality, durability combined with performance thanks to an outstanding diffusion barrier, excellent aesthetics and transparency with verified CO2 footprint data,” emphasises Matthias Bach. “We are the only supplier to already have EPDs in accordance with EN15804+A2 (cradle-to-grave). I am confident that the combination of these factors makes our products the optimal choice.”
Team spirit is a top priority
Matthias Bach is also setting new accents in the corporate culture with “servant leadership”. “Swisspacer has a young, dynamic and highly committed team. I have already experienced at first hand how outstanding results can be achieved, especially when a team is truly “in the zone” and really enjoys working well together. Clear structures, flat hierarchies, appreciation and individual support – this creates a unified community and this is also noticeable for customers.”
Swisspacer will continue to think outside the box and explore new topics in the future. “I am firmly convinced that, with our strong portfolio and excellent team, we will continue to fulfil our performance promise as a leading warm edge manufacturer and convince more and more customers of the benefits of Swisspacer spacer bars.”
