Mastering complexity – the first Greiner Assistec virtual Innovation Day

Greiner Assistec’s first virtual Innovation Day successfully created the opportunity for delegates from around the world to gain an insight into the company’s unique approach to mastering the complexity of developing effective manufacturing solutions. 

More than just a production specialist, Greiner Assistec works in partnership with its customers to develop bespoke plastic parts, products, and components, which are manufactured using carefully selected technologies.

Host Daniel Cronin introduced Greiner Assistec Vice President Karl Berger, who opened the event with a presentation called: ‘Delivering world-class innovation – the Greiner Assistec approach’. He talked about how being innovative is a special challenge for a company that does not have its own products, and explained how Greiner Assistec's mission and experience is to add value for our customers by developing a wide range of targeted innovative approaches and services. He also showed, from a management perspective, how Greiner Assistec manages innovative initiatives and uses its network to deliver world class services to its customers to help them achieve their sustainability targets.

Full reviews – and recordings – of each live session will be available soon

Greiner Assistec Global Senior Expert Technology Integration Philipp Pirafelner, and Andreas Enhuber, Project Lead smart Robotics – ESCAD Austria, presented a session explaining how Greiner Assistec automates processes, where conventional automation is not beneficial.

“With our concept of modular automation cell solutions, we simplify operations, improve production stability and increase quality,” said Philipp Pirafelner. “This automation solution generates added value for our clients.”

The presentation looked at ‘SMART’ automation and the important role of robotics and intralogistics, focusing on Cobot modules.

Stephan Laske, R&D Director at Greiner Packaging, looked at how the end of life of products is a very important factor in the overall CO₂ balance. “Several scenarios depending on life span, materials used, and product complexity are already in place whereas reuse and refurbishment/repair are the most sustainable ones.”

Greiner Assistec – as a sustainable solution provider – can help its customers in setting up refurbish scenarios for their products and help them decrease their products’ carbon footprint.

Greiner Assistec always tried to reuse as many parts as it can during the remanufacturing process: reusing plastics up to six times; metal up to 10 times; and electronics up to four times. He explained that parts which cannot be reused further (due to damage) are sent for recycling / energy recovery.

Stephan Laske them showed five steps to make products sustainable.

1. Product analysis for end-of-life options
2. Design for circular economy
3. Refurbishment options
4. Recycling options
5. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

In closing, Stephan Laske explained how Greiner Assistec acts as a sustainable solution provider for its client’s products. It organizes collection, produces spare parts, and uses digital platforms to connect demand with logistics, with production. It also maintains products, carried out mechanical and chemical recycling, and provides an end-of-life service, to carry out smart refurbishment.

In the closing session, Greiner Assistec Global Business Development Manager Florian Kepplinger presented and discussed a success story with a leading German car manufacturer. “Developing a packaging solution for highly sensitive parts that come in a wide range of variations is challenging,” said Florian Kepplinger, before guiding delegates through the journey from the initial idea to serial production – including all the challenges in this challenging industry.

The event also included a virtual guided production tour of Greiner Assistec’s production facilities in Březová, Czech Republic, giving delegates a behind-the-scenes look at how the company masters complexity with innovation and technology.

Recordings of all the live sessions will be available soon.