EQS-News: Wienerberger AG: Industry 4.0: Wienerberger at the Leading Edge

EQS-News: Wienerberger AG / Key word(s): Strategic Company Decision
Wienerberger AG: Industry 4.0: Wienerberger at the Leading Edge

05.12.2022 / 10:00 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Industry 4.0: Wienerberger at the Leading Edge

• With its forward-looking applications and system solutions,
Wienerberger drives automation and digitalization in the construction
industry
• Industry 4.0 solutions for optimized performance and enhanced safety
• Digitalization helps to simplify processes at construction sites and
saves energy and raw materials

Vienna, December 5, 2022 – As a trailblazer in modern building
construction and sustainable housing, the entire Wienerberger Group is
working on state-of-the-art system solutions to advance innovation and
digitalization in the construction industry. Over the past ten years, the
company has completely realigned its strategy and evolved into a
full-range provider of innovative, sustainable and digital system
solutions for energy-efficient building construction, renovation, and
water management.

“Since the early days in the history of our company, it has always been
our ambition to improve people’s quality of life and set new standards for
the construction industry. To this end, we develop climate-neutral and
circularity-oriented solutions for the future and contribute toward
ensuring that future generations will enjoy the same opportunities as we
do today. As the pacesetter in our industry, we also want to take full
advantage of digitalization. Thanks to our innovative strength, we have
already designed numerous Industry 4.0 solutions that enable sustainable
building construction and benefit our customers, employees, and
shareholders, as well as the generations coming after us”, says Heimo
Scheuch, Chairman of the Managing Board of Wienerberger AG.

Digital twins: Efficient production and sustainability 
Wienerberger is working on numerous projects aimed at optimizing
performance in production, simplifying processes at the construction site,
and saving energy and raw materials. Digital twins are among the fastest
growing Industry 4.0 concepts: As virtual copies of real objects, systems
or processes, such as production plants, they serve to optimize
performance and efficiency in a virtual environment. In 2020, Wienerberger
introduced its first digital twin at the Haparanda plant in Finland. Since
that time, over 200 production lines at ten production sites have been
equipped with digital twins. Based on the operating data thus obtained,
sustainable savings in raw materials have been achieved without
compromising on the high level of quality. As an added benefit, delivery
times can be calculated more reliably.

3D models, 3D printing, and automated construction robots 
Additionally, Wienerberger is working on 3D models for product development
and visualization, the optimization of automated 3D printing, and the use
of automated construction and brick-laying robots. Since its inception,
the technology of automated 3D printing has made continuous progress. 3D
printing facilitates development processes and internal communication. By
means of three-dimensional prototypes, designers can adapt product
properties and functions much more easily. To address the challenges
currently confronting the construction industry, ranging from a shortage
of skilled labor to efficient manufacturing, Wienerberger also resorts to
automation. In 2022, a masonry robot erected the first complete clay block
house for Wienerberger. The robot not only accelerates the brick-laying
process, but also excels in terms of precision, laying bricks with
absolute perfection. Minute movements due to wind and vibrations are being
measured in real time and offset. This forward-looking technology makes
residential construction faster, less expensive and more efficient and, at
the same time, guarantees a high standard of quality. Additionally, the
individual bricks are cut in a way that helps to save resources and
reduces the volume of waste generated.

Less strenuous physical labor but improved performance and safety in
production
As a leading international provider of building material and
infrastructure solutions, Wienerberger’s proposition is not only to supply
products of first-rate quality, but also to be as resource-efficient as
possible in their production. Automation and the use of robots on brick
production lines contribute to the achievement of this objective. Workers
are relieved of ergonomically demanding activities, while production
output and safety are increased.

Take the example of a thin-brick plant in Denver, in the US State of
Colorado, taken over by Wienerberger in 2007: Working with clay cutting
machines from the 1990s, the plant achieved a production output of less
than 400 bricks per hour and cutting machine. In 2009, the production site
was completely rebuilt and, thanks to a modified cutter design, production
output, including an additional drying process, was more than tripled. In
2021, the production line consisting of two cutters was completely
automated. As a result of these steps, sales of thin bricks doubled every
five years. At the same time, the workers freed from their former
activities through automation were reassigned to higher-value tasks.

In Rome, in the US State of Georgia, repetitive and physically strenuous
work has also been automated and taken over by robots. This serves not
only to increase production output, but also to achieve a higher level of
quality: While it used to take up to 12 workers to unload roughly 2,000
bricks per hour, a single worker equipped with a tablet computer now
controls a robot equipped unloading machine that is capable of unloading
up to 38,500 bricks per hour from three kiln cart at a time. Additionally,
the bricks are automatically sorted to ensure a more uniform color
distribution in each packing unit.

Thanks to automation and the use of robots, sustainable savings in
packaging materials are possible and the number of delivery trips is
reduced. In this way, the company supports the European Green Deal, its
goal being to become climate-neutral by 2050 through the decarbonization
of production processes, an innovative product portfolio, and new
technologies. In line with its core values of respect and trust,
Wienerberger thus intends to create the prerequisites for continuing on
its value-creating growth path in the years to come.

Wienerberger Group
The Wienerberger Group is a leading international provider of smart
solutions for the entire building envelope and for infrastructure.
Wienerberger is the world’s largest producer of bricks (Porotherm, Terca)
and the market leader in clay roof tiles (Koramic, Tondach) in Europe as
well as concrete pavers (Semmelrock) in Eastern Europe. In pipe systems
(Steinzeug-Keramo ceramic pipes and Pipelife plastic pipes), the company
is one of the leading suppliers in Europe. By acquiring Meridian Brick,
Wienerberger further strengthened its position as a leading supplier of
facade products in North America. With its total of 216 production sites,
the Wienerberger Group generated revenues of € 4.0 billion and EBITDA LFL
of € 671 million in 2021. 

For further information, please contact:
Claudia Hajdinyak, Head of Corporate Communications Wienerberger AG
t +43 664 828 31 83 | claudia.hajdinyak@wienerberger.com

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05.12.2022 CET/CEST This Corporate News was distributed by EQS Group AG.
www.eqs.com

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Language: English
Company: Wienerberger AG
Wienerbergerplatz 1
1100 Wien
Austria
Phone: +43 1 60 192-0
Fax: +43 1 60 192-10159
E-mail: office@wienerberger.com
Internet: www.wienerberger.com
ISIN: AT0000831706
Listed: Vienna Stock Exchange (Official Market)
EQS News ID: 1504093

 
End of News EQS News Service

1504093  05.12.2022 CET/CEST

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