From Manual to Machine March/April 2025

Mar 29, 2025

The machinery sector for doors and windows continues to evolve, with a strong focus on automation, ease of operation, and decreased reliance on manual labor. Among descriptions for the latest equipment, the words “automatic” and “automated” come up again and again. This isn’t surprising, considering the industry’s ongoing struggle to find and retain workers. Machine manufacturers have responded with solutions that prioritize efficiency, precision and worker safety. In some cases, robotic lines and features eliminate the need for hands-on labor nearly altogether.

For glass cutting, Billco Manufacturing has updated its Ultra Series Cutting System with a series of upgrades designed to make it more efficient, precise, and durable. A redesigned six-station tool changer speeds up wheel swaps, minimizing downtime. An optional aluminum plate combats humidity-related swelling, ensuring accuracy, while an upgraded oil recovery system optimizes lubrication and reduces waste.

Structural enhancements include a laser-cut bridge, for fast, precise cuts and on-board servo amplifiers to improve power transmission and reliability. Additional upgrades, such as Kevlar felt for durability, a reinforced breaker bar for stability, and a streamlined belt system, further enhance performance. These innovations make the latest Ultra Series more powerful and cost-effective, officials say.

For glass handling and transportation, Billco also significantly upgraded its Crane Glass Loading System. The latest version improves load handling, speed and accuracy, for smoother material transport. Key enhancements include a new truss bridge design and rack-and-pinion system for greater flexibility and faster recovery speeds.

Absolute positioning technology on Billco’s crane enables real-time adjustments, optimizing efficiency even in demanding environments, while wireless point-to-point communication and directional Wi-Fi enhance stability, reducing interference.

A new option that’s surfaced for glass cutting comes from HHH Equipment. The company debuted NorthGlass Automation’s Automated Cutter with Robotic Arm for the North American market. By integrating batching and optimization processes, this technology minimizes material waste, maximizes yield, and increases production speed, according to company information.

The system is designed for seamless integration—whether in a new facility or as an upgrade to existing operations—allowing fabricators to adopt automation at their own pace. This flexibility ensures a smart, cost-effective approach to glass fabrication while reducing manual labor and operational costs, officials suggest.

A new robotic arm system from NorthGlass Automation also enhances glass polishing. A single robotic cell efficiently loads, unloads and transfers glass between two polishing edgers, synchronizing movements for precision. The setup not only improves consistency and production flow but also reduces labor costs and workplace risks, according to the company. More cost-effective than previous models, the robotic arm can be integrated with HHH’s Kodiak line or existing polishing machinery, making automation accessible to fabricators of all sizes.

For insulating glass (IG), HHH Equipment offers an Automatic Insulating Glass Production Line, which is designed for efficient and flexible production. The line includes customizable features, such as edge deleting, washing and drying, spacer frame positioning, gas filling, pressing, and sealing. With exclusive products (from HHH), fabricators can seal, press and frame 120-160 units per hour, company officials say.

One of the bigger splashes to occur in recent months among machinery for IG production includes a high-speed line by Forel that’s capable of producing thin-triples and other types of insulating glass units (IGUs).

Production for IGUs can be slow, with concerns about weight and thickness compatibility with window systems. Forel’s High Speed IGU Line addresses those issues by producing double- and triple-pane IGUs using warm-edge spacer systems, inert gases, and thin, coated glass products. It efficiently produces double, triple and shaped glass units, including thin-triple IGUs, without affecting glass handling, gas filling or final sealing.

A key feature of Forel’s line includes the ability to suspend the inner lite between two outer panes, requiring a single pass for gas filling. The line further reduces production time with flexible profiles and hot-melt sealing. It can produce gas-filled thin-triples in approximately 45 seconds per unit, achieving up to 640 units in an eight-hour shift, according to the company.

“U-values, energy performance and sustainability continue to be of paramount concern globally, and as a global machinery supplier, we’re committed to adapting to market trends and demands,” says Joe Hague, Forel’s international business development manager. “Our high-speed, thin-triple IGU line is designed to assist sealed unit manufacturers in enhancing, complying with, or differentiating their product offerings, regardless of their region … our award-winning concept for producing a thin-triple IGU product on our standard high-speed line … has been widely acknowledged as a valuable solution for the industry.”

Another company that’s debuted solutions for IG production is Erdman Automation Corp. The company grabbed a lot of attention with its new Flex Screen production line, which allows door and window manufacturers to produce their own FlexScreen brand flexible window screens at a rate of up to one screen every 15 seconds. But the company also unveiled a 7500 TPS/4SG IG Spacer Line, which is designed to streamline IG production for both residential and commercial applications.

Erdman’s system enhances efficiency by reducing waste, ensuring consistent quality, and providing greater flexibility for varying production demands, according to company information. With an estimated cycle time of 35 seconds for a 24-inch by 36-inch double-pane IGU, the line significantly boosts output without compromising precision, officials say, and it’s equipped with Allen Bradley controls for reliability.

Several companies introduced notable options for door manufacturing, including 7robotics, Norfield and Oz Machine. In all three cases, the focus is on speed and efficiency.

Last year, 7robotics debuted its Fully Robotic Door Handling system, which offers a turnkey solution for automated feeding and stacking of wooden doors of various sizes. Designed to handle single doors and stacked units ranging from 12 inches to 48 inches wide and 36 inches to 120 inches tall, the system supports units weighing up to 550 pounds. Seamless integration with edge banders and PLC controls ensures efficiency for high-volume production environments. Equipped with advanced barcode scanning, the system retrieves key specifications—including dimensions, veneer species, hinge and latch sides—before processing each door.

Oregon Door recently deployed 7robotics’ Fully Robotic Door Handling system, enabling the company to process up to two doors per minute.

The system enables automated processing of up to two doors per minute, maintaining a continuous flow of 40 doors before operator intervention is required.

One company that’s put 7robotics machine to use and is now singing its praises includes Oregon Door. “The 7robotics cell has certainly changed our process, allowing us to efficiently use new equipment,” says Dan Allen, senior manufacturing engineer at Oregon Door.

“The programming that was included to automate the changes door for door has been one of the biggest improvements … We are consistently producing doors through the cell and marching towards our overall throughput goal.”

Also in the doors category, Norfield offered an 1130 CNC Automatic Casing Saw and 4800 CNC Automatic Door Lite Cutter; but in recent years, the company debuted a 2400ASR Auto Double-Prep Strike Router for high output of interior and exterior strike jambs and ball catch head jambs.

The 2400ASR features an intuitive touchscreen interface, for quick function selection, making operation simple and user-friendly. Equipped with a high-frequency router motor, the machine operates quietly and reliably, ensuring long-term durability, according to company information. A heavy steel enclosure and dual-hand sensor system enhance operator safety by keeping hands away from moving parts. With a high speed cycle, the system can be seamlessly integrated into a production line or function as an independent high-volume workstation.

Lastly for doors, Oz Machine now offers the Garnet Porta—a highly versatile four-axis door leaf processing machine that’s engineered to perform a range of operations, such as drilling holes, milling slots, and machining the top, back and bottom surfaces of door leaves.

Powered by a servo-controlled spindle motor, the Garnet Porta efficiently processes door leaves up to 144 inches long, 55 inches wide, and 6 inches high.

“There are not many options on the market for door leaf machining solutions, so we know the demand on the market and decided to move forward and add some engineering and innovation to improve features that is available on the market,” says Adil Sasmaz, Oz Machine’s managing director.

Equipped with Fanuc automation, the system features an intuitive screen interface, allowing operators to input values or select pre-programmed operations. A servo-controlled robot positions door profiles for processing, while vertical pneumatic pistons securely hold them in place. Once machining is complete, the robot seamlessly transfers doors to the output conveyor. The operator manually flips the door and the robot ensures precise positioning for double-sided processing.

Finally, three companies have introduced machinery for profiles production—including newly updated RfsProtech radius forming machines from Ogden Group. The RfsProtech PT-6 Veneer Former offers a modern solution for fabricating arched headers and radiused moldings for doors and windows, eliminating the need for traditional wooden forms. The machine’s computer-controlled system streamlines production of various geometrical shapes, including circular, elliptical, and segmented arches, with automatic setup and operation.

Operators can define and input patterns in just minutes using an LCD touchscreen interface.

The machine’s 82 aluminum form arms, precisely positioned by 41 high-precision stepper motors, create an interlocked frame structure capable of withstanding intense laminating forces. A stainless-steel tension band, powered by a 7.5 horsepower gear reduction motor generating 17,000 pounds of force, ensures consistent shaping, while 16 pneumatic cylinders apply additional laminating pressure. Once the RF Generator activates, the adhesive cures in as little as three minutes, making the PT-6 an efficient, high-precision solution for curved laminate fabrication, company officials say.

On the assembly side, Todd Tolson, director of sales for Pro-Line Automation, says his company has a new FHV-5060HS High Speed Vertical Sash Welder. “From Pro-Line’s beginning, all of the four-head welders we built were horizontals,” Tolson says. “The FHV-5060HS is our first vertical welder. It is all new and features several improvements over the FH-88 Horizontal Welder that has been available for decades.” The most important difference includes a servo-controlled parallel welding system, which is scaled down from Pro-Line’s frame-sized horizontal welders. “That provides an unheard-of cycle time—less than 70 seconds for two sashes, including loading and unloading,” Tolson says. “This particular head will also be used on the FHH-6040HS that is soon to be released to replace the aging FH-88.” Both the company’s FHV-5060HS and its FHH-6040HS are shipped ready to operate, he says, adding, “Take the machine off the skid, remove five shipping brackets, connect power and air and you’re ready to run. No set up or technician visit required.”

On the CNC side of machinery, Dakota Automation enhanced its Pro-Filer CNC single-end fabrication machine, adding a robotic tool changer.

The Dakota Pro-Filer already allowed customers to replace multiple dedicated single-end routers with a single, versatile machine—not only saving floor space, but also significantly reducing setup times and improving efficiency. Now, with the integration of a robotic tool changer, the same machine offers an even greater range of tooling options, allowing it to tackle a wider variety of end geometries and complex fabrication tasks.

“By adding the robotic tool changer, we’ve taken its flexibility to the next level,” says Jake Velde, director of sales and applications for Dakota Automation.

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