Whether they‘re equipped with an internal combustion engine or alternative drives, cars today have to meet the strictest design requirements. This also applies to the various glass panes, panels, and other glass components that are installed. Many people know how varied and innovative the use of automotive glass can be. It’s always a matter of vehicle glass elements being turned into functional glass through complex coating processes. The result of this finishing process might be anti-reflective glass, solar protection and heat insulation glass, electrically conductive glass, or even self-cleaning windows. But think about the curved shape of modern cars. Every pane has to be delivered with different bend radii. And more and more, a visualization in the car is being replaced by display panels.  

Automotive manufacturers who order these types of glass panes for installation in their vehicles operate on the just-in-sequence principle, and glass finishers must ship and deliver a specific batch quickly and punctually enough to accommodate this. Taking this one step further, a glass pane manufacturer who hands the raw product over to the relevant finisher – whether in-house or at another company – is also part of this value chain, along with procurement, distribution, and sales logistics.

And this is where Siemens comes in. Because the time factor plays such a major role in the automotive industry, comprehensive digitalized processes also play a huge part in the manufacturing of finished glass panes and unfinished glass. The virtual workflows that interact with real production are a tremendous advantage in terms of speed.