Integrated Automation Tailored to New Production Goals

At its Radom plant, the leading Polish door manufacturer Erkado has invested in integrated SCM lines for pressing, profiling, and squaring edge banding, combining high volumes, flexibility, and consistent quality in door production.

Erkado is a leader in the Polish door market and a growing international brand. The company boasts over 50 years of experience, a production capacity of 1,000,000 doors per year, and 1,100 employees across three plants located in Chwałowice, Gościeradów, and Radom. 
Established in 2021, the Radom plant is the Group's newest location and handles large-scale production for major building materials distributors. This represents a new business segment for the Polish leader, implemented through targeted investments in automated, integrated lines for pressing, profiling, and squaring edge banding, developed in collaboration with SCM Engineering Business Unit. The systems are designed for efficient processing of three-layer doors, guaranteeing high quality standards and capacity of up to 600 doors on the edge banding line and up to 1200 doors on the stamping and profiling line per shift. 

"After a thorough analysis of available solutions on the market, we unanimously chose SCM, convinced by the quality, reliability, and high technological level of the solutions they offer," explains Dawid Piasek, Vice President of Erkado. "The consultancy approach was also a decisive factor: SCM not only supplied the machines but also provided full support in developing our production. SCM engineers, in collaboration with Marcin Kędzierski, Director of Erkado, designed two tailor-made lines tailored to our requirements and the available space. Today, we are completely satisfied with these solutions, which have significantly accelerated Erkado's development in terms of both efficiency and quality." 
 

An Industrial Strategy Focused on Automation

The Radom plant and SCM technologies are part of a long-term strategy based on investments in advanced technologies, robotics, and automation. 
"At our Radom plant, we primarily serve large suppliers in the construction sector who require excellent quality, very short lead times, and high volumes," Piasek continues. "Thanks to these lines, we are able to meet all these requirements, producing various types of doors – panel, modular, and fire-rated – and effectively meeting the needs of the residential and commercial markets." 
The introduction of automation has significantly reduced production errors and shortened lead times, while digital process management ensures full control over production and optimized resource utilization.
 

The production process is fully automated and consists of three main stages.  
The assembly of the door frame and skin elements, followed by pressing, takes place on the "sergiani las" through-feed press line, which allows to produce approximately one door every 20 seconds with great flexibility. 
The skins are fed via the "mahros" loading station. Simultaneously, three stations equipped with anthropomorphic robots automatically assemble the door frame, consisting of rails and posts, which, together with the insulating panel – automatically fed by a second portal – form the intermediate layer of the door. Once positioned and perfectly aligned, this layer is placed on the lower layer. At the next stations, the upper layer is reversed, and the door assembly is complete. 
The assembled doors are then automatically loaded into a 10-daylight press, eliminating the waiting time typical of a traditional multi-layer press. The "sergiani las" operates on an exclusive SCM system that allows for loading and unloading of a single daylight while maintaining constant pressure in the remaining passes. A brush unit, a glue spreader with automatic glue feeding, roller conveyors, and automatic unloading complete the solution. 
"Ensuring high gluing process stability and uniform pressure was crucial for us," comments Piasek. "The ‘sergiani las’ press provides direct benefits in terms of product quality and overall efficiency." 

Precision and Process Optimization

After pressing, the panels are transferred to a vertical buffer warehouse with a cooling function and then automatically fed to a single-sided "celaschi cpm" profiler. 
This machine plays a key role in the production process, trimming one long side and ensuring the correct positioning of the doors during the first edge banding cycle. 
"This profiler guarantees high precision and production flexibility," adds Piasek. "Overall, these solutions allow us to maintain high quality standards while increasing efficiency and the ability to adapt production to customer requirements." 
The line is complemented by a three-station "mahros runner" automatic stacker for handling finished stacks. 

Highest Level of Flexibility

Flexibility is a key advantage of the "stefani flex" edge banding line. Doors, loaded using the "mahros brush" handling system, are stacked and then edge banded on three or four sides, using stack-based processing logic for both uniform and mixed batches. 
The system allows for multiple stacks to be loaded along the entire return conveyor, optimizing changeover times for different door types and ensuring a high level of workflow efficiency. 
Process changes are fully automated, and repositioning is managed throughout the entire machine during the profiling, gluing, and edge finishing phases. The gluing unit is equipped with pressure devices for shaping the edges along the door profile, with electronic positioning on the X and Y axes. 
The entire line is managed by a supervisory system with various production order processing modes and is capable of processing large and heavy doors weighing up to 100 kg. "Our main goal was to achieve maximum finish quality and full process repeatability. At the same time, we strived for a high level of automation and increased efficiency. Thanks to this technology, we have improved the aesthetics of our products, optimized processes, and reduced waste." 

A Partnership Supporting Growth 

For Erkado, the value of the investment goes beyond the installed technology and translates into ongoing collaboration. 
"Our collaboration with SCM is a true partnership," summarizes Piasek. "At every stage, from assembly to daily operation, we can count on professional support. We particularly value the speed and competence of the service team, the availability of spare parts, and the consulting services." 

A relationship with an eye on the future: Erkado will continue its development path, focusing on automation and international expansion, with the goal of further increasing production capacity and strengthening its position as a modern and competitive door manufacturer. 
 

Erkado