Best Practice: Prüm Türenwerk and ICONAG Leittechnik

The Prüm-Türenwerk GmbH has stood for quality doors and product innovations in the door market for more than 50 years. Located at its headquarters in Weinsheim in the Eifel region, the interior door specialist produces over one million doors and 950,000 frames annually with approximately 850 employees. With two high-bay warehouses, Prüm maintains a stock of 160,000 inventory items and 7,000 different articles.

In spring 2023, the company, in collaboration with ICONAG-Leittechnik GmbH, implemented a new fully automated fire alarm monitoring system. Michael Gierten, responsible for Technology/Automation at Prüm, and Bastian Bornschein, Project Management/Support at ICONAG, share insights about their successful cooperation and answer questions about the project.

What was implemented by ICONAG at Prüm Türenwerke?

Bastian Bornschein: The project includes the fundamental monitoring and alerting of all fire detectors available via BACnet, located in various halls within the factory. The alarm triggering and forwarding are achieved using BACnet Notification Classes. In addition to the fire detectors, a Grecon spark extinguishing system was integrated via OPC-UA. Here, monitoring, alerting, and alarm forwarding are realized using the OPC-UA protocol and internal B-CON program modules (alarm handler, message handler, history module). Visualization pages provide a comprehensive overview of all integrated systems.

What were the objectives?

Michael Gierten: Prüm aims to monitor various systems – from fire alarm systems to exhaust systems, compressed air control, HVAC systems, and more – through a uniformly structured user interface. This provides operators with a consistent "look and feel" across all systems.

Bastian Bornschein: This allows the operators to monitor the integrated systems comprehensively. The B-CON web portal is accessed by gatekeepers who oversee the fire alarm system in their day-to-day operations.

Were there any particularly challenging tasks?

Bastian Bornschein: BACnet integration still raises many questions for customers today. For example, how does the alarm triggering work? How can alarm states be defined in data points and via BACnet properties? Or how can manual overrides of setpoints be reset?

Michael Gierten: For me, the challenge was to integrate the old systems (over 40 years of evolved structures) and the new production hall into a unified user interface.

How did ICONAG assist in this process?

Michael Gierten: ICONAG provided significant expertise from the inception to the execution of the project, from the tendering process to implementation.

Bastian Bornschein: ICONAG acted in a consultative and educational capacity. With the implementation of numerous projects in this field, we have gained considerable experience and developed a well-coordinated routine. This is not trivial, as each GLT project often requires individual planning.

What improvements were achieved?

Michael Gierten: The visualization of the factory layout on individual pages, including the associated fire detectors, greatly assists our gatekeepers. Previously, alarms were displayed as text messages on a small display directly at the fire alarm system. Now, the B-CON alarm handler directs the gatekeeper to the corresponding factory layout, where they can see the exact location of the triggering detector and relay the information to the appropriate personnel.

Bastian Bornschein: Furthermore, our alarm options ensure short alarm paths through common media such as email.

How was the collaboration experience?

Michael Gierten: The collaboration was seamless for us, from the initial inquiry to the quotation and eventual execution. ICONAG was always accessible and responded promptly to inquiries. The basic training was effective, and individual questions were addressed.

Bastian Bornschein: The partnership proceeded smoothly and effectively for us as well. The customer maintained close contact with us during the implementation phase and provided good support regarding the designation of data points.

What future developments could be expected in building automation at Prüm?

Bastian Bornschein: There are plans to integrate additional systems available in the building for GLT. This includes room automation or traditional system automation, such as heating and ventilation monitoring. This will allow our software's full potential to be realized in the future, creating a central point of contact for technicians and facility managers.

Michael Gierten: Additional systems include current controllers with corresponding interface protocols from our new production hall, as well as legacy systems with different controllers and interface protocols that have been unavailable on the market for several years.

What recommendations can you offer to medium-sized companies regarding building automation? What should be particularly considered during planning?

Michael Gierten: When inquiring about our building automation project, vendors proposed manufacturer-specific solutions. However, once the required quantity of different interfaces became apparent, these options were quickly dismissed. For our company, only a manufacturer-independent solution was suitable. ICONAG, with the B-CON software, provides the best conditions for consolidating, visualizing, and operating various systems and interfaces within a single interface.

Bastian Bornschein: In planning and implementation, close collaboration not only with local companies but also with firms providing substantial expertise is essential. For example, ICONAG identifies and resolves issues that could pose difficulties during the implementation phase.