Complete solution with integrated freeform calculation unique in the industry
Modular design enables scaling and expansion
Flexible versioning allows project editing in any release version
Schöck Bauteile GmbH from Baden-Baden is the heart and headquarters of Schöck AG. The internationally active group of companies currently employs around 1,100 people at 19 locations and is active in 40 markets. With six decades of experience in the construction supply industry, the company focuses on the development and manufacture of products to reduce thermal bridges on cantilevered components, solutions to prevent impact sound, thermally separating façade fastenings and modern reinforcement technology.
Load-bearing thermal insulation element: the Schöck Isokorb®
(Source: Schöck Bauteile GmbH)
Schöck's digitisation strategy is to digitally support the positioning of physical Schöck products. For this purpose, the products and their use are to be virtually represented and simulated. The challenge here: Schöck products require explanation, and their design depends heavily on the specific construction scenario. You can't just buy them off the shelf.
Schöck's best-known product is the Isokorb®. These are standardised thermal insulation elements with two functions: On the one hand, they support components that protrude from the building envelope, such as balconies. On the other, they reduce the thermal bridging that occurs there - in other words, they decouple the balconies from the rest of the building. The catch with the standardised product line: Not every balcony is the same, and the load-bearing function makes it extremely important to install the right Isokorb® models. The structural engineer makes the choice. He has to calculate the forces acting on the balcony. Once he has determined these forces, he can select the appropriate Isokorb® models.
To meet the many requirements for flexibility, we developed Scalix® as a web-based, modular cloud application. Working hand in hand with Schöck in an agile team, we were able to implement the following key features and benefits:
The entire web application runs in Microsoft Azure and can be used directly in a browser via the intuitive web interface. There is no need to install the software locally and users always have access to the latest version. This makes it easy to integrate new Schöck products as well as new features or updates. To make things even easier for users, Scalix® has an additional feature: A project is automatically loaded in the release version in which it was originally created. Particularly in the case of lengthy design projects, this often eliminates version-related rework and helps to ensure the traceability of project details.
Scalix® allows any shape to be represented by a force model using the finite element method. Complex shapes are broken down into many small but geometrically easy to calculate sub-areas (finite elements), which ultimately allows the physical forces for the entire shape to be calculated. The values obtained in this way are fed into the solver, which uses a specially developed heuristic to select Schöck products in terms of statics and efficiency. In this way, Scalix® enables structural engineers to carry out a wide range of applications automatically using a single tool. This not only saves time, but also avoids media breaks. Such a complete solution with integrated freeform calculation is currently unique in the industry.
Freeforms can also be calculated using the finite element method (Source: Schöck Bauteile GmbH)
Scalix® has been designed to allow for the addition of other modules in the future. It is currently possible to measure thermally separated balcony connections and shear force pins in expansion joints. The vision is to display almost the entire Schöck product portfolio via Scalix® in the future. CDO Nora Legittimo sees this in a positive light: "For us, this is all a kind of residential community: Scalix® is the apartment, the balcony and expansion joint modules are the first roommates. Gradually, other residents will move in". In addition to other products, Scalix® will also be able to serve other countries in order to take into account country-specific building permits.
The Scalix® design software has a modular structure (Source: Schöck Bauteile GmbH)
Seit dem Release ist Scalix® kontinuierlich gewachsen. Das Major Release 2.0 im August 2026 brachte eine neue Cloud-Speicherung, CAD- und BIM-Links in mehreren Modulen sowie den CAD-Export kompletter Geometrien inklusive aller Isokörbe. Neu hinzugekommen ist das Modul Balkon Stahl – Stahlbeton, mit dem sich Stahlbalkonanschlüsse an Stahlbetondecken in 14 Ländern bemessen lassen, jeweils auf Basis der dort gültigen Zulassungsgrundlagen.
Scalix® 2.0 (Quelle: Schöck Bauteile GmbH)
Seit Frühjahr 2026 entwickeln wir Scalix® KI-gestützt weiter. Dafür haben wir die Entwicklungsumgebung um drei Bausteine erweitert:
Der Aufbau dieser Umgebung war Investitionsarbeit – und sie zahlt sich aus. Mit eingespieltem Setup erreicht das Team eine hohe Entwicklungsgeschwindigkeit, und die Quality Gates fangen den Tempogewinn kontrolliert ab, statt ihn in technische Schuld umzumünzen. Genau darin liegt für uns der eigentliche Hebel: nicht schneller Code, sondern schneller guter Code. Wie sich Geschwindigkeit und Qualität zueinander entwickeln, bewerten wir gemeinsam mit Schöck laufend und messbar.
Firstly, the Scalix® project demanded quick results. CDO Nora Legittimo recalls: "The hands-on mentality right at the start of the project - when it came to developing an MVP for the digitalBAU trade fair - showed us that our companies fit together. " But it is not only this maker attitude that unites Schöck and generic.de.
When it comes to sustainability, there is a further congruence of values. Durability and high quality standards have always been the hallmark of Schöck components. Since 2010, we have also been committed to sustainability by consistently developing our software solutions according to the principles of clean code development. This value system helps our developers to write source code that is characterised by high readability, traceability and flexibility in development. This approach also impressed Schöck during the course of the project. CDO Nora Legittimo: "During the beta phase and the launch, we never had to deal with the issue of 'this doesn't work'. It was more about what additional features we would like to see. The classic banana software problem - the software matures as it is used by customers - did not apply. Focusing in advance on the quality of the code that comes out afterwards helped us enormously. "
Dass sich Scalix® heute für KI öffnen lässt, ist kein Zufall, sondern Ergebnis der Grundlagenarbeit von Anfang an: klare Trennung von Fachlogik, Datenhaltung und Oberfläche, offene und dokumentierte Schnittstellen, gepflegte Stammdaten. Wir entwickeln unsere Softwarelösungen seit 2010 konsequent nach Clean Code Development – ein Wertesystem, das zu Quellcode mit hoher Lesbarkeit, Nachvollziehbarkeit und Flexibilität führt. Ohne dieses Fundament wäre der spätere MCP-Schritt nicht ohne Weiteres möglich gewesen.