Forglass, the glass-melting technology supplier from Poland has once again partnered with Saint-Gobain Glass to perform hot overcoating of furnaces in two of their plants: Pisa (Italy) and Dąbrowa Górnicza (Poland). A world renown manufacturer of energy-efficient coated glass and insulated glazing, Saint-Gobain Glass excels in fulfilling its customers’ needs in comfort, performance and safety, expecting the same from its suppliers.
One of the key factors in the Client’s decision to award the hot overcoating contracts to Forglass was the company’s business strategy of combining engineering prowess and contract fulfilment under one roof. Forglass is presently enjoying the unique advantage of having highly skilled, technical employees available to perform very challenging projects, such as hot overcoating.
Having successfully navigated the difficult period of the 2020 lockdown, then adhering to various epidemiological restrictions with travel and adapting to the new reality is now paying off with contracts in France, Germany, Norway, The Netherlands and the U.K. with Saint-Gobain and other clients.
Hot overcoating of a large float furnace is the most demanding type of furnace repair, requiring extraordinary organization and an exceptional team. It usually involves more than 100 highly skilled workers and supervisors, who have to work in extremely harsh conditions. During hot overcoating, the furnace is kept around its operating temperature, so people working around the furnace must wear special protective clothing, gloves, face and head shields and other garments that protect the human body from exposure to extreme heat.
Scheduling this type of work has to account for another factor, which is human endurance while working in extreme conditions. Teams must work in short intervals giving them time to rest and cool off. Hot overcoating of a large float furnace is planned to minimise glass-to-glass time and there is no room for delay. Detailed planning is key, allowing exactly the right amount of time to complete each task. The efficiency and quality of work has to be 100 percent, as there is no time to redo a mistake, it has to be done correctly the first time.
Clearly, the high skill level of everyone involved is essential in this type of work and Forglass has exactly these kinds of experts on staff.