Consolidated Glass Corporation is no newcomer to diamond-standard interior glass nor making larger transitions to stay ahead of the game. Now being led by the founding family’s fifth-generation president, the company started in 1967 in New Castle, Pennsylvania, fabricating the then fashionable jalousie doors and windows formed with multiple parallel panes of glass. It made a significant expansion in 1994 with its first tempering furnace to supply store fixtures, high-end shower doors and enclosures.
In 2015, Consolidated Glass purchased its second tempering line, a Glaston RC Series, to be able to keep up its outstanding five to ten day lead times and push into the lucrative office partition market.
The same spirit of growth and expansion into new glass processing areas led the company to venture into laminated glass in 2021. This meant a new 15,000 square foot building and automated lamination line.
“We saw the move into laminating glass as an exciting opportunity to explore. It gives us an open door to many new areas, such as security, acoustic and decorative glass. After thoroughly reviewing six lines, we chose Glaston’s ProL lamination thanks to its convection heating and simplicity,” said Consolidated Glass Corporation’s Brad Bartley, General Manager, and Lindsey Merryman, Lamination Line Program Manager.
“We reviewed six different lines, comparing price and performance,” Brad said. “We were familiar with Glaston’s background and knew the technology they bring to the tempering world. That was important to us.” But what caught his attention most was the convection heating system used on the ProL line as opposed to the infrared (IR) heating systems that most competitors use.
“For me, just the simplicity was impressive. And when you’re investing that much in new technology, you want to know that the supplier is highly experienced in that area. I also spoke with close friends in the industry who praised Glaston’s lamination technology,” he said.
“Our entire team is very excited about the quality of laminated glass we have produced. It’s beautiful!” Lindsey said. “We’ve got a lot of great people working with us who are definitely up for the challenge. They’re willing to learn and work hard. So, we’re getting used to the lamination line and are continuing to add to our knowledge each day.”