“For nearly 25 years, our second-hand Glaston tempering line served customers with quality glass tempering. But after numerous upgrades and rebuilds, it was simply time to invest in a new tempering line. Glaston’s RC Series fit our needs. Now, we’re looking forward to operating it for the next 20+ years,” said Mats Pihlqvist, Site Manager at Industriglas AB in Jönköping, Sweden.
Industriglas is a family-owned company that began operations in 1990 in Jönköping, a city in southern Sweden approximately 150 kilometres from Gothenburg. The company serves industrial customers in a radius of about 200 kilometres with tempered, laminated and fireproof laminated glass for balconies, office walls and other industrial applications.
The company bought a second-hand Glaston – Tamglass at the time – tempering furnace in 1995. The furnace proved to be a workhorse, providing high-quality tempered glass for over 25 years. The company was in no hurry to replace it. “The tempering furnace supported us well over all these years,” said Mats Pihlqvist. “We upgraded it and rebuilt some of the sections at least three times throughout its lifetime.”
In 2021, Mats began discussions with Glaston representatives about updating their furnace once again. “It soon became clear that we could not add the latest technology to the old furnace any longer. So, we decided to go with a brand-new machine and to actually have something totally new, Mats says. “When we looked at our production, the Glaston RC Series flat glass furnace seemed to be exactly what we would need.”
Industriglas bought the turnkey solution from Glaston, which includes all dismantling and installation work. “We closed for three weeks in the summer of 2022 and pushed hard to get out all our orders beforehand,” Mats explained. “For us, the experience was great. We didn’t have to bother about anything. Glaston had the full responsibility to dismantle the existing furnace, create an empty floor and install the new tempering furnace.”
“Our energy consumption has gone down by approximately 15–20 percent,” Mats said. “And the new furnace is larger, so we can temper more in each batch. It is also easier to run the machine. We didn’t have a scanner with the old furnace. Now, we can see from the scanner if each sheet is tempered in the correct way.”