Since establishing their presence in the USA through an acquisition, Poland-based Press Glass has continued its brisk growth based on the same values that make it the number one glass fabricator in Europe and the UK. The company’s latest investment in the USA is a Glaston ProL convection control upgrade at its Ridgeway, Virginia plant.
Bringing European expertise to high-quality US glass production
Glaston and Press Glass share a long-standing partnership. Most of the tempering lines in Press Glass’s European facilities are from Glaston. The company’s US branch has Glaston FC Series and Jumbo Series tempering lines at the Ridgeway factory for larger projects and an additional smaller line in Stoneville for smaller IG units and heavier interior glass. Currently, a fourth line – another tempering furnace – is being assembled and will be delivered soon.
“Glaston is considered the ‘Cadillac’ of the market,” said Gregg Vanier, Director of Manufacturing and Technology at Press Glass. “The price point may be higher, but a Glaston machinery lasts longer and produces higher quality.”
In another move forward, Press Glass was the first in the world to invest in Glaston’s convection upgrade for its lamination line in Ridgeway, completed in April 2023.
“It was clear we needed to upgrade when the market started asking for more complex end products. We needed better control to help process the multilayer laminates that are more common in the US market than the monolayers in Europe,” Gregg explained.
The ProL convection upgrade helps eliminate trapped air inside the layers that causes a lack of adhesion.
“Since commissioning, we have been able to gain traction in the market. We just had our most efficient production period in terms of square footage produced per day. The upgrade also led to higher quality, enabling us to reach 98 percent on-time delivery.”
He also emphasized that remakes have gone down since the upgrade, and this helps manage production costs.
Additionally, the new upgrade features have significantly simplified the lamination process itself, further contributing to the overall efficiency.