GLASSTECREVIEW
Coatings are a hit at Glasstec
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AS THE DOORS CLOSED for another two years on Glasstec , decorative glass specialist RegaLead returned home from its most successful exhibition yet .
This year , the show for RegaLead was focused solely on its ColorSpray specialist coatings division for the glass and fenestration markets and saw the launch of new paint formulations and new dispensing and drying solutions .
Guy Hubble , managing director comments : “ This year , our presence at Glasstec was all about paint and represented the culmination of ongoing investment into the product and application development of coatings , mixing solutions , fast drying and automation for glass painting .
“ Although not everyone knows it , coatings have been a core market for us for a long time , so with the addition of new coating solutions , Glasstec was the ideal platform to remind the market why we are one of the world ’ s largest specialist glass coatings provider for the glass and fenestration industries .
“ Visitors to our stand saw how we ’ ve broken down the glass painting process into its constituent parts and improved practices at each stage . There has been a lot of talk recently in the industry about automatic spraying , and Glasstec was awash with solutions , but our experience tells us that the best ‘ machinery ’ solutions to speed up production and improve lead times , revolve around colour preparation and drying systems as the spraying itself is relatively quick by hand .
“ With most customers looking for multiple colour changes per day to accommodate the increased demand for unique colours , our range of auto-dispensers were of particular interest to many visitors . They offer high dispensing speeds and accuracy that ’ s simply not possible by hand mixing . We have launched a range of three auto dispensers with varying output speeds and canister configurations to suit smaller producers , right up to super producers who need to automatically dispense base materials as well as the colorants . With over 7,000 recipes already on our Color Formulator system , you would think that we had all colours covered , but we are still adding a rate of 50 per week , with formulations now being prepared in our own colour laboratory in Manchester in less than 72 hours .”
TURNING UP THE DIGITAL HEAT
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GLASTON MADE THE most of smart connectivity at Glasstec with the use of live demos . The performance of the all-new flat tempering lines was demonstrated as well as the advantages of Glaston Insight , the online application that gathers global processing data . The flawless glass quality , the ease of use and the real-time reporting was showcased twice a day .
Continuous R & D is one of Glaston ’ s cornerstones . During the past few years the company has thoroughly investigated how to take advantage of new smart technologies , interconnected machines and on-line reporting .
“ We see a lot of potential in the new smart technologies and they play a central role in our product development . The journey of digitising the heat treatment business has just begun ,” says chief executive officer and president Arto Metsänen .
Flexible loadings and high loading efficiency are essential when looking for high capacity and lower production costs .
“ During the live demos we wanted to show how it works when the 4 , 6 and 8mm Low-E glasses are flexibly processed . The furnace incorporates the intelligence of Glaston Insight Assistant™ which automatically adjusts furnace settings based on the measured glass size and loading pattern information ,” explained the company ’ s Sasu Koivumäki .
During the live demos the audience was able to choose the thickness of the glass and the machine did it on stage .
Furthermore , at Glasstec , Glaston set new flat tempering standards with the renewed RC and FC Series .
“ With the live demos , Glaston demonstrated the built-in process intelligence , the top quality of the end product and the ease of operation ,” said Arto Metsänen .
“ Effective and accurate heating is the key to highquality , high-capacity Low-E glass production . The new FC Series furnace ensures Low-E capability with low waste rates and high glass quality . The intelligent bottom scanner is a good tool for verifying that the glass is heating uniformly . Compared to a traditional scanner , which isn ’ t optimal in Low-E glass production , the bottom scanner provides reliable measurement data for Low-E glasses . A bottom scanner can be integrated with the Glaston Insight Assistant Pro™ , which uses the information to automatically make recipe improvement suggestions ,” said Sasu Koivumäki .
CLEARVIEW-UK . COM » NOV 2016 » 29