GLASSOLUTIONS fires up £1.5 million Dudley manufacturing investment

The West Midlands plant is one of GLASSOLUTIONS’ two glass toughening centres of excellence which it has operated for 18 years.This £1.5 million investment project enables new technology to be commissioned and existing plant upgraded, including a Bystronic loader, a LISEC arriser to ensure high quality, consistent finishing and a larger new Firejet furnace which will improve product quality and cut energy usage by 30%.

According to GLASSOLUTIONS Marketing Manager Adam Taylor, it will be very much ‘business as usual’ during the Dudley upgrade work thanks to detailed planning and the unique way that the company is set up and resourced.

Adam says: “Our investment at Dudley will allow us to do more of what we do, and do it even better. With greater automation and plant reliability, customers will see real benefits and we believe the project will strengthen our position as a market leader in the glass processing and toughening markets.

"We’ve planned the upgrade project in the shortest possible schedule which means it will be complete by March. Importantly, we’ll operate a full production line at all times, and we have plenty of back-up capacity at our nearby Coventry factory as well as our six other glass processing sites. This should mean little or no difference to normal lead times.”

GLASSOLUTIONS is the UK’s largest processor, distributor, installer and repairer of glass with a network of more than 20 production sites, distribution branches and operations centres.  This provides customers with the widest range of glass products and services, with everything from toughening and laminating, right through to domestic and commercial sealed units and the supply of specialist products which offer enhanced acoustic and solar control.