"Fire-resistant glass is not an option: it's mandatory"

“Compared to our competitor’s, our glass has added values,” continues David Ulens. “Firstly, we can increase the level of fire resistance without making the glass unit heavier. For example, if we manufacture a fire-resistant glass unit acting as a barrier against hot gases and effectively blocking heat transfer for two hours, we simply increase the thickness of the cavity and therefore the amount of hydrogel inside but still only using two panes of glass. Instead, most of our competitors create a glass unit with either triple or quadruple glass panes. Result: for the same performance, our glass weighs less, which makes it much easier to handle and install. The other the flow, so that each pane is monitored throughout the process. Overall, this reduces manual handling, minimizing operator intervention allowing them to (in most cases) just supervise the process. big advantage of Polflam’s product is the format: by using Forel’s systems, we can assemble large fire-resistant glass units of up to 5 meters by 2.80 meters, delivering a performance/weight to size ratio of our product that is ranked very high and we are amongst a few in the world that can offer this performance”.

The investment in Polflam was considerable, but well-motivated and understood by clear market prospects. Fire-resistant glass, in fact, is a product that is not chosen ‘spontaneously’ but is imposed by safety regulations that are becoming more recognized and required by all nations.

“Fire-resistant glass is, in many cases, simply mandatory by law” concludes David Ulens. “Housing density is increasing throughout Europe: new regulations will require buildings to be fitted with fireresistant glass. It is therefore easy to deduce that our market will continue to grow in the long term: and Polflam has equipped itself to increase its competitive edge and play a leading role.”

Investing in a Sorting System

There are many reasons to install a Sorting System inside a glass factory, but we can summarise them as: this technology allows us to produce more, in an easier way.

The Sorting System assigns a unique ID to every pane it receives, so that it can recall the right panes for each order and the panes themselves can be identified at any point in the work program.

#LOGISTICS

Glazing businesses today can be divided into two categories: those with processes still involving a large number of manual handling operations, and those which have already adopted automated logistics systems. The Sorting System, on the other hand, takes the process to a whole new level: with intelligent logistics.

#FLEXIBILITY

Load a work list and start production. Put a current job on hold and start another order. Put the second order on hold to finish an urgent order. Resume the original work list. Load a fourth order. All of this without leaving the office.

#AUTOMATION

The Sorting System is a fully automated tool. No human interaction is necessary other than through the management software.

#INTEGRATION

#QUALITY

Advanced quality control systems ensure that only items meeting the standards required are fed into the sorting system. This means that any process errors are identified and intercepted before any other processing is carried out.

Efficiency means adaptability: The Sorting System is designed to integrate with the ERP of the glazing factory it is installed in. So the latest addition becomes part of the family, right from day one.

#MODULARITY

The Sorting System is a modular system designed to fit seamlessly between existing lines and processes.

#SPEED

No dead time. Bottlenecks are a thing of the past. Will the Sorting System increase production speed? It does even better than that: it takes production to new levels of efficiency.

“Fire resistant glass is not an optional: it’s mandatory”