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News and Updates f rom SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems Edition 1 | May 2020
ROUNDER
News SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems is up and running.
Products SWARCOBLAST SWARCOFORCE
International USA Location: MEXIA, TEXAS
SWARCOBLAST
UNIVERSAL EFFICIENCY
EDITORIAL Dear readers, When in 1969, Manfred Swarovski built a glass bead factory in Amstetten, Austria, he laid the groundwork for a success story “made in Austria”. In five decades, the SWARCO group developed in and from this location. Now a well-established business with a longstanding tradition, it employs about 3,800 people worldwide. The creation of the new business segment SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems is yet another milestone in the success story of the SWARCO group. With SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems we are making decades of research and know-how on the universal applications of micro glass beads accessible to our customers. In the meantime, over the course of our many exchanges with those who use micro glass beads in industry, we were not only strengthened in our resolve to carry out this undertaking – we were encouraged by hearing statements such as: “This is what we had been waiting for for so long!” And we are convinced that the result will speak for itself. This year, SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems will already enter the market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, offering the full range of its products and services. Select parts of the new segment will also be represented in all of Europe and in the USA. You are currently reading the first issue of our client newsletter “All-Rounder”. We will be publishing new issues at regular intervals to keep you updated on the evolution and the products of our new business segment. Generally speaking, the “All-Rounder” will also be a place where you can find valuable information on new technologies, innovations and trends. Although I wrote these lines while teleworking, my team and myself are already focusing on post-coronavirus times with an optimistic look forward. We hope we will soon be able to meet under normal circumstances. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy and have a good read!
SWARCOBLAST Blasting Beads for Surface Finishing SWARCOBLAST glass blasting beads are a mineral fine blasting medium made of leadfree hardened soda-lime glass that is used in injector and pressure blasting processes for treatment of workpiece surfaces, such as of metal, cast, wooden or 3D printed parts. Frequent tests by external institutes ensure that the raw materials used are free of heavy metals. Thanks to the variety of narrow and precise particle-size distributions, our range of glass blasting beads convinces our customers, who can rely on the exactness of the sievings. With their outstanding precision and long service lives, SWARCOBLAST glass blasting beads make a compelling case in a broad range of applications.
Glass Blasting Beads • • • • • • •
Cleaning Deburring Smoothing Reduction of surface roughness Matting Polishing Shot peening
Glass Granulate • • • • •
Derusting Descaling Deburring of metallic materials Woodworking P articularly suitable when blasting media loss is unavoidable.
Kind regards, Additional Blasting Media
Robert Buchinger Business Development SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems
In addition to glass blasting beads and glass blasting granulate, SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems also offers the following blasting media: •N ormal, high-grade and blasting corundum • Crushed grinding wheels • Plastic granulate • Corn cob shot • Walnut shell granulate
SWARCOFORCE
PRODUCTS
NEWS
SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems – Universal Efficiency
Using SWARCOFORCE Glass Beads as Filling Agents Enhances Product Functionality SWARCOFORCE glass filler beads are high-grade filler agents that contribute to improving the physical properties of plastics, resins, paints, varnishes, coatings and building materials. They can be used with a very wide variety of coatings, which defines the interaction between the glass and the matrix material used (e.g. the adhesion between glass and plastic). SWARCOFORCE glass filler beads impact the properties of the end product, such as rigidity and pressure resistance, warping and shrinking behaviour, fluidity, abrasion resistance, tensile strength, impact resistance, colour, scratch resistance, surface gloss, light diffusion, etc.
Glass Filler Beads for Paints, Varnishes and Coatings Glass filler beads can be used as filling agents for paints, varnishes and coatings to rely on different physical properties of glass, such as surface improvement and scratch resistance.
Glass Filler Beads for Plastics Glass filler beads are added to the materials used for compounding/processing plastic granulate in order to enhance the required qualities. For injection moulding materials, glass filler beads reduce warping and shrinking thanks to their isotropy. They are typically used in technical components, interior and exterior automotive parts, and 3D printed materials.
Glass Filler Beads for Building Materials In the building materials industry, glass filler beads are used, among others, in translucent joint sealants, which break light in addition to reflecting it. This enhances the colours of glass mosaics and glass tiles and gives them a shimmering effect. Surface structures compacted with SWARCOFORCE glass filler beads are waterproof and easy to clean.
Leveraging the universal benefits of glass beads for special industry applications in energy-efficient ways is the mission of the new SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems business segment. The new segment focuses on catering to industry perfectly by utilizing high-grade glass beads: as blasting media for cleaning, as filling agents for plastics or additives for building materials, paints and varnishes. SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems offers solutions tailored to the client’s needs and thus aims to become a firstchoice supplier in this field. For the SWARCO group, the launch of this new business segment is a decisive step towards diversification and widening the scope of its activities.
Universal Efficiency In 2020, SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems will already enter the market in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, offering the full range of its products and services. Select parts of the new segment will also be represented in all of Europe and in the USA. Its vision, “Industrial glass beads by SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems – the world’s preferred choice in all niches”, illustrates SWARCO’s ambition with this new business segment. Efficiency, diversity and intelligence, the values of this new product family, aim to convince prospective clients. And the motto clearly reflects what SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems has to offer to the industry: “Universal Efficiency”.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY FRONT AND CENTER SWARCO – a Front Runner in Addressing the Key Challenges of Tomorrow OUR MISSION
We leverage the universal benefits of glass beads for your special industry applications, in energy-efficient ways. OUR VISION
Industrial glass beads by SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems – the world’s preferred choice in all niches OUR VALUES
Efficieny, Diversity, Intelligence OUR MOTTO
Universal Efficiency
SWARCO conducts continuous research and development activities in the area of glass bead production.
Energy Efficiency SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems production facilities in Europe are ISO 50001 certified. We track and document each production unit’s energy consumption. We strive to further develop state-of-theart technology to reduce our energy consumption and our emissions and to achieve better recycling rates in the raw materials we use.
Swarco offers a whole range of solutions for industrial applications and continues to successfully expand its portfolio. Early on, the company understood the importance of conducting its business sustainably – we are aware of our ecological footprint and constantly work on optimizing it. Instead of producing flat glass by melting primary raw materials, SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems sources high-grade recycled glass from the flat glass industry, which uses 50% less energy. The recycled material used consists solely of cuttings and scraps from high-quality industrial glass (post-industrial waste). SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems has the necessary know-how to produce high-grade glass beads from these recycled products. Also, the origin and trajectory of the glass can be traced. To avoid transporting the raw materials over large distances, we purchase them in the region near the different production facilities.
Glass bead analysis at the SWARCO R & D lab
USA LOCATION: MEXIA, TEXAS
Glass Beads for Road Safety and Industrial Purposes for the US Market and Latin America SWARCO’s activities in Mexia, Texas (east of Waco) began in 1994 when Manfred Swarovski bought the glass factory. A substantial investment in production technology was required to modernize the plant and bring it up to par with the state of the art. Since 1995 SWARCO
REFLEX has been offering a full spectrum of glass bead qualities and sizes “made in Texas”. SWARCO REFLEX sells reflective glass beads for road markings and blasting beads for surface finishing applications and serves customers throughout the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.
SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems ais@swarco.com www.swarco.com/ais
IMPRINT: Responsible for content: SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems, Industriestraße 10, 3300 Amstetten, Austria, www.swarco.com/ais Idea, design and artwork: Kommhaus, www.kommhaus.com Photos: SWARCO Advanced Industry Systems, Wolfgang Stadler, www.shutterstock.com/Kingsman Asset/AVN Photo Lab/SunnyToys/cpt212| English translation: Irina Pálffy-Daun-Seiler | Printed by www.druck.at | No liability for errors or misprints. | We are deeply committed to gender equality. For the sake of brevity, only one gender may be used on occasion. However, this does not imply any discrimination against the other gender. If you no longer wish to receive our newsletter, please send an e-mail to ais@swarco.com.
INTERNATIONAL
SWARCO production plant in Mexia, Texas
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