Glass International July 2020 Digital Edition

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Digital Edition - July 2020

IVC OVERVIEW WOMEN IN GLASSMAKING PIRAMAL GLASS DIGITAL A REVIEW OF THE YEAR 2020

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

From raw material intake

to batch charging EME GmbH · E-Mail: contact@eme.de · www.eme.de

Company profile: Libbey Glass

Libbey: Industry needs more collaboration

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Chandra Mangalagiri is a true glass industry veteran. He started in his current role with tableware industry specialist Libbey Inc. at the beginning of 2019 after a 25- year career in the industry.

He has worked in a variety of glass sectors, and been employed by notable companies such as Owens Corning, Corelle Brands (formerly known as World Kitchen) and Corning Inc. His roles have included process engineering, operations management, project management, and roles in product and process R&D. He has also worked with a variety of glasses such as LCD glass substrates, Valor Glass in pharma packaging, Gorilla Glass in speciality, Corelle, Pyrex and ClearFire in tableware.

“I’ve been fortunate to have been exposed to several different glassmaking sectors and learned the specific challenges and opportunities in each of them.”

Libbey is a familiar name in the glass industry.

It celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2018 and Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

� Chandra Mangalagiri.

has grown globally in the last three decades. The tableware manufacturer is headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, USA and manufactures glass from six locations. It has two facilities in the US (Toledo and Shreveport), two in Europe (Leerdam, The Netherlands and Marinha Grande, Portugal) as well as facilities in Langfang, China, and Monterrey, Mexico. The Monterrey facility is the group’s largest with half of the workforce.

In 2018 the group sold about 1.2 billion pieces of tableware around the globe, with more than 70% of its sales concentrated in North America. The group supplies tabletop products through three sales channels: foodservice, retail, and businessto-business. Libbey is also in the food service business, with products being the largest share of its sales and customers. This sector includes restaurants, bars, hotels, cruise lines, resorts and healthcare facilities. Its retail channel sells to traditional brick and mortar establishments as well as direct to customers through its strong

Libbey Vice President of Global Engineering, Chandra Mangalagiri believes the various glass sectors should collaborate.

He tells Greg Morris such partnerships would drive the industry forward.

online e-commerce presence.

Libbey’s strengths include its global reach with customers in more than 100 countries around the world, outstanding customer service and history of innovation. Its focus on new product development was reflected at a national restaurant show (NRA) last year where it launched 295 new items.

“This demonstrates that we really put product innovation at the forefront,” states Mr. Mangalagiri commenting on the volume of new products.

“When you think of Libbey, you think of best in class products and service. We believe innovation is critical for sustaining momentum with customers and our superior service drives repeat customers.”

Challenges The glass industry faces challenges in the upcoming years in terms of emissions regulations.

On top of that, as any glassmaker knows, there is the ongoing challenge of working in a capital and energy intensive industry.

“In addition to the regulatory challenges, a

� Libbey is headquartered in Toledo, USA.

glassmaker must make furnace rebuild decisions 2-3 years in advance for an asset that will operate for over ten years. I consider this to be an inflexible process. We are investing a large amount of capital for an asset that will supply glass for much longer than the near term that we can forecast market trends. For example, the restaurant industry trend has moved from ‘dine-in’ to ‘take-out’ to ‘delivery’.

Although you can see some macro trends, it is hard to pinpoint a forecast of what the product demand will be.”

Three quarters of the total global glass production comes from four large segments – container, flat glass, tableware and fibre. The majority of these products have existed for more than a century, with glass manufacturers still making the same type of glass.

Some glass products such as TV picture tube has seen disruptive replacements like LCD glass substrates which allowed considerable ongoing growth and profitability because of product innovations, but this is not the case in other sectors. On top of this, there is an excess of capacity and too much competition in the market resulting in commoditisation, lower prices and profits.

Mr. Mangalagiri believes this will force players in the industry to ask themselves ‘how are we differentiating and what product extensions are we introducing so that we can continue to survive in this market where demand for volume exists but the margins do not.’

He believes this is why innovation in the glass industry is critical.

“Step change innovation is needed in both the product space and process technology. Industry has seen process optimisation and automation in the last 2-3 decades but has seen very little product development.”

While speciality glass companies like Schott, Asahi and Corning invest heavily in R&D and show continued product innovation in the glass and materials industry, the traditional glassmakers cannot afford to do so.

What can traditional glassmakers do to sustain profitability and grow markets?

“Different glass companies need to come together to collaborate and conduct joint product/process development where there is no competition. This is almost non-existent today and is a significant opportunity,” states Mr. Mangalagiri.

He believes the glass industry can learn from the tech sector where there is more collaboration which has propelled that industry forward.

There has been a reluctance to collaborate in the past because of intellectual property (IP) protection concerns.

Continued>>

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Company profile: Libbey Glass

1 Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

The three different companies forming the SORG Group combine to offer a unique, all-in-one solution for glass manufacturers. Our market-leading melting and conditioning technologies range from the supply and storage of raw materials through to conditioned glass and cullet return systems.

• BATCH & CULLET TREATMENT • FURNACES • EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE • SERVICES sorg.de

� Libbey has six plants globally and manufactures a variety of tableware glass.

“Libbey is willing to work with other noncompeting glass companies, industry suppliers, and with academia to drive innovation.”

Customer push He believes more innovation will occur in future thanks in part to customer and end consumer push for novel and environmentally friendly products.

Years from now people will still be drinking beverages and eating food from glass - its intrinsic health and environmental qualities will ensure this. But to drive innovation the glass industry must change its way of thinking to drive future technology improvements.

“Innovations will come from what consumers want to see,” he states.

He cites Libbey’s innovations, such as its ClearFire glass which digitised the forming process and its OptiMelt process which, in partnership with Praxair, has reduced energy in the glassmaking process as examples of this. In addition the company has transformed itself from a US centric to a global glassmaker.

In 2017 it also launched an E-commerce retail business which can sell direct through Amazon and other online retail platforms in a bid to capture a larger online audience.

“These are examples of how we are staying ahead of the game. The glass industry must come together to do the same.” �

Libbey Glass, Toledo, Ohio, USA www.libbey.com

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“People are more conservative with sharing in the glass industry because they are concerned about giving away trade secrets and a fear of losing IP. Joint development which is not new, would help share costs, risks and propel advancements much faster than any one company’s investment.”

On top of this, “glass manufacturing decision makers need to be more prominent at industry events,” Mr. Mangalagiri suggests.

While glass scientists, technical managers and operations managers are usually prominent at conferences, the people who decide on capital investments are noticably absent.

“You always see the same people at conferences!

The decision makers in the glassmaking industry don’t attend conferences where we talk about problems. We need to educate the decision makers (typically executives of companies) about why these collaborations are necessary in the industry.

“If decision makers are in the room, the true challenges will come out, and a real discussion, with action, will occur. That doesn’t happen today.”

While there have been technology advances – sometimes in part to equipment supplier innovations – the industry will advance forward if there was more participation from the decision makers. These decision makers tend to work in isolation and push their technical teams to figure out solutions for challenges, and reduce costs and capital argues Mr. Mangalagiri.

“We have to learn from the tech world and change our perspectives.

3 Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

T I N B AT H EXCELLENCE MADE IN G E R M A N Y. JOHANNES ERTL (HEAD OF TIN BATH DEPARTMENT)

Over the last seven years HORN Glass Industries has planned and built seven Tin Baths with capacities from 250 tpd up to 1000 tpd. Our expertise gained from decades of experience in the glass melting business, helps us to find the perfect Tin Bath solution for every project.

All key components are produced in our own manufacturing department in Plößberg/Germany.

WWW.HORNGL ASS.COM

Company profile: IVC

“We are not just putting bricks and machines together, we are building a glass cathedral.

“We feel it is something more than just producing bottles, we want to be the best glass factory for the company.”

Construction of IVC’s glass ‘cathedral’ IVC successfully lit its fifth glass manufacturing furnace at its Piedras Negras, Mexico site last month. Greg Morris visited the site and met the company’s project expansion director, Luis Lema, who says the expansion was the ‘project of his life’.

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Luis Lema

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Company profile: IVC

� The Furnace five expansion project team (above).

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exican glass container manufacturer Industria Vidriera de Coahuila (IVC) has successfully inaugurated the fifth furnace at its Piedras Negras plant.

The beer bottle glassmaker lit the Sorg furnace at a celebration ceremony early last month. It will allow the company to expand its output to 3.5 billion bottles a year.

The combined glass manufacturing site and brewery has grown rapidly in recent years from a single furnace with three production lines in 2014 to a fifth furnace and 16 production lines today.

IVC is a collaboration between glassmaker O-I and brewer Constellation Brands. It manufacturers Corona and Modelo glass beer bottles which are decorated and filled on site before being distributed to the USA. IVC acquired the plant in 2014 and has expanded the site to its current capacity of 2200 tonnes of glass a day.

Overseeing the expansions has been IVC’s Project Expansion Director, Mr Luis Lema. Mr Lema has been employed by O-I for 25 years and in the past has worked for the company on engineering projects in his native Colombia in China and Peru.

He began working for IVC in late 2014 and states that the past five and a bit years have been among the most fulfilling of his career.

“When assigned to a huge expansion such as this

6 Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

� The site makes Corona and Modelo bottles for distribution in the USA.

Continued>>

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Company profile: IVC

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one you realise you are going to be constructing one of the biggest projects in the history of O-I. “This has been the project of my life, it is something special. It has been a wonderful opportunity to reinforce all the engineering concepts and everything that I had learnt in the past.

“When I saw how big the size of this project was going to be, it challenged everything I knew about the glass construction business so it was really a challenge to put it together.

“It is a mega project and as a team we learnt something new every day. Having such a wonderful team has helped achieve the results we have today.”

When Mr Lema first arrived in Piedras Negras, the site was surrounded by ‘lots of green ground.’

Specialists came from the USA and Peru and investigated the needs and design of the facility.

Together they formulated a master plan of how it could be grown.

The job was split between what the team called ‘out of the box’, which was the civil construction, and ‘in the box’, which was the equipment inside the factory such as the furnaces, compressors and cold end equipment.

One requirement was to include plenty of open space inside the facility, meaning no columns would be installed, which could hinder the installation of equipment. It was a concept that Mr Lema had seen in successful use at an O-I plant in Peru. That building was only 47-metres wide but IVC wanted it to be 55-metres wide.

Mr Lema outlined the dilemma to his team of structural engineers who rose to the challenge and successfully built the required specification. It means there is plenty of open space for workers to move around.

“Communication is key in a glass factory so we were able to have all the open space between the hot and cold end. It is easy to move around, to facilitate maintenance and it helps in the process of double checking that everything is running smoothly in the factory,” said Mr Lema.

FAST FACTS: IVC PRODUCTION SITE FIVE FURNACES (ALL SORG) 16 PRODUCTION LINES (ALL EMHART) 2200 TONNES PER DAY GLASSMAKING CAPACITY 3.5 BILLION BOTTLES A YEAR OUTPUT IVC, PIEDRAS NEGRAS, COAHULIA, MEXICO The factory today is the same as how the original sketches were outlined when Mr Lema and his team planned the expansion.

The original idea had been to only build up to furnace four but such was the success of the factory, the decision was made to install a fifth furnace.

The company contracted its technology suppliers from its previous furnace projects for the new oven. These included Germany’s EME and Sorg for the batch house and furnace, Emhart, Antonini, Tiama, AGR International and Zecchetti.

Other suppliers to the site include Sheppee International, Zippe, Pneumofore and Strutz International.

The new furnace will increase the number of bottles produced at the plant from 7.5 million a day to 9.5 million. Before furnace five was lit, approximately 70% of production was of Corona bottles and 30% Modelo, but this will change to 60% Corona and 40% Modelo when furnace five reaches full production.

The fifth furnace was lit on Wednesday Feb 10 and was a proud moment for the team.

Mr Lema said: “I have been blessed to have the opportunity to work with such a talented team. They are professional people, being able to accomplish this job here on site.

“We are not just putting bricks and machines together, we are building a glass cathedral.

Continued>>

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Company profile: IVC

Safety At its peak the furnace five project had 850 people working on site, including contractors. Safety was a priority and a request was made to ensure one safety supervisor for every 20 workers. At the same time the company increased its safety team to overlook the supervisors and organised a safety committee to meet each week. As a result accidents during the project were negligible and the company recently achieved 1 million man hours without accidents.

Many of the 1100 staff at the site were unfamiliar with glassmaking before they started working at IVC. The company has adopted the O-I manufacturing fundamentals and each new member of staff is given a mentor and full training. It uses O-I guides and manuals for to help aid staff in their glassmaking development. They will also be sent to another O-I glassmaking facility before

� Bottom: Luis Lema (left) with Greg Morris at the Piedras Negras site.

they start working with the company to enhance their knowledge.

“We have 1100 staff so there is a lot of training involved and we follow the O-I manufacturing fundamentals to produce top quality bottles. At the same time it's a challenge to keep the factory in good shape. When you walk through the factory it is clean, it is organised and staff are very proud of taking good care of the facility.”

Many staff are from the region and are graduates from some of the regional universities, which IVC has formed links with. There is also a focus on employing more women – 10% of staff are female, which is a high figure compared to other glass plants.

The next steps of the furnace five project are to stabilise production and to try and match and then improve on the 93% pack to melt rate achieved by colleagues on furnace three at the site.

For the expansion team it is a case of wait and see what happens next. There is talk of a furnace six but this is not confirmed yet.

“It’s been an amazing journey and I think the factory shines as a brand new idea and example of a model that has been successful.

“Every bottle produced goes to the brewery, they are expecting more bottles from us, that's why Furnace five was born because they required more bottles for the brewery. We fell we’ve given them an iconic bottle that represents Mexico in the world.” �

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“We feel it is something more than just producing bottles, we want to be the best glass factory for the company. The team has been up for the challenge and I am very proud of having these professionals work with me and working together.”

“This is a standout glass plant. We have one of the world’s largest brewers and one of the largest glassmakers. They have requested so many bottles and of the highest quality so we had to raise the bar.”

9

Women in glassmaking

George Lewis spoke to a variety of women to find out why there is a lack of females in the industry and what can be done to improve diversity.

Women in the glass industry

EMMA SANTI, BATCH & FURNACE MANAGER AT O-I WINGLES, FRANCE

“Companies should use PROFESSOR ALICIA DURAN, PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON GLASS (ICG).

“Women have been neglected for generations in the science sector.

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social media and other communication channels to promote the women that

”

are already working with

”

them.

Women in glassmaking

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e speak to different women who work throughout the glass industry, in different areas from hot end to quality control in the cold end to scientific research.

They explain how they got into the glass industry, why they decided to have this career and how the industry can be better equipped for future generations to follow suit.

A look back in time Professor Alicia Duran has spent her whole career in the industry and is President of the International Commission on Glass (ICG). She suggests women have been neglected for generations in the science sector.

For more than 25 years, Professor Duran has served as Secretary of the Glass Section of the Spanish Ceramic and Glass Society.

She was named Phoenix Committee Glass Person of the Year 2019 for her dedication to glass research. She has published more than 250 articles and

books throughout her career.

She states that the history of women in science has always been poor. Professor Rosalind Franklin obtained the first X-ray image of DNA but her male colleagues Watson, Crick and Wilkins received the Nobel Prize. Jocelyn Bell discovered pulsars but her male Ph.D. thesis Director was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Despite Marie Curie twice winning the Nobel Prize, only 3% of prizes in medicine, physics or chemistry have been awarded to women.

In her presentation at the British Glass Focus conference in Sheffield in November 2019, Professor Duran said there was a ‘glass ceiling’ for women in having the ability to access the top jobs in a company.

Professor Duran also mentioned there is also a ‘sticky floor’ – a problem that women face in remaining in the same job ‘with no escape’ such as promotion to another role or stuck due to personal life such as giving birth and maternity leave.

But while history suggests that gender equality was worse in previous generations, it is still happening today.

Just last year, there was only one woman for every nine men in the ‘elite’ of European science. European women scientists are said to occupy few decisionmaking positions.

Professor Duran argues gender equality increases creativity, efficiency and competitiveness.

MARIA FERRACCIOLI, QUALITY CONTROL GROUP MANAGER AT BORMIOLI PHARMA, ITALY

“The important aspect is the character of a person, whether it’s a man or woman.”

Emma Santi, who works as the Batch & Furnace Manager at Owens-Illinois (OI) discovered glass during her Master’s Degree in a French engineering school that specialised in ceramic materials.

Ms Santi said working in ceramic materials meant some optional courses were orientated on glass and she knew from the moment she took those classes, that it would be of interest to her.

She entered the glass industry through her final internship in 2017, in which the former Batch and Furnace Manager at O-I Wingles gave her chance to discover the industry from the inside. From that, O-I offered her a Junior Batch and Furnace Engineer position at its Veauche plant, in France before returning to Wingles to become the Batch and Furnace Manager.

She now manages a team of seven men.

Before entering the glass industry, she thought it was impossible was to find a Continued>>

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Why glass?

11 Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

ANNIE CHAUX, DECORATING AND PACKAGING MANAGER, AT IVC, MEXICO

“Women in leadership positions at IVC shows our contribution and professional value.”

position in the production part, especially at the hot end.

She said: “Glass is a beautiful and fascinating material. There are so many possibilities in terms of types of glass, forming methods, application.

This industry seemed really attractive, dynamic and full of surprise.”

Lieke de Cock, who joined Dutch process optimisation consultancy group CelSian Glass & Solar after graduating said: “I was not considering the glass industry at all and I was hesitant to start in this industry at first.

“A colleague took me to visit a glass plant and I was immediately hooked!”

She said the ‘clean shining fresh glass rolling over the bands going out’, and the ‘overwhelming heat and hot and hard labour that is necessary to create such a clear and clean product’, left a lasting impression on her.

The fascination surrounding glass also swept some who had not been interested in glass from a younger age.

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Erika Ferrari, Executive Sales Manager for BDF Industries, previously worked within the construction industry and was looking for a new start but it was the pull of working within glass that attracted her.

Annie Chaux, the Decorating and Packaging Manager at Mexican container glass manufacturer IVC began working in the industry after finishing a mechatronics degree.

She began her career in Colombia at the Covet factory in Bogota on 2010 before being hired by O-I in 2011 as the Decorating Area Manager for the Tableware plant in Buga.

She now leads more than 200 people in the production and maintenance areas of the company, while her responsibilities include 40 decorating machines and 13 packaging lines for four glass furnaces.

Equal opportunity Saint-Gobain has said it has introduced systems to encourage the recruitment of women and to support their advancement

at all levels within the group.

As a result, the number of women managers across the company has risen from 17% to 24%.

Increasingly, companies provide funds to bring more equal opportunities to the organisation such as better safety clothing designed particualry for women.

Most interviewed believed that women are under-represented in certain parts of the glass industry. Ms Santi believes that in areas such as R&D or sales, there are more opportunities for women.

She said: “On the production side of the glass industry there are only a few women. The atmosphere is really hot, dirty, full of heavy mechanics, therefore some people (both men and women) don’t think it’s not the proper place for a woman. Mentalities need to change, and it can start by hiring more women at the cold end at first.”

Hiring more women in these types of role could lead to a generational mentality change, she suggests.

Maria Ferraccioli, Quality Control Group Manager at Italian pharmaceutical packaging company Bormioli Pharma, said despite women being underrepresented in the industry, the ‘important aspect is the character of a person, whether it’s a man or woman’.

Bormioli Pharma owns two pharmaceutical glassworks in Bergantino and San Vito al Tagliamento in Italy.

She said: “Glass is a fascinating and difficult material, which has always intrigued me. Working it, printing it, decorating it: these are complex procedures that require specific skills. The important thing is to put passion into what you do, not matter who you are and what you do in life.”

She also believes a company should evaluate the best employee to hire based on his/her skills and character, regardless of their gender.

Women comprise approximately 10% of employees at IVC, a number which has steadily grown in recent years, said Ms Chaux.

She said: “Women in leadership positions at IVC shows our contribution and professional value.

“I have colleagues in different departments who are leaders, who I admire since they have achieved satisfactory results in all types of projects, which characterises them in a sense of belonging and persistence.”

Continued>>

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Women in glassmaking

ERIKA FERRARI, EXECUTIVE SALES MANAGER, BDF INDUSTRIES

“The pull of working in the glass industry was too hard to turn down.

The increase of women could lead younger generations to join the industry.

Companies should use social media and other communication channels to promote the women that are already working with them, said Ms Santi.

She said: “Show some tangible examples, interview them, let them testify about how they see their job and how they feel about it. Younger women most of the time needs role models to realise they can choose this way.”

Ms de Cock added that the interesting challenges that are facing the industry could attract youngsters to have a career in glass.

Ms Chaux believes companies should also approach universities and high schools to show the young generations how exciting glassmaking can be as a way of getting more women into the industry.

She said: “If they want to receive challenges and take on responsibilities that impact the business, they are the ones that are needed in the industry.

“Not only in this type of industry but in any place where we show that we are able to get what we set out to do and that tenacity is a characteristic that identifies us and we should promote it.”

Optimism Ms Santi says that what she sees at O-I and in other glass companies where some of her friends work makes her optimistic.

She said: “There is certainly a need for a better communication on female positions in the glass industry, especially production, where prejudices are

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”

tough. If such jobs remain confidential, mentalities won’t change, and women won’t be thought about for such opportunities.

“But mentalities have begun their transformation, sometimes faster in some places than others. If women continue to pave the way, and believe in their capacities, there’s no reason it will stop.”

Saint-Gobain has said it would like to see 25% women managers in 2020 and 25% female executives by 2025.

Ms Ferraccioli added that there has been a considerable opening towards female workers areas considered a ‘man’s job’ until just a few years ago.

She said that ‘in glassware women aim to always increase their skills and push themselves into ‘less feminine’ work areas, while on the other hand, companies nowadays tend to value people more by their skills and way of working’.

Ms de Cock said that she is optimistic of change, but thinks that it will take a long time: “Changes are visible but slow.”

Ms Chaux said: “Gradually the glass companies have diversified since women are achieving great results in accordance with the business expectations.”

Ms Ferraccioli added: “I believe there are no limitations for women who want

to join the glass sector, and that there simply must be the desire to always question oneself, to never give in to the first obvious cause of defect. ”It’s an industry that is never just as it seems, but that is actually noisy and ‘dirty’ and yet it manages to create a ‘perfect’ product.”

Outlook Ms de Cock believes it is not something that is up to companies to change, but it is up to society in general.

She said: “People are more likely to hire people who are like themselves.

“So if it is a male-dominated industry, more men will be selected for vacancies than women.

“I don’t think that we should have women quota, but be aware of the easy way and try something off the beaten track every now and then.”

And Ms Santi concluded: “Gender equality is a key subject for the young generation.

“If the industry shows them there are more women in every area of industry, young people will better identify themselves to companies with such a philosophy.” �

LIEKE DE COCK, FURNACE SUPPORT, CELSIAN GLASS & SOLAR, THE NETHERLANDS

“A colleague took me to visit a glass plant and I was immediately hooked!”

Company profile: Piramal Glass

Piramal Glass’s transformation to a digital glass manufacturer

W

hen the Microsoft CEO gave a conference paper about the digital transformation at Piramal Glass, it was one of the proudest moments of Poorav Sheth’s time at the company.

The Indian container glassmaker had been working with the world’s largest computer software company on its digital journey. So successful was the partnership, that Microsoft leader, Satya Nadella, discussed the company’s digital transformation to a number of global CEOs at a global conference.

For Piramal Glass’s Chief Digital Officer and Chief Information Officer (Pictured above) the moment represented validation of what the company had achieved in recent years.

Vision While terminology such as Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Smart Manufacturing seemed like something from a science fiction film just a few years ago, they are part of Piramal Glass’s vocabularly today.

This was in part thanks to its Vice-Chairman, Vijay Shah, who predicted that such technology could disrupt industry and bring extra efficiencies

to the glassmaking process.

Mr Sheth joined the company nearly four years ago after a career previously working with an IT service provider helping customers with their digital transformation. After meeting Mr Vijay Shah, Piramal Glass Vice Chairman, he was excited by his vision.

Mr Sheth said: “When I joined it was a clean slate approach. The role was how to leverage some of these emerging or new age technologies to transform the business, so that was the overall charter.”

Although Mr Sheth was a newcomer to the glass industry he was familiar with manufacturing thanks to his family background. He set about gaining as much glass knowledge as possible.

“The glass industry has few reference points so it was not like joining the auto industry and talking to people to find out what the industry is like.

Glass is niche industry and a lot of things I found on my own. The first three months were discovery, understanding the business and the process, it was very interesting.”

Piramal Glass forged a digital strategy and worked with partners to identify some of the processes where digital technology could be applied.

Mr Sheth visited plants and offices in other industries to gain an idea of how digital could be used in glassmaking. A series of workshops were organised with the company’s business teams to pinpoint where digital could be implemented.

A total of 60 cases throughout the business were identified where digital could be leveraged to improve the business. These were prioritised and the company set about implementation. It focused on four themes: smart manufacturing, smart supply chain, a digital workplace and the customer experience.

Mr Sheth said: “Our overall vision is how to make Piramal Glass an insight-driven organisation, to transform customer experience, to enhance operation experience and generate new revenue models by leveraging digital technology.”

Continued>>

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Piramal Glass describes itself as a trailblazer in the use of digital technology in glassmaking. Working with global brands such as Microsoft, it has transformed its operational procedures to include digital technoplogy in the manufacturing process. Greg Morris spoke to its CDO and CIO, Poorav Sheth.

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FAST FACTS � Piramal Glass produces 1,375 tonnes of glass per day on 60 production lines. � It has a corporate office in Mumbai, with manufacturing plants in Kosamba and Jambusar, both in Gujarat, India. Its Sri Lankan glass plant is in Horana and its US plant in Missouri. Its decoration facility is also in Kosamba. � Its use of RTMI has reduced manual data gathering by 40%, resulting in a 25% improvement in employee productivity.

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Smart manufacturing Like many glass plants, its sites used to use a lot of paper and manual processes.

In 2017 the digital team piloted three production lines at its Kosamba, Gujarat plant in India, integrated them with digital equipment and connected them to the cloud. It used Microsoft Azure IoT platforms to get real-time visibility into its manufacturing operations and analyse the defects at various stages.

To facilitate the transformation, Websym, a Microsoft partner, brought in its plant monitoring system hosted on Microsoft Azure.

Using Azure IoT Hub, data from equipment and high-speed production line sensors was pushed to the cloud for further analysis.

With its technology partners Piramal Glass developed a Real Time Manufacturing Insights (RTMI) solution, to provide losses, production reports and quality control workflows, as well as KPIs on the personal computers and smartphones of plant personnel.

Alerts are sent through SMS, email, and push notifications whenever there is an anomaly detected or a drop in production efficiency.

Such was RTMI’s success that it was then upscaled to 60 production lines at Piramal Glass’s plants in India, Sri Lanka and the US, within six months.

“RTMI for us besides being a visibility, workflow and dashboard tool, is also a source of data for us, and with the data we are using we can create machine-learning models.”

The company is pushing the data to a larger platform and building AI models which can predict certain things such as quality failures and what the

16 Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

best parameters are for certain job runs. Similarly the data can be integrated with a furnace – known as the furnace digital twin – for more analysis such as correcting the temperature and reducing energy consumption.

The technology brought many benefits, with the most notable its production efficiency.

“Depending on which product or production line, this was 1 to 2% in the first year which in the glass industry is a big deal.”

Digital journey While the company has made massive progress on its digital journey there is still some way to go before it reaches its destination.

“We are the trailblazers because we have taken a lot of early decisions in moving in this direction.

“But we are still some way away in terms of the ideal state. We recently started acquiring the data and building the models but implementing them, operationalising them, and peaking them is something that will take a period of time.”

He is keen to stress that humans still have a vital role to play in the glassmaking process.

Training has taken place to upscale employees and familiarise them with the new processes.

It has organised a digital champions training programme which has helped train people from production process on ways of working with the new technology.

“We want some of the key operations people to be upskilled enough to take on some of these key data science initiatives.

“We want to augment the decision making to employees and help them make the right decision at the right time. Technology and data will help them make the correct decision.

“Glassmaking is an art and what we are doing is blending the science with the art.”

Supply chain It has also modified other areas of the organisation.

Using telematics, a product can be tracked from the moment it leaves a glass plant until it reaches a customer.

Continued>>

So even if it is on a ship in the middle of the ocean Piramal can confidently tell a customer where a glass container is and when they are due to receive it.

Similarly, its warehouses have complete tracking systems enabling complete traceability of products.

The company has an innovation hub where employees are invited to submit ideas through their smart phones or desktop. It has been running for three years and has so far generated 16,000 ideas of which, 250 were converted into projects.

It has also formed a digital classroom which has been particialry beneficial for hard to replicate training, such as furnace maintenance. It has also built a virtual reality platform which allows people to tour the plant and interact with its workings.

Glass is regarded as a Business to Business industry, but Piramal has introduced Business to Consumer elements to its customer experience, including an app of its product range.

It has also built an entire Virtual Reality headset application where customers can get a 360 degrees tour of plant.

“A lot of customers want to visit plants, but due to coronavirus they cannot travel, so this is an ideal way to see the plants,” states Mr Sheth.

One big focus as a result of the cyber implementation has been its cyber security. It has

worked with Microsoft and other vendors to ensure it is not vulnerable to an attack by hackers. It has a chief information security officer as well as a technology architecture team, that validates both its information technology and its operational technology. While its customer base is sometimes thousands of miles away in places such as France, the new technologies have enabled it to become closer to its customer.

Giant strides have been made by Piramal Glass in a relatively short space of time. But more advances - such as the increased use of robotics - will be commonplace in the future states Mr Sheth.

“If you can blend humans, robotics and AI to work seamlessly, I think that is the end goal.” �

Piramal Glass, Mumbai, India www.piramalglass.com

CONNECTING THE INTERNATIONAL GLASSMAKING INDUSTRY Published ten times a year, Glass International brings you a wealth of valuable information on the hollow, container, flat, and speciality glassmaking industry

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Glass International July 2020 - 28/07/2020 Digital Edition 08:36

Company profile: Glass & Glass

As one of Mexico’s newest players on the glass container making block, Glass & Glass has enjoyed a rapid rise. Now it is set to go one step further with a new furnace which will triple capacity, and plans to export to Mexico’s biggest neighbour. Greg Morris spoke to its General Director, Raymundo Morales.

� The Glass & Glass site in Tamaulipas.

www.glass-international.com

Glass & Glass to triple capacity with furnace investment G lass & Glass’s rapid growth as a glassmaker has been eyecatching.

From humble beginnings in 2011 as a single-furnace container glass manufacturer the Mexican company has grown at a rapid pace – and now plans to build a second furnace to keep pace with demand.

The group specialises in the production of perfume and cosmetics bottles for the domestic market but has its sights on overseas geographies, with Mexico’s neighbour the USA featuring prominently in its plans.

Glass & Glass is based in Tamaulipas, Mexico and was the brainchild of Mexican entrepreneur Juan Carlos Pena Garcia.

He originally started a decoration facility in 2009, capable of spraying and screen printing.

Work began on constructing its first container glass line. The single 100 tonnes a day furnace was lit in 2011 and production to its four lines began in January 2012.

Today, its General Director is Raymundo Morales. While Mr Morales is relatively new to the company, having started in January this year, he is a glass manufacturing veteran of more than 30 years.

18 Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

He has known Mr Pena for 21 years and said: “While Juan Carlos’s origins were not in glass, he loves glass now. He started the business very young and he has done very well to build a company up from nothing. He has the perfume and cosmetic company and he has the glass factory completely aligned under the same umbrella.”

In recent years, before the pandemic, Glass & Glass had seen demand for its products increase, up to 25 million units a year for one product alone. But the glass manufacturer does not only manufacture perfume bottles.

It is a specialist in high quality flint glass and while perfumes comprise 35% of production, the manufacture of spirits and liquor bottles makes up about 40% of production. The remaining 25% is focused on tableware production such as tequila shots, drinking glasses and candle jar production.

It can offer, for example, 100,000 to 150,000 pieces for special tequila or mezcal brands.In line with the personalisation trend prevalenet among its perfume clients, Glass & Glass can provide a more personalised offering thanks to its in-house decoration services.

It has started initial construction of a second furnace of 200 tonnes per day capacity, which will

Company profile: Glass & Glass

increase the company’s capacity to 300 tonnes per day. The furnace is due to be lit early next year and feed three production lines.

The trade war between the USA and China has been in the news recently and it has resulted in more duties on Chinese glass bottles imported into the US. Glass & Glass believes the situation it provides an opportunity to glassmakers such as itself.

“There is a necessity for glass containers in the world right now. There are fees on Chinese glass containers into the US, so all the main distributors in the US are looking for a new source of glass

� Left: Mr Raymundo Morales

Above Right: The new warehouse

warehouse and distribution centre. The warehouse, conveniently located adjacent to the factory, was built in expectation of the group’s expansion.

From here its glass bottles are distributed across Mexico as well as the US. Approximately 90% of production is currently distributed to Mexico and the remaining 10% to neighbouring countries.

Similar to the first furnace, the new oven will be a gas-air furnace. While the engineering for the new furnace project will be locally sourced, the Continued>>

www.glass-international.com

containers,” said Mr Morales.

He admits it is a big leap for the group to export to the US but one it is prepared for. About 70% of the new furnace capacity is earmarked for export.

The company’s strength is its flexibility as well as its capability in manufacturing small runs and niche items.

“We are not competing with the large companies, they produce in volume, we want to go with added value and niche. We produce small runs, up to big volumes and we want to be very flexible to customers,” said Mr Morales.

“We want to be viable to our customers and offer a more personal touch.”

It can offer, for example, 100,000 to 150,000 pieces for special tequila or mescal brands while for the larger companies require a run of 200,000 items minimum.

In line with the personalisation trend that is a highlight of the Fraiche company, Glass & Glass can provide a more personalised offering thanks to its in-house decoration services. It has two spray lines as well as automatic printing machines from Fermac and Tecno 5, both of Italy.

As well as the forthcoming furnace, the group has recently completed an expansion of its

19 Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

www.glass-international.com

Company profile: Glass & Glass

technology providers will be either European or US. It counts Bottero, Tiama and Iris Inspection as partners on its container side and Waltec as a partner on its tableware side.

It is the first time the company has embarked on a new furnace project and is one that Mr Morales is looking forward to.

Mr Morales spent more than 30 years working at fellow Mexican container glass manufacturer Vitro. One of those he worked alongside for much of that time was engineer Jesus Sandoval.

The pair are colleagues again at Glass & Glass now, and Jesus has been entrusted with managing the expansion project.

Mr Morales said: “We have a strong experienced team of glassmakers. We can give our experience, support and knowledge in order to make this company an important organisation in the glass industry in Mexico.”

Although relatively new to the company Mr Morales is already impressed by what he has seen. “The facility was built thinking for the future. Juan Carlos has looked at the small things and wants to build a strong company.”

While he has known Juan Carlos for a number of years it is the first time they have worked together.

“We always said would do something together but we didn’t know when. This was the right time to join the team, he invited me and I’m very proud to be here.”

While working for Vitro, Mr Morales was involved in a variety of glassmaking processes including production, decoration and quality. He was also plant manager of its Cosmos unit, and was responsible for its move from downtown Mexico to its current location in Toluca, Mexico in 2007.

He also spent four years working for Pavisa based in Mexico City and worked for Piramal Glass in

20 Glass International July 2020 - Digital Edition

Missouri. But after a stint in the USA he felt it was time to return home to be closer to family, as well as to share his knowledge and experience with a new generation of glassmakers.

“Glass has been a passion and I’ve had it since my first year of working in a glass factory. You can never quit you are always thinking about it.

“I’m constantly being told I have spent 38 years in the glass industry and that I should rest at home but I cannot do that, there is a pull every day that I must be at the factory no matter what, it is like a magnet that keeps pulling me in.

“I like to share my experience with my colleagues, particularly young people, I tell them they can make a career in glass. If you are a glassmaker you can live from the glass all your life and can have a long and satisfying career.” �

Glass & Glass, Tamaulipas, Mexico www.glass-glass.com.mx/en/