Extensive presence at China Glass - Glaston to show latest thinking in glass processing

At the 20th China International Glass Industrial and Technical Exhibition (China Glass) Glaston shows its latest generation of products, technology and services.

At Glaston's extensive stand the leading brands Tamglass, Bavelloni, Uniglass and Albat+Wirsam are joined together. The latest thinking in modern glass processing and especially architectural applications can be experienced in the Virtual Factory.

This year Glaston has a stronger than ever presence at China Glass, because Asia, and particularly China, has a special priority in Glaston's strategy.

"China is not only a big market, it also has the biggest growth expectations in the world. We have made strategic investments in China during the past years. In 2007 our factory in Tianjing was inaugurated. In 2008 we continued to strengthen our presence, and a new market area was formed for North Asia, with Chinese management being recruited led by Frank Zhang, General Manager of North Asia, to support our customers and grow our business in this region", says Mika Seitovirta, President & CEO of Glaston Corporation.

Glaston expanding its product portfolio in China

In 2008 Glaston began the manufacturing of several Pre-processing and Heat Treatment products in Tianjin. "Our goal is to offer products better tailored to this market and to increase our expertise in the area. At this exhibition the cutting line Syncro line MFS 37/27 and double edger PowerEdge VX/10 3000, the first double edger really focusing on Low-E glass grinding, are on display. Both machines are manufactured at Glaston Tianjin", says Frank Zhang, General Manager of Glaston North Asia.

This year the product portfolio of the Glaston Tianjin factory has also been complemented with the proven tempering technology of Glaston USA. In the segment of high capacity and performance glass tempering, like appliance and architectural products, the Continuous Flat Tempering furnace (CHF™) complements the existing GHF Super™, GHF Convection™ and ProE CCS™ product families in flat glass tempering. Furthermore, the CHF™ meets the high and special quality requirements set for Solar Power applications. The patented double chamber convection solution with ProE CCS™ has been widely accepted by Low-E glass processing industry.

Glaston puts on display at China Glass its wide range of Bavelloni Diamond wheels including both metallic and resin diamond and polishing tools. The Glaston Bavelloni tools are now produced in China offering the widest range of grinding cup wheels.

Glaston Software Solutions bundles up the machines while offering premium software systems for planning, controlling and optimizing the complete range of the glass processing business- and production processes.

Focus on customer relations

In this challenging market situation Glaston puts strong focus on customer relations.

"At Glaston we want to have a deep understanding of all markets and of our customer's business. This can only be obtained through a close customer relationship. We recently announced to set up Product Engineering Team in our Tianjin factory in order to localize and develop the products more effectively to address local customer needs here. Also, the integration of the business areas Pre-processing and Heat Treatment into a new Machines business area working closely together with our re-organized global sales team aims at simplifying our customers' interaction with us. The integration will also improve our operational efficiency and our ability to respond to customer's changing needs", says Mika Seitovirta.