Pilkington Finland enhances line performance with Glaston’s CNC96 upgrade

Established in 1949, Pilkington Automotive Finland delivers high-quality glass wind-shields that improve the safety, efficiency and comfort of the vehicle operators and passengers. With two plants in Finland, the company works closely with its customers to develop new and innovative products for their chosen markets. The company’s Laitila plant in south-western Finland specializes in laminated wind-shields primarily for buses and special transport vehicles, such as off-road tractors and harvesters.

In 2006, Pilkington Automotive Finland became part of the Japanese NSG Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of glass and glass products. NSG Group manufactures glass products and solutions under the Pilkington brand for the world’s leading car manufacturers, the construction industry and the technical market.

“We decided to extend the lifetime of our Bystronic (now Glaston) automotive glass cutting equipment with a Glaston CNC96 upgrade kit and ensure that we can continue to get spare parts,” said Matti Säynäväjärvi, Technical Services Group Leader, Pilkington Automotive Finland, Laitila plant.

Significantly lengthening old line life
In autumn 2023, the Laitila plant decided to upgrade its nearly 30-year-old glass cutting line with a Glaston CNC96 retrofit. The main driver for the decision was that many of the components were reaching the end of their life, and replacements would no longer be available in the future.

Running ahead of schedule
The upgrade was commissioned in August 2024 when the factory underwent a total maintenance shutdown for a few weeks.

“Such a total production shutdown is very rare for our Laitila plant, but it gave us sufficient time to carry out this particular upgrade project,” Matti said.

They planned one week for installation and one week for testing. Everything proceeded on time without any delays. Production was even possible before expected.

Easier for operators
“Once the upgrade commissioning was completed, running the line went better for our operators than I expected,” said Eerik Meriö, Automation Engineer at the Laitila plant, who led the CNC96 update project. “The new interface was easy to use and simpler than the earlier one. By working with Glaston closely, our operators quickly learned how to run the upgraded machine.”

The processed glass quality has remained at the same high level as before. The one real noticeable difference is that the machine is now more reliable.