Decarbonization, digitalization, and tackling the shortage of skilled workers are currently important areas of focus in the glass industry. Under the motto "Shape your Future Glass Production — a holistic approach from hot to cold", Grenzebach will address these topics at glasstec 2024 on Stand C43 in Hall 15, presenting technical solutions from the hot end to the cold end that contribute to more sustainable and future-oriented glass production.

Digitalization is one of the subjects Grenzebach will be focusing on at the trade fair. Grenzebach demonstrates how productivity and quality can be improved through digital solutions. The generated and analyzed data also makes digitalization an additional tool for production managers and operators. With its new lehr design, the company has created another innovative solution offering substantial energy savings. This year, customers will again have the opportunity to find out about Grenzebach's high-performance, future-oriented services that can help them remain competitive in the long term.

"We are delighted not only to be able to showcase our technological innovations, but also to demonstrate how we can work in partnership with our customers to tackle future issues together. Complex challenges are often difficult to overcome alone. Together we can find the solutions that will make the future of glass production sustainable, but also more efficient," says Markus Gruber, Senior Vice President Business Unit Glass at Grenzebach.

SERICY digitalization platform — improving productivity, quality, and process reliability

The SERICY digitalization platform enables previously unused data to be recorded, processed, and analyzed at field level. Production areas that were previously considered separate, but whose individual parameters influence each other overall and thus represent a complex interplay, are now networked with each other. This enables production managers and plant managers to gain deeper insights for better decisions in production.

In order to exploit the potential of digitalization, it is necessary to create full transparency along the value chain. To achieve this, the field equipment and process areas must be enabled to provide data to the SERICY platform in order to have it collected and stored at one central spot. These data and process values help customers create various reports. By the help of the recipe management app process and machine settings can be stored, assigned to a certain production scenario and recalled when needed once again.

Based on the data collection and systematization necessary for implementing the digitalization of glass production, targeted data analyses can be carried out, which in turn identify deviations in the production process quickly and precisely. Data evaluation and trend recognition using artificial intelligence (AI) even allow entire error patterns to be identified, patterns to be recognized in the data, and conclusions to be drawn regarding potential causes. AI can translate this evaluation into recommendations for action for the respective operators in order to directly improve quality and productivity.

Enjoy significant energy savings with the new roller annealing lehr

At glasstec 2024, Grenzebach will be presenting new findings from practical tests on the new annealing lehr, which the company unveiled at glasstec 2022. The new annealing lehr offers significant energy savings due to its efficient cooling capacity and more precise control of the heating and cooling sections. This, in addition to the improved insulation, leads to a reduction in the primary energy required and facilitates the decarbonization of glass production process. The low-steel design contributes to a lower carbon dioxide footprint during the production of the annealing lehr. Visitors can gain a detailed insight into how the new annealing lehr works at first hand at the exhibit on display.

Partnership-based cooperation for future-oriented glass production

Grenzebach fosters close partnerships with customers. The company draws on an in-depth understanding of systems and comprehensive process know-how to develop innovative solutions tailored directly to the challenges faced by customers. Grenzebach's global presence enables close cooperation and personalized support for customers worldwide. "glasstec offers a great opportunity to jointly shape the future of glass production in direct dialog with our customers, and to think ahead with sustainable solutions. At this year's glasstec trade fair, visitors can experience in real time how working in partnership can lead to technically innovative solutions, resulting in more efficient and sustainable glass production. We look forward to welcoming many guests to booth C43 in Hall 15. Anyone who would like to find out more is welcome to make personal appointments with our experts today," says Markus Gruber.

 

Other products and topics at the Grenzebach booth

Dross box
The innovative Grenzebach dross box — suitable for temperatures of up to 850  C in the premium version — offers motor-adjustable lift-out rollers, optimized atmosphere separation and temperature distribution, and much more.

Glass transport
The process of glass transportation has been redesigned for the solar glass industry. The sheets can now be moved laterally without lifting and the associated height changes. For customers, this means reduced cycle times compared to conventional angle transfer conveyors. The new Mecanum conveyor is more flexible, with the ability to travel straight ahead, perpendicularly or at an angle.

Power & Energy systems
As part of the Grenzebach Group, Millennium Control Systems will be presenting its Power & Energy systems, as well as automation solutions. The showcase at glasstec will feature a control cabinet for supplying power to a glass production facility.

High-performance services
Customers can discover a range of individual and high-performance services enabling maximum availability for their glass production facilities. Visitors to the stand will also find out from Grenzebach how upgrade services can not only extend service life, but also contribute to sustainability.