In this issue
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
These days, energy is valuable in
more ways than one – we can’t live our everyday lives
without it but the monetary and environmental costs of
using it are continually rising.
Here at Heye International, one of our primary goals
is to work with our customers in reducing energy
consumption by making their production lines even more
efficient. This is one of the guiding philosophies
behind the Heye Technical Assistance Agreement.
We make our knowledge, experience and expertise
available to our partners, providing them with the
latest developments in processes, machinery and
techniques, as well as direct consultation with our
large pool of in-house experts. This collaboration
results in increased Pack to Time ratios and overall
production efficiency.
In this way, Heye International is helping to cut the
energy usage of the container glass industry, reduce
costs for our customers and preserve our precious
environment.
Imprint
Heye International GmbH
Lohplatz 1
31683
Obernkirchen
Germany
T: +49 5724 26-452
F: +49
5724 12 88
management@heye-international.com
www.heye-international.com
Ust-Ident-NR DE 220504231 |
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Reflection and
Outlook for 2011
 Spring is well and truly in the air
and, here at Heye International, we find ourselves
asking where the first part of the year has gone? The
answer is simple – we have been enjoying our work so
much that we haven’t noticed the time flying by!
I am delighted to be able to tell you that we have
had a very strong start to 2011, advancing ongoing
projects, building on existing customer relationships
and opening new doors whenever possible. The first third
of the year has been both exciting and rewarding, and
all the indications are that 2011 will be a fantastic
year for Heye and its partners.
However, 2011 has not all been good, as the world
media has shown us through its coverage of the events in
Japan. We join with everyone in sending our most
heartfelt thoughts to all those affected and are only
too happy to assist them in some small way by making a
donation to the international aid effort. We are
heartened by the way in which the whole world has
rallied to help those in need in Japan and look forward
to celebrating the recovery of this strongest of nations
and her people, which will make 2011 truly a great
year.
Yours,
Dirk Pörtner
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Single-stage forming research
project
Heye International is proud to
be an integral part of the new, government-sponsored
EinFormGlas research project, exploring the viability of
single-stage forming. Dr Michael Kellner, Heye’s
Director of Research & Development and a key advisor
on the project, suggests that the goal should be a
modular system, capable of integration into existing
production lines, as the development of a stand-alone
machine could take 5-10 years.
One of the biggest challenges to
glass as a packaging material is weight reduction.
Traditional container glass manufacture employs a
two-stage forming process, which uses a generous amount
of glass and has the advantage that heat-retention
allows minor surface imperfections to heal during
production.
 This self-healing does not occur in
single-stage forming, leading to a lower overall
consistency of production quality. Therefore, a primary
goal of this project is to optimise the integrity and
stability of the final product by, for example,
eliminating sand accumulation or dust build-up in the
furnace. This allows the creation of totally homogeneous
batches. A further challenge is to avoid the occurrence
of asymmetries in the gob, which requires an even
temperature distribution within the glass. New advances
in other areas, such as mould lubrication, are also
important.
This first stage of the
EinFormGlas project aims to reduce wall thicknesses by a
third to only 0.7-0.8mm. It further consolidates the
position of German glass machine manufacturers as global
leaders and advances the merits of glass as the most
healthy and environmentally friendly packaging solution
in the world.
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Customer Portrait:
TONGCHAN
Tongchan Packaging Group - the fastest
growing high-grade packaging manufacturer in
China
In recent years, the Chinese glass market has grown
at a rate of more than 10% per annum. Having enjoyed
success since 2005 in the manufacture of packaging for
cosmetics, Shenzhen Tongchan Packaging Group entered
this arena in 2007 with its acquisition of Shenzhen
Huajing Glass. In 2009, the Group continued its
investment in the high performance glass market with the
setup of a new greenfield plant, ultimately commissioned
in 2010, in Gaoyao (Guandong Province), with one
triple-gob and one double-gob line dedicated to beer
bottle production. Heye International was selected as
the Group's technology provider and technical partner
for this project. The second phase of the Gaoyao
project, upscaling production to two triple-gob and
three double-gob lines, will come into operation in
2011. The plant's main customers are international
brewers with a presence in the Chinese market and large
Chinese condiment suppliers. Furthermore, Shenzhen
Tongchan Packaging Group is continuing to expand by way
of another project in Nanchong (Sichuan Province), also
scheduled to be operational in 2011, and again in
partnership with Heye International. Accordingly, we at
Heye are very much looking forward to the continued
future growth of this prospering and extremely
successful group.
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Heye International looks to the future
with new premises in Nienburg
 Building on the success of its
SmartLine product range, Heye International is already
taking steps to ensure that it will be able to meet the
future demands and expectations of its customers.
In
order to maximise efficiency, we have brought together
all our Cold End facilities, including Research &
Development, in a single new site in Nienburg. The new
premises more than double the production area and offer
the potential for additional expansion in the
future.
This process began three years
ago with the successful integration of Busch &
Spreen into Heye International and our current workforce
in Nienburg of more than 50 people is the result of the
perfect merging of our companies.
With the
creation of the HiSHIELD brand specifically for the full
range of Cold End applications, Heye International has
further strengthened its position as a market leader in
this sector.
We are looking forward to
meeting the challenges of the future with
confidence.
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