Guardian Glass completed its first ribbon pull at its second float glass facility in Częstochowa, Poland, to help meet the growing demand for high performance coated and fabricated glass products in Poland and throughout Eastern Europe.
The first pull of glass completes the plant’s startup, which began with the groundbreaking in 2018 and led to the start of the plant’s technologically advanced new glass coater on July 6.
“The new float line is the largest in the Guardian family of float lines,” says Guus Boekhoudt, Guardian Glass executive vice president. “We’ve implemented an innovative new furnace design with high efficiency combustion systems in order to provide products that meet the stringent quality requirements of our customers, while minimizing both the energy used for production and emissions from the process.”
The plant, hosting two float lines, two coater lines and a lamination line, produces Guardian ExtraClear float glass, Guardian ClimaGuard low-emissivity and Guardian SunGuard solar control coated glass products as well as laminated glass for residential and commercial applications.
By engaging suppliers to provide both proven and innovative solutions to meet production and quality requirements, Guardian Glass took a progressive approach to the design for the new float line, say officials.
“The Guardian Glass Częstochowa plant represents our biggest greenfield capital investment in Guardian’s history,” Boekhoudt says. “This facility is the company’s most efficient and operationally effective plant and houses our largest furnace and largest coater. The new float line has a nominal capacity of over 1,100 tons of glass per day, while the new coater represents the latest in technology for Guardian and, we believe, for the industry.”
“We are grateful for the strong support we have received in Poland from local and country officials,” says Grzegorz Kuznik, Guardian Glass Czestochowa plant manager. “We are excited for the future and committed to the Czestochowa community.”
