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Allan and Mike Brown run the compa- LISEC
ny System 3 Ltd., located in Denton,
Manchester. SYSTEM 3 CONTINUES TO INVEST
Asked about their first LiSEC ma-
chine, Allan Brown says, “We bought we still have it in operation!” line after 28 years. During the last two
our automatic saw from LiSEC in In 1990 they invested in a pre-owned years they bought two KSR edge grind-
1988. We were the first company 2m x 3,5m LiSEC IG-line, two new ing machines, one of them replaced a
using an automatic saw in our area. lines were added later. “Our LiSEC KSL which had been in operation since
Everyone else worked manually, so we IG lines just won’t stop running, so 1995. And they already have plans for
were much faster. The saw was our why should we replace them? We rely new investments: “As I said before, we
center – all following machines were on them”, is Allan’s response to the have big future plans and LiSEC will
built around it. And believe it or not – question if he plans to replace the IG- play an essential role in them – they
offer every kind of solution needed in
the glass industry. We want to invest in
VITRO GLASS production lines and processing ma-
chines, either to expand our machinery
LAUNCH OF OPERATIONS OF JUMBO park with new machines, or to replace
less satisfying machines from other
MSVD COATER AT WICHITA FALLS suppliers. That is our key to success:
Reinvestment – always keep reinvest-
Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) began producing energy-efficient ing!” states Allan Brown.
glass in sizes 112.5% larger than standard size lites on a new jumbo magnetron sput- The LiSEC sealing robot VFL-1D,
tered vacuum deposition (MSVD) glass coater at its Wichita Falls, Texas, manu- installed in 1999 and operating in two
facturing plant. Constructed in 14 months, the jumbo coater was introduced at an shifts, has already sealed 4 million of
open house attended by Vitro executives, customers and employees, and government IG-units at System 3 Ltd. Now, after
officials from Wichita Falls and the state of Texas. The unit, reportedly the largest 19 years, the owners are thinking of
vacuum-temperable-capable MSVD coater in North America, enables Vitro Glass to replacing it for a brand-new line –
produce high-performing, low-emissivity (low-e) glasses in the larger sizes preferred again from LiSEC, of course. Back in
by today’s building designers. “The trend in buildings today is large, expansive 1984 they produced basic double glass
glass—with some panels over 12 feet tall—that is also energy efficient,” explained units, mainly for domestic windows,
Bill Haley, Wichita Falls plant manager. “Vitro can now meet architects’ growing on an area of 600m². Today they
demand for low-e glass in sizes as large as 130-by-204 inches. The coater further employ 257 people, have an area of
enhances our ability to cost-efficiently produce a variety of high-performance ar- 13,000m² and produce double glazed
chitectural glasses that comply with more stringent building codes and meet the in- units, structural toggle units, tough-
dustry’s increasingly complex design challenges.” The coater is 22% wider and 50% ened laminated glass and much more.
longer than the plant’s other MSVD coater, which produces standard size (96-by- And System 3 has big plans for the fu-
130 inches) glass. The jumbo MSVD coater applies Solarban® solar control low-E ture. “There are no detailed plans yet
coatings on a variety of large-area glass substrates in standard thicknesses while pro- but we are planning to double the size
viding precision colour control and aesthetics. It will produce more glass-per-energy- of our factory”, reveals Allan Brown,
unit than most MSVD coaters currently in operation, while increasing the plant’s an- owner of System 3 and responsible for
nual low-e glass production by 20%. Richard A. Beuke, president, Vitro Architectural production and technology.
Glass, said the coater builds on the company’s history of innovation. “Vitro Glass “Service is king. If there is a break-
was the first glass manufacturer to produce a triple-silver-coated product (Solarban down we have to react immediately.
70XL glass) and the first to develop the quad-silver coating technology now featured Our customers don’t want to wait, and
in our Solarban 90 glass. “This groundbreaking manufacturing advance will allow us neither do we. LiSEC offers us the 24
to more quickly introduce new development platforms for hours non-stop service we need and
solar control low-e coatings and accelerate our ability to we always have the support from the
bring new products to market.” Austrian Headquarters. Moreover,
The Wichita Falls plant, one of Vitro Glass’s four U.S. LiSEC listens to our needs; we can
manufacturing facilities, was selected as the site for the discuss them frankly and in detail and
MSVD coater in February 2017, four months after the they respond with suitable solutions,”
company acquired all assets of PPG’s former flat glass says Brown about the cooperation
business in October 2016. between System 3 and LiSEC.