In February 2008, MSC, SGCC and Visiglas joined together in the Tiama Group. Despite worldwide recession, the companies of the group are more than ever committed to satisfy their customers, offering e…
In February 2008, MSC, SGCC and Visiglas joined together in the Tiama Group. Despite worldwide recession, the companies of the group are more than ever committed to satisfy their customers, offering even more adapted solutions to the hollow glass market. Back in February 2008, MSC, SGCC and Visiglas joined forces to create the leading glass inspection system supplier. All the brands and products were united under the umbrella of Tiama. This move allowed to reach a critical size, becoming stronger and with a broader stronger geographical presence. At that point, MSC, SGCC and Visiglas increased their R&D capabilities; they optimized their reactivity to market“s needs and customers “service demand. Tiama group employs more than 250 skilled people working together on a number of various innovative inspection solutions. MSC & SGCC are the clear leading brands specialized in the fields of inspection solutions serving glassmakers, with product quality control machines and process traceability solutions. They are the most reliable providers thanks to their worldwide presence. MSC, SGCC and Visiglas count more than 6000 machines installed in more than 60 countries including Russia, India, Brazil, Egypt, and more. Together, they offer the most complete range of products for container glass production lines: the hot-end for process control and traceability and cold-end equipment for quality control. The MSC & SGCC portfolio includes a complete range of sidewall, base and finish vision inspection systems: MCAL4, MULTI4, ICAM, COMBI, and rotative multi-inspection systems like M1, CHECK+V6, ATLAS and QUICK meeting the different needs of the container glass industry: frequency of job changes, standard speed versus high speed, high or stand quality products, round or odd shaped articles. At the hot-end, the I-Care imaging system enables a live feedback to IS machine operation and improvement of the process and overall efficiency the new Total Tracer laser engraving system provides traceability down to a single glass container. At present, the glass market, as many other segments of economy, suffers from the global situation. It is severely impacted by the crisis. Since the last quarter of 2008 glassmakers are impacted by decreasing orders from bottling companies. In Europe, beer production market in Europe has decreased 8% in average since the beginning of this year impacting touching significant producing countries such as Germany, Poland and Russia. Wine market was not spared: in Southern hemisphere, wine production in 2009 dropped by 6% to reach 50 million hectoliters. Other beverage markets such as spirits are stagnating. In addition, glass makers customers and glass makers are conducting massive stock reduction operations to adapt to the changes in consumption and need for cash; final consumers are changing their consuming habits with a shift to lower quality products. In the end, production of glass containers has significantly dropped in the first half of 2009 from -20% to -50% depending on the markets concerned. In this difficult environment MSC, SGCC and Visiglas are in a better position than others to adapt itself to all new stakes and needs of its customers, as well as focussing on meeting the new expected needs of the industry in terms of quality control. MSC & SGCC persist in dedicating significant budget to technology and innovation. The research and development capabilities are maintained with 10% of the turnover still allocated to develop new technology for new solutions. In 2009, for instance, the Total Tracer system, a hot-end laser engraving device ensuring a total traceability for each glass container during the whole product life, was launched. At the same time as innovative solutions, Customer Service is a priority: MSC& SGCC are present from the very first steps of glassmakers“ projects. Their full service catalogue is being extended with: o engineering and consulting upstream when glassmakers are planning their projects for furnace rebuild or new capacity construction o upgrades solutions for existing equipment o maintenance and refurbishment of installed equipment o teleservices and telemaintenance o spare-parts management o financing of customer projects so that glass plants can totally rely on MSC&SGCC, to outsource part or all of their maintenance and upgrade operations. Current consumption trends are changing. When consumption returns to normal (and this does not mean it will return to 2008 levels in the short term), new habits will have come into place in the packaging chain.