16 April 1998: Finland“s Tamglass is set to continue the modernization of its factories, which was launched towards the end of last year. The company says it will build new safety glass machinery pro…
16 April 1998: Finland“s Tamglass is set to continue the modernization of its factories, which was launched towards the end of last year. The company says it will build new safety glass machinery production facilities at its site in Vehmainen, Tampere, where the head office, maintenance service centre and safety glass production facilities are also located. The new production facilities are scheduled for completion by May 1999. Tamglass manufactures tempering lines for flat and bent glass at its Tampere premises. In 1997, the company received a record number of new machine orders that further strengthened its market position. For the first time in its history, Tamglass supplied over one hundred new safety glass machines and production lines in the space of just one year. Approximately half of them were manufactured at the Tampere premises. The surface area of the existing machine manufacturing facilities in Tampere is 4,000 sq. m. The total surface area of the new building will be 8,500 sq. m. Tamglass says it needs extra production capacity owing to its rapidly growing order books in recent years. “When completed, our new production facilities will enable us to serve customers more efficiently than ever,” says Kai Silander, who is in charge of the project and also acts as vice president of production for the Tamglass Group. “We are boosting our production process by concentrating the manufacturing of safety glass machinery under one roof. We will be able to assemble and test safety glass machinery and production lines even more quickly and thoroughly before they leave our factory. This will not only ensure quality deliveries, but also cut the time it takes to install and run our machines at the customer“s factory.” Tamglass Tempering Oy, a manufacturer of safety glass products, which is part of the Tamglass Group, is also expected to benefit from improved safety glass machinery production. The company will be able to house all its glass manufacturing activities in the premises vacated by the safety glass machinery production. Improved logistics are also expected to enable the company to produce glass products for both the construction and automotive industries more efficiently. New cutting centre and glass storage facilities were built next to the existing safety glass machinery production hall late last year. The production modernization programme is part of Tamglass“ T2000 programme, aimed at safeguarding the company“s competitiveness and conditions for growth in the foreseeable future. During the third phase, the company will build a new customer service centre and refurbish its existing production, product development and office facilities. Tamglass puts the total cost of its development programme at FM 90 million, almost half of which is accounted for by the phase just started.