Tristar Glass improves quality and minimizes remakes
"I was very impressed at how quickly we were able to install the new ProL-zone upgrade on our existing lamination line – only 3.5 days – and I've been equally impressed with the high-quality output," says Rob Carlson, Mechanical Engineer at Tristar Glass, Inc.'s Tulsa, Oklahoma facility. "Glaston's convection technology has exceeded every expectation. The system really does work as well as they said it would – maybe even better!"
Tristar Glass has been a long-time Glaston customer with its tempering furnaces at three of the company's locations in Tulsa, as well as Houston and Dallas, Texas.
"We had been looking at various lamination line options but decided at the GlassBuild show in August 2017 to go with Glaston's ProL-zone to replace our existing lamination line from another manufacturer. Essentially, we upgraded the oven and nip section, while leaving the rest of the line in place."
Rob and his team were worried at first that the ProL-zone was running at slower speeds than the infrared technology line. "Instead, we have seen a big reduction in remakes, thanks to the high quality that the new line produces. This also helps us reduce lead times."
Right after the glass started to come out, a special glass expert was visiting Tristar Glass to check the new product quality and oven productivity for an acceptance test. With an infrared thermometer in his hands, the visitor checked most of the products and the number of defects he found was zero. When measuring the temperature variance of 3,000 mm glass from the leading to the trailing edge as it left the oven, a difference of only 1 °C was recorded. He was amazed.