AS VALMIERAS STIKLA ŠĶIEDRA hereby informs that the reconstruction of a high silica glass melting furnace No. 3.0 was successfully completed on 29th November 2019. The maximum capacity of the glass melting furnace was expected to be reached by the end of March 2020; however, production volumes have already approached the budgeted daily output.
Bricklaying for the high silica glass melting furnace was finished on 13th November, and the Company marked the completion of this bricklaying stage by bringing the whole project team together and breaking a ceremonial bottle of champagne against the furnace wall to wish the furnace a long and productive service life. The same day heating up of the furnace glass began in preparation for the launch of glass fibre manufacturing. The first glass fibre thread was obtained on 3rd December, and as early as 5th December the company had approached 93% of its daily production capacity, reaching 100% on 25th December. The manufacturing process and produced glass fibre volumes remain stable.
“The furnace reconstruction went according to plan, so we are very pleased about that, and I would like to thank both our team and the partners who were involved in the implementation of this reconstruction project. Launching production using a glass melting furnace is always a very complicated and time-consuming process, therefore we are particularly glad to have started 2020 with very timely acquisition of steady production volumes. The achievement so far is really great; however, we are expecting to see visible results, namely, a further increase in silica glass product output over the next few months,” says Ģirts Vēveris, Member of the Management Board of AS VALMIERAS STIKLA ŠĶIEDRA, who is in charge of production.
It should be noted that E-glass melting furnaces No. 1.0 and No. 2.0 ensure stable production volumes and operate with a daily average production capacity of 102% (the reporting period between 1st and 7th January).
As reported before, the total investment value of this reconstruction project is EUR 1.8 million and it is expected that the life cycle of the reconstructed glass melting furnace will be five years. Thanks to the increase in the capacity and output of the factory, the Company has already created new jobs in production departments to ensure servicing of the furnace and further efficient processing of manufactured products.
