Rockware Glass has just invested £6.5m at its Portland plant in Scotland. The furnace that feeds the new P4.2 line has been upgraded by the installation of an electric boost system to meet the increased tonnage requirement and improve glass quality. An additional forehearth and new control equipment have also been installed. P4.2 is a completely new production line. An Emhart 12-section, 6 and a quarter inch NNPB machine has been installed which has servo-mechanisms controlling the feeder, shears, gob weight, gob distributor and all the hot end ware handling. The machine has boosted capacity at the site by more than 90m units. A new gas-fired lehr has been added and is linked to a PC monitoring system, which downloads job history and performance information onto the factory network.
