{"id":1991,"date":"2023-10-07T09:47:43","date_gmt":"2023-10-07T09:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.friendsofglass.com\/history\/glass-manufacturing-innovation\/1"},"modified":"2024-09-09T16:07:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T16:07:17","slug":"glass-manufacturing-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendsofglass.com\/stories\/glass-manufacturing-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"How is glass manufacturing evolving to face the future?"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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Although it all comes down to just three ingredients \u2013 sand, soda ash and limestone, along with recycled glass known as \u2018cullet\u2019 \u2013 you can\u2019t learn the art of glassmaking from a book. Even with modern machinery, you need a real feel for how the ingredients come together to form glass. Someone who has spent years working with glass can feel that something is not quite right, or pick up on slight deviations in the machine\u2019s sound before it results in imperfections. That\u2019s why people often say working with glass is a \u2018dark art\u2019 honed over many decades.<\/p>\n

I<\/span>\u2019m<\/span>\u00a0coming up for fifty years in the industry myself.\u00a0<\/span>I first walked\u00a0<\/span>through<\/span>\u00a0the doors of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Beatson Clark<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in November\u00a0<\/span>1<\/span>9<\/span>73,\u00a0<\/span>planning to stay a few months<\/span>\u00a0as a spare hand<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>before joining\u00a0<\/span>the police force.<\/span> W<\/span>hen I\u00a0<\/span>first\u00a0<\/span>walked\u00a0<\/span>o<\/span>nto the shop<\/span>\u00a0floor<\/span>\u00a0and saw<\/span>\u00a0fire everywhere<\/span>, I wondered what\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019d<\/span>\u00a0let myself in for!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>But soon enough<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0I\u00a0<\/span>found myself<\/span>\u00a0getting fascinated by<\/span>\u00a0the formation of\u00a0<\/span>glass<\/span>, and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in the end,\u00a0<\/span>I<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>never did get round to joining the police.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

‘No two days are ever the same’<\/h3>\n

One reason?\u00a0<\/span>N<\/span>o two days are\u00a0<\/span>ever\u00a0<\/span>the same.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Even technology<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>can\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0control for everything.\u00a0<\/span>You\u2019ll<\/span>\u00a0spot that the final bottle isn\u2019t quite coming out right, and\u00a0<\/span>have to<\/span>\u00a0track back through the machine, furnace, even back to the raw ingredients to solve it. Maybe\u00a0<\/span>it<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0down to<\/span>\u00a0a<\/span>\u00a0change in ambient<\/span>\u00a0temperature<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>or<\/span>\u00a0the sand being just a few grams off. Any of this could\u00a0<\/span>result in\u00a0<\/span>a different type of glass than expected.\u00a0<\/span>It\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0a challenge<\/span>, but<\/span>\u00a0that\u2019s what makes so many people stay in the industry for so long.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>There\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0also a great deal of camaraderie\u00a0<\/span>among<\/span>\u00a0glassmakers<\/span>:\u00a0<\/span>within half an hour of sitting down with a peer in Israel or Germany, we\u2019re\u00a0<\/span>swapping ideas and stories like we\u2019ve known each other for years<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many<\/span>\u00a0people\u00a0<\/span>don\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0realise just how far back glass production dates<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>stretching from production lines<\/span>\u00a0in industrial towns<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0to the\u00a0<\/span><\/span>secretive\u00a0<\/span>medieval\u00a0<\/span>guilds of\u00a0<\/span>Venice<\/span>\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Murano<\/span><\/span><\/a>, all the way<\/span>\u00a0back to\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>Romans\u2019\u00a0<\/span>discovery of\u00a0<\/span>craft glassblowing<\/span>. Nor do they realise\u00a0<\/span>how much\u00a0<\/span>glass manufacturing<\/span>\u00a0has shaped<\/span>\u00a0our<\/span>\u00a0local\u00a0<\/span>heritage<\/span>. Take <\/span>Yorkshire<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0at one time, the area was home to<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>dozens of<\/span><\/span>\u00a0glassworks,\u00a0<\/span>their influence\u00a0<\/span>appearing in everything from\u00a0<\/span>town\u00a0<\/span>coats of arms to\u00a0<\/span>the remnants of cone-shaped furnaces\u00a0<\/span>and workers\u2019 cottages\u00a0<\/span>dotting the landscape<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>The\u00a0<\/span>isolated\u00a0<\/span>Yorkshire moors were even<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>home to a thriving illicit glassblowing industry<\/span><\/span><\/a>, where\u00a0<\/span>enterprising<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>artisans<\/span>\u00a0could\u00a0<\/span>escape\u00a0<\/span>strict controls\u00a0<\/span>on glass production<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0far from\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0eyes<\/span>\u00a0of the Crown<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>O<\/span>ur own factory\u00a0<\/span>has been in continuous operation since 1751<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>built\u00a0<\/span>alongside the canal\u00a0<\/span>at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution\u00a0<\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>easy transport<\/span>ation<\/span>\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>pharma\u00a0<\/span>bottles around England.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, with so many of us on the cusp of retirement, there\u2019s a real need to get young blood into the glass industry, or a lot of skill will be lost. It\u2019s very hard to learn glassmaking second-hand. That\u2019s why we\u2019re bringing in the latest technology to train a new generation, including virtual reality training technology that recreates the factory floor in 3D<\/a>. As an immersive programme, it\u2019s the first of its kind, and helps apprentices to interact safely with the machinery to understand what happens between molten glass dropping into a mould and coming out the other side as a bottle \u2013 something that previously may have taken them weeks to grasp.<\/p>\n

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