More than 70 glass executives from around the globe attended Heye International’s Glass Symposium in Hamburg, Germany, last week.
Glassmakers from Australia, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, the Middle East, India, South Korea, China, Egypt, the USA and several European countries were among those who attended, alongside representatives from glass associations and Heye International staff.
The two-day event included 13 presentations as well as several networking opportunities.
Among the themes of discussion were the future of container glass manufacturing in the digital age.
Opening the symposium, Heye International’s managing director, Dirk Pörtner, said: “We will talk about digital change, which will see a huge change in our professional lives. This is something which we are facing and is happening if we want or not. Change is something that has happened many times before.”
The company has been working on the challenges of digitalisation for many years.
“We in Heye are prepared to offer new solutions for the future to your companies. The industry will move forward and has to move forward,” added Mr Pörtner.
Among the topics discussed were Digital Transformation – Challenges and chances, given by Ernst Raue; a former head of CeBit, Digitalisation in the Steel Industry, from Dr Michael Kranz, CIO ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe, and Investment decisions in times of uncertainty from Erik Nielsen, Head of Economics, UniCredit.
FEVE’s Michael Delle Selve also provided an update on the Friends of Glass consumer campaign while Ardagh Glass Europe provided two papers: one was titled How we innovate at Ardagh, the other was Concepts for Managing Operational Excellence at Ardagh.
A more detailed review of the event will appear in the July/August issue of Glass International.
Pictured: Dirk Portner addresses delegates at the Heye International Glass Symposium
