Glass Service’s model-based predictive supervisory system ESIII and NIR furnace camera has been installed in more than 400 glass manufacturing plants globally.

The Czech Republic-based group said in certain European countries, more than 50% of all glass furnaces are under full ES III control.

The system works alongside unique AI vision software.

This encompasses various sectors, including Float, Container, Tableware, Fibreglass, and Special Glasses.

Its utilisation downstream has also steadily increased with approximately 300 forehearth installations already in operation.

One Glass Service customer provided a testimony which stated the advantages of ES III.

This included full automatic furnace and forehearth control, energy optimisation, cost savings, and reductions in carbon emissions achieved by maximising the utilisation of larger electric boosting systems.

A Technical Plant Manager also shared their experience, stating:

“We have now deployed ES III across all nine of our feeders. With over 26 job changes per week, operators previously had to manage numerous zone temperatures, making ES III an invaluable asset. In the past, this task would have required a feeder specialist, a role most plants no longer have.

We have observed several benefits:

  • improved system reproducibility;
  • reduced human interaction, minimised risks of errors;
  • achievement of temperature targets and stabilisation post-job changes;
  • consistent and uniform temperatures at the feeder end resulting in enhanced gob weight and bottle formation, thereby positively impacting product quality;
  • energy savings;
  • reduced risk of reboil and feeder corrosion due to uniform firing;
  • and increased operator availability for other tasks, such as feeder maintenance."