The team working for VOA (Verrerie d’Albi) has marked the restart of furnace no.2 with a match-lighting ceremony at the plant.
Verallia has invested more than €46m in one year to modernise VOA’s two furnaces.
VOA’s furnace no.1, dedicated to the production of very high quality flint and extra-flint glass, underwent a complete rebuild at the end of 2015 and came into service at the beginning of 2016.
Fully refurbished in turn, furnace no.2, which produces green, dead-leaf and cannelle-colored bottles, has just restarted.
With these new installations, VOA can rely on extremely flexible manufacturing assets to ensure the continuous production of a wide variety of bottles.
VOA, which celebrated its 120th anniversary in 2016, employs more than 300 people and manufactures 800,000 bottles every day.
With this investment Verallia is improving its operational excellence policy, to optimise the quality of its products and services for its customers in France and for exports.
Benoît Chatillon, Managing Director of VOA, stated: “The modernisation of furnace no.2 and all its manufacturing lines concludes an investment programme that is historically high for our site.
“Today, our plant is newly equipped with industry-standard tools.
“This is a key competitive strength that will help us to grow our presence on the market, support our differentiation strategy, and ensure that our customers are delivered an exemplary level of performance and service.
“We are proud to have the support of our Group, Verallia, and its shareholders.”
Pictured: Pierrette Marty and Simon Duran, two retirees from the VOA plant, light the matchstick at the furnace reopening event.
