Company profi le: Wiegand-Glas

Wiegand-Glas started the second glass furnace at its Schleusingen plant in Thuringia, Germany after it was postponed at the end of 2021. Glass International spoke to Oliver Wiegand, who outlined the journey behind the decision.

After a postponed start-up, Wiegand-Glas fired the second furnace at its plant in Schleusingen, which completed the second step of the site’s investment strategy. In addition to the furnace investment, the German container glass manufacturer has also invested in three new warehouses. These are for: finished goods, outdoor storage for cullet, and a new logistics centre to meet the requirements of higher capacity and the group’s sustainability strategy.

Wiegand-Glas has built a greenfield container glass plant next to its existing facility in Schleusingen, which Mr Wiegand said emphasised the importance of the site for the group’s strategy.

With the plant now fully operating, the glass manufacturer believes it can meet its goal of continuous and sustainable organic growth according to market needs, as well as a clear commitment to its regions.

Rising demand

Market figures by the European Glass Container federation (FEVE), among others, show an increased demand for glass containers in recent years, which is why the company decided to up its production capacity. Building the new plant was further accompanied by the decommissioning of the old furnaces at the existing Schleusingen site – where Wiegand-Glas operated a flint and an amber glass furnace. The manufacturer therefore decided to rebuild the plant in a large, high-tech and energy efficient manner to better meet the needs of new and existing customers. In addition, the new furnace will allow Wiegand-Glas to produce coloured glass as well as amber glass.

The right decision

In times of war in Europe and with energy markets and the whole economy “playing crazy”, it is hard to say if there is the right time for any decision these days, but Mr Wiegand believes not making any decision is the worst one. Consequently, Wiegand-Glas recently began the start-up of its second furnace in March, which had been postponed since late 2021.

The postponement caused the manufacturer, and the market, to lose thousands of tons of amber glass. “We got in some trouble trying to satisfy customer needs in terms of time and quantity. But our production planning and sales team did their best to overcome the situation without critical damages,” said Mr Wiegand.

“In the plant, we used the time for further training of our new stuff and technical optimisation of the production lines. But, in the end, it is also true that every postponement costs you a lot of money – every single day.”

Personnel had already been hired and trained to operate the new furnace at the end of 2021.

“For the motivation of our people, and with a few on structural costs, we had to make a decision.”

The most important factor was the commitment of Wiegand-Glas customers and their willingness to overcome these difficult times. Mr Wiegand also highlighted the company’s existing contracts and the system-relevant character of container glass to the food and beverage industry.

In addition, due to the war in Ukraine and European sanctions against Russia, there is a lack of glass supply from Eastern Europe and consequently more demand on central European

Wiegand-Glas fires up Schleusingen furnace

markets. The new end-fi red furnace has a higher capacity than the previous one and will help to satisfy customer demand. The new glass plant will also create approximately 100 jobs.

Sustainability

The new furnace runs on natural gas and electricity. By installing the latest technology and control systems Wiegand-Glas expects the furnace to become one of the most eco-friendly conventional container glass furnaces in the world, in terms of energy effi ciency.

The new production plant was an important step in Wiegand-Glas’ sustainability strategy. In addition, the new furnace allows the manufacturer to use up to 90% of cullet in its melting process – if the raw material is available on the market. Overall, this leads to 40% reduction in CO2 emissions per tonne of glass produced compared to the old furnace.

Whilst the manufacturer is busy fi nishing the decommission and partial demolition of the old production site, there is some space left for further expansion at Schleusingen site.

“We do have plans to replace an old furnace from another plant and build a large-scale, full electric furnace and invest in glass recycling there. This will meet the goals of our sustainability roadmap and contribute to the European Green Deal. But to present a precise timeline wouldn’t be practical in these uncertain times of war and economic problems.”

Key to success

Mr Wiegand believes the key to a successful partnership is communication, particularly in these unpredictable times. “No one knows what happens next. Especially the high energy prices and the threat of a gas shortage. But there are challenging situations on every market, like the ones for raw materials or freight.

“Together with our customers, partners, and employees we are taking short-term measures to overcome this critical situation together. At the same time, we will work on long-term strategies to be a reliable partner in future years as well.”

Wiegand-Glas is planning an open day in Q3 2022 to celebrate its heating up of the furnace, which it hopes to share with its customers, partners and employees, if the pandemic allows. �

Wiegand-Glas, Steinbach am Wald, Germany www.wiegand-glas.de

“No one knows what happens next. Especially the high energy prices and the threat of

a gas shortage. But there are challenging situations on every market, like the ones for raw materials or freight.”