Glass Industry News

TWO ALL-IN-ONE SUPPLIERS GROWING INTO MARKET LEADERS TOGETHER

, LISEC

FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS TO MAJOR PLAYER

VITROCHAVES was founded in 1980 by the brothers Chaves Alves on a 50 sqm area in the town centre of Chaves (no relation) in northern Portugal. Within 40 years, continuous investment in innovative solutions has allowed VITROCHAVES to grow into a market leader with three production centres in Chaves, Benavente, and Felgueiras with a total of 26,000 sqm and approx. 200 employees. 

With a strategic focus on architectural glass supplying aluminium, PVC and wood façade specialists, their production capacity is mainly dedicated to double and triple glazing units, laminated and tempered glass. Their export rate is about 50 %, mainly to the rest of Europe, Africa, and America. 

MARKET LEADERSHIP AS ALL-AROUND SUPPLIER 

“As a versatile company, we are adaptive to market demands and offer an ever-growing range of products,” says Joaquim Chaves, co-founder, and administrator of VITROCHAVES. “Our products become unique through the fusion of our brand and quality. Currently, we supply a diverse range of products from the ISOLAR® glass line that have consistently earned us recognition for over two decades.” ISOLAR® is a European association of manufacturers specializing in highly efficient insulating glass for windows and facades. 

What distinguishes VITROCHAVES as a supplier? “Committed to excellence, we stand out with our exceptional customer service,” so Mr. Chaves. For VITROCHAVES, this touches on all areas of the customer experience, from the delivery and packaging of the glass all the way to the service quality. Their goal to be their customer’s all-in-one supplier makes them unique in the domestic market. 

Sustainability is another important factor, as Mr. Chaves explains, “Beyond the fundamental respect for the environment, we have adopted practices that actively contribute to our societal responsibilities. Examples of these initiatives are the recycling of all glass and other solid waste, such as wood and plastic, implementing water treatment processes and adopting a systematic approach to reuse valuable resources.”  

RELIABLE MACHINERY AND SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR HIGH QUALITY OUTPUT 

“We pride ourselves on using the best equipment possible,” Mr. Chaves succinctly sums up the company’s investment strategy. “The initial interaction with LiSEC was the result of thorough research and exploration within the industry. LiSEC’s solutions align with our goals and allow us to achieve superior production times, enhancing our organizational efficiency and contributing significantly to our long-term success.” 

The first machine VITROCHAVES bought from LiSEC was a double-glazing line for 3500 x 2000 mm glass, one of the largest machines manufactured at the time. Affectionately called “dinosaur”, the 1993 line is still in operation today. “Our goal has always been reliability and long-lasting performance,” so Mr. Chaves.

LiSEC has proven to be exceptionally reliable over the years. The enduring performance of their equipment shows their commitment to providing robust and dependable solutions.

In 2001, another IG line followed – again a top-of-the market solution at the time. Mr. Chaves comments: “LiSEC’s competence is evident thought the longstanding and successful history of collaboration with our company. Their proficiency in delivering quality products and services has consistently met and exceeded our expectations.” 

Perfectly in tune with the machines, VITROCHAVES also uses LiSEC software solutions, at the shopfloor as well as in the office. The GPS.prod cutting optimization is server-based and can be run simultaneously by multiple users, an important feature to decrease the amount of time needed in the production planning office. The system allows running multi-optimizations in parallel within the same production batch at the same time, e.g. float glass and low-e. All production information can be shown graphically in detail on monitors on the shop floor. Scanning the barcode from a label, production list or from print on the glass brings up the drawing on the monitor providing all technical details to the operator.
“Without a doubt, the standout features of the LiSEC products are their unmatched reliability and constant innovation. These qualities have consistently set LiSEC apart, making it our top recommendation for others,” says Mr. Chaves.

MOVING INTO A FULLY AUTOMATED FUTURE: VITROCHAVES’ NEW IG PRODUCTION 

“LiSEC stands out as an innovative partner,” Mr. Chaves says. “A prime example of this innovation is being showcased in the ongoing installation at VITROCHAVES – a fully automated factory that spans from the glass warehouse to the double-glazing exit.”

This high degree of automation is made possible by a sorting buffer system, coordinated by the GPS.autofab software solution. GPS.autofab controls the fully automatic supply of data to all machines and the routing of the sheets through the sorting system. This means operators no longer have to enter data at the machines and ideally no longer have to touch the glass between cutting and the IG line. Glass sheets can be traced throughout the production process and the operators and production management are informed about the status of the production and the individual connected systems. 

GPS.autofab aims to optimally coordinate the sorting system with all the machines it supplies. One example is the fully automatic integration of Dynopt, a LiSEC software solution that reduces glass waste in the cutting area, avoids remnant plates, automatically recuts remakes and feeds them back into the sorting system. The buffer can store approx. 4 – 6 hours of production, which allows taking sheet sizes for later production batches into account during optimised cutting to make the best use of the jumbo sheet. The sheets are temporarily stored in the buffer and called up for further processing during their respective production batch, e.g. in insulating glass production. In this way, the different production processes can be levelled and smoothed, and continuous production is kept running. 

Mr. Chaves on his goals with the new production: “We want to expand our production capacity and take full advantage of automation to reduce costs and labour.” 

ENSURING CUSTOMER LOYALTY THROUGH PRODUCT INNOVATION

A major trend VITROCHAVES sees on the market is significant innovations in product development and quality standards. “As these changes have a substantial impact on our profitability, we must adapt through continuous updates to our facilities and equipment. The evolving landscape demands a dynamic response to stay at the forefront of industry expectations, making it imperative for us to invest in cutting-edge technologies and stay aware of emerging trends,” says Mr. Chaves. 

How can LiSEC support them in this endeavour? “Our future plans revolve around maintaining sustainable growth by partnering with the best suppliers of products and equipment for our company. This approach ensures the stability required to enhance our services for our customers, who have consistently served as the foundation of our expansion. In this pursuit, LiSEC holds a pivotal role as one of our valued partners. As we continue to evolve, we anticipate leveraging LiSEC’s expertise and innovative solutions to enhance our capabilities.” 

, © LISEC

Les informations publiées sur notre portail sont soumises au droit d´auteur et appartiennent à la société en question resp. à la source des nouvelles. Tous les droits sont réservés expressément. N´importe quel utilisateur qui accède à un tel matériel peut faire ainsi seulement pour sa propre utilisation personnelle, et l´usage d´un tel matériel est au risque unique de l´utilisateur. La redistribution ou toute autre exploitation commerciale d´un tel matériel de nouvelles est expressément interdite. Là où un tel matériel de nouvelles est fourni par un tiers, chaque utilisateur accepte d´observer et être lié par les limites spécifiques de l´utilisation s´appliquant à un tel matériel de nouvelles. Glass Global ne représente ou n´approuve pas l´exactitude ou la fiabilité d´aucune des informations citées dans les nouvelles ou pages externes auxquelles on se réfère ici.

Should the content or the design of these sites violate third parties rights or legal prescriptions, we kindly ask you to send us a respective message without invoice or cost. We guarantee that passages where the claim is considered as justified will be removed immediately, without any necessity to involve any lawyer into this issue. We will reject any claim caused by submission of a honorary note in this regard without any prior contact and confirmation of the issueby us and we reserve the right ssue counter claim ourselves because of violation of aforesaid conditions.



Info Grid

Glass studies

Updated worldwide glass study 2024

plants.glassglobal.com

Updated hollow glass study 2024

Request more information

Updated float glass study 2024

Request more information

Further glass market studies

Request more information

Portrait de la société



Updated worldwide glass market study 2024 available now for flat, container glass and tableware

We have updated our international studies on flat glass, container glass and tableware for 2024.

This unique software provides a global overview about glass producers and technical details. Easy to use and clear tables summarize information and data about glass makers such as: Glass types: flat glass, container glass, tableware, production capacities in regions and countries, number of furnaces, furnace types, year of construction, glass types and sub-types, products, project information, special news and downloads.

Further databases supplying demoscopic data and import and export data complete the market survey. Based on these data, prepare individual country profiles with information about local production capacities, local market sizes and expected demand in the future.

Request your offer via plants.glassglobal.com.

Updated container glass study 2024

X

Updated float glass study 2024

X

Further glass studies and reports 2024

X