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We all speak aboutexperience, but notmany companiescan say that theyhave more than50 years of history– let alone 65! Inthis article,Glaston Bavellonigives us an idea ofhow the companyhas been able tomaintain and growits market positionandcompetitivenessover the years,thanks tocontinuousimprovement andinnovation of itsproducts, alongwith the ability torespond andanticipate clients’and market needs.

Developments

Glaston Bavelloni: quality, innovationand eco-sustainability

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Glass-Technology International 1/2012w w w . g l a s s o n l i n e . c o m

HE COMPANY AND ITSPRODUCTIONDuring its 65-year history, Glaston

Bavelloni has invested considerably inR&D activities dedicated to technologies for theglass industry, by designing and manufacturinginnovative products that contribute strongly instrengthening its expertise in the field, and thatare a benchmark for tool manufacturers today.Each and every tool is engineered to operate

perfectly with the machine it is dedicated to,either Bavelloni brand or other manufacturers’,with the purpose of obtaining the finishingrequired by customers.This strategy has driven continuous improve-

ment and innovation of tools, aiming at higherproductivity and quality of finished productsthanks to the winning machine/tool combination.The experience of Glaston Bavelloni in the

diamond tooling field goes back to 1946, whenthe company Z. Bavelloni pioneered the produc-tion of diamond tools for metal working first,followed by rapidly expanding to the glassindustry. A few years later, the company enteredthe flat glass processing machine sector.The successful experience built up in the

design of machinery and tooling integrationmakes Glaston Bavelloni a unique and reliablepartner for improvement of production efficien-cy and costs reduction, supporting customerthrough the entire product life cycle.Competitiveness and market position are

reinforced by a comprehensive product portfo-lio which covers a wide range of applications,and capability of responding to customers’needs in full. Glaston Bavelloni’s product rangefeatures the widest commercial programme fordiamond and polishing tools available in the mar-ket today.Strategy revision process carried on in the

macro-economic environment of the last years,marked by uncertainty and increased complexi-ty, boosted Glaston Bavelloni’s aim in findingand providing new solutions in favour of cus-tomers, sticking to the Bavelloni brand’s tradi-tional key values of quality, innovation and cus-tomer orientation.

IDENTIFYING SOLUTIONS IN RESPONSETO MARKET NEEDSThe attention to identify solutions for market

needs encouraged Glaston Bavelloni to consider

a very sensitive issue for the glass industry,which has seriously troubled glass processors inthe last months: the conitunously increasingprices of Rare Earth.

Rare Earth

Rare Earth is used in many industrial applica-tions and markets: electronic goods, automo-tive, weapon systems, and glass of course, to theextent that many Governments consider RareEarth as a strategic resource.Rare Earth came under the spotlight after

China, which produces 95 per cent of the world’stotal output, started to reduce exports. The officialexplanation given to production cuts is the safe-guard of the environment since Rare Earth extrac-tion has a severe environmental impact. TheAsian Giant has tight regulations on its own pol-luting Rare Earth sector as part of a programme toclean up mines. Many expect China’s Rare Earthproduction to fall, as a result.A gravity-defying leap in Rare Earth quota-

tions caused fears for the cost of components.Industrial operators were in shock after witness-ing the price of Cerium Oxide jumping 700 percent in 18 months amid falling supplies.

Cerium Oxide

Cerium Oxide is traditionally used in theglass industry in the form of liquid slurry madeby mixing cerium oxide powder and water toobtain optimum polishing quality. It is the mostefficient polishing material for glass and, asknown, customers have to equip machines withad-hoc cerium water tanks, provide regularmachine clean up and cerium slurry waste treat-

T

Glaston Bavelloni: quality, innovation and eco-sustainability

81ment, which imply compliance with complexand costly activities due to increasingly strin-gent labour and environmental regulations.Moreover, Cerium Oxide is used as a main

component in the production of cerium impreg-nated wheels on the market today.As a final consequence, the rise in raw mate-

rial costs forced operational costs of glassprocessors up, who reacted looking for alterna-tive solutions with other polishing materialssuch as chromium and manganese oxides, ironoxide, less performing and safer compared toCEO2, or low cost polishing wheels which com-promise the quality of the final products.

XtraShine and ExtraEdge

Glaston Bavelloni has focused its efforts indeveloping a more efficient solution aiming at asuperior polishing quality at a reasonable cost,without depending on the Rare Earth price trendand worrying about environmental issues.Quality, innovation and eco-sustainability

were the values around which Glaston Bavellonibuilt XtraShine, the new polishing wheel intro-duced at Vitrum 2011 in Milan, in combinationwith the new range of straight line machinesHiyon, and the double edging line XtraEdge.The XtraShine wheel is a proprietary unique

composition of various compounds and agents,

engineered to be used withouttraditional cerium slurry, underlow working pressure and with theuse of water only. XtraShine works onboth straight line and double edgingmachines, in the last polishing station, in theplace of felt wheels or rubber cerium wheels.XtraShine has been conceived to combine an

unrivalled polishing quality, extraordinary lifes-pan with very attractive pricing. Technicians andcustomers who used XtraShine over the longengineering and testing phase, have expressedtheir satisfaction and defined the wheel as a realbreakthrough in polishing applications.Several glass processors have already

replaced liquid cerium solution and convention-al rubber cerium wheels with XtraShine, withthe consequent benefit of significant savings.If used as per recommended parameters,

XtraShine delivers brilliant mirror finish, consis-tent quality throughout its working life, to satisfyhigh-end quality requirements and most demand-ing customers. Moreover, it requires only shortbreak-in time, resists glazing and does notrequire redressing. It comes with a rigid plasticbacking hub with central bores of 70 millimetres,with other bore dimensions as per request. Potential savings for end users are easily

understandable, taking into account CeriumOxide prices. Moreover, XtraShine avoids theneed for a number of costly activities such asstock, slurry preparation and machine cleanup,which involve costs and resources that acompany might use to reinforce its compet-itive position via innovative and eco-friendly solutions. ■

Glaston Italy Spa - BavelloniVia Milano 9322070 Bregnano (CO) - ItalyTel: +39 – 031 – 728311Fax: +39 – 031 – 7286358E-mail: info.italy@glaston.netwww.glaston.net