With Dominique Vassaux, Product Manager,
Bucher Emhart Glass, Steinhausen (Switzerland)
AIS and “Smartfeeder” for unique flacons
What sets Bucher Emhart Glass apart, in addition to its innovative strength, is its unique team spirit. The customer’s glassworks is also a place of intensive collaboration. Building on this foundation, Dominique Vassaux of Bucher Emhart Glass, and the COO of a customer created a technical innovation tailored to the needs of container forming and jointly developed it to market maturity.
Customer: “We had wanted a kind of intelligent feeder for a long time. When we weres searching for a successor generation for our bottle feeder, the topic became increasingly relevant – and Bucher Emhart Glass, as a driver of innovation, was immediately enthusiastic about it.”
Dominique Vassaux: “At our research centre in Windsor, Connecticut (USA), we were able to provide the customer with the perfect environment to thoroughly understand and test the functionalities of the ‘Smartfeeder’ and the flexibility of the AIS machine in regards to mold compatibility.”
Customer: “The competence, experience and willingness of Dominique and his team was truly impressive. At the research centre we had the possibility to simulate our needs and transfer the results onto our complex containers.”
Dominique Vassaux: “Our goal was always to ensure the technical feasibility of the customers’ wide variety of complex containers. The willingness to learn from each other and adapt was key to achieving the solution we have today.”
The customer is currently in the process of integrating the “Smartfeeder” into additional production facilities. The expansion of the AIS with the “Smartfeeder” goes beyond its application to special shapes, making it suit-
able for all types of production that require precise gob forming with consistently high quality. As a result, the “Smartfeeder” has the potential to become a new standard in the global glass forming market.