Glass Processing Days Begins Special Conferences Focusing On Market Areas

The first GPD UK will take place on 10-11 November in conjunction and in co-operation with the Glass Processing & Technology Exhibition, to be held on 11-13 November at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England.

GPD UK 2003 will be an intensive and practical conference, offering useful information for all glass processing specialists, from operators to product managers. All the visitors to the Glass Processing & Technology Exhibition can, in conjunction with the trade fair, take advantage of this excellent opportunity to update their knowledge on the latest glass processing trends in the United Kingdom.

The new GPD UK conference expands the philosophy of collecting and sharing information in order to develop the glass processing industry. Every market area has its own glass processing challenges to be solved. GPD 2005 will attract decision-makers and specialists from all over the world to Tampere, Finland. The UK conference before that will continue the discussions started in GPD 2003 from the local market area’s point of view.

“High quality presentations have become standard at the GPD conferences and each year the level appears to be higher. This will also be seen at GPD UK 2003. The pragmatic presentations of this local conference will give it a special role as a meeting place for glass processors in the United Kingdom. Then, after the national conferences, the GPD 2005 conference will widen the discussions to a more global level,” says Jorma Vitkala, Chairman of the Organising Committee of GPD.

The one and a half day conference in Birmingham will concentrate on the processing of coated glass. New building and energy regulations as well as standards for safety and coated glass are increasing the glass processors’ need to understand the processing of coated glass better in order to meet the energy requirements of new regulations.

The topics of the presentations will cover different features and manufacturing methods of coating, the processing chain of coated glass from pre-processing to tempering, costs and productivity in processing coated glass, the manufacturing of IG units etc. The speakers at GPD UK 2003 will be specialists in the field of regulation, pre-processing, tempering and insulated glass manufacturing, from companies including Pilkington, Glaverbel, Saint-Gobain, Tamglass and Z. Bavelloni.