Vetreria Bertoldo: The First Forel "High Tech" IG Line in Italy

United, professional, and far-sighted. These are the first adjectives that come to mind when visiting the glass factory Vetreria Ivano Bertoldo of Trento (Italy), a family run company since 1964. The company primarily manufactures insulated glass, mostly for residential applications, supplying clients throughout Italy.

Vetreria Bertoldo is run by Ivano (the founder), his wife Lucia, and their sons Mauro, Andrea and Silvia. With the generational handover successfully achieved, the company decided to invest in Forel’s top performing solution for the production of insulated glass, the “High Tech” IG line.

“For many, working with one’s family can be tricky,” explains Mauro Bertoldo, the eldest son, “but our parents have always taught us to respect the people we work with. It’s a simple concept, but a fundamental one for all companies that have to tackle the generational handover  process. Here, each of us in the Bertoldo family have different responsibilities and we all show mutual confidence in each other. If necessary we discuss things, but without forcing ourselves on each other or by-passing each other. It’s fundamental, also in relation to clients, to be a tight-knit team and to show that unity both inside and outside the company.”

Vetreria Bertoldo was established at the initiative of Ivano. After years of experience acquired with various glass processors in Bolzano and Trento, he decided to go it alone. His enthusiasm and passion have driven the company’s growth over the years, just like it has driven his children’s. “Infected” as they are by his energy, they all play an active role in the family business. With the passing of time, the passion of this family has not waned in the least, and nor has Ivano himself (who looks decisively younger than his official age).

The partnership with Forel goes back a long way, to almost thirty years ago, when the first insulated glass machines were installed on the Rovereto premises. Over the years, the company has focused increasingly on the production of insulated glass, specializing to reach ever new heights in the quality of its product. The desire to grow in a precise direction led Vetreria Bertoldo to become a year ago the first Italian company to purchase a Forel “High Tech” IG line.

“We had a strategic objective, which was to boost the production volumes and quality of our insulated glasses, in particular triple glazing, a product that’s often requested of us, in part thanks to the influence of the German and Northern Europe markets. We decided to give the project full priority, putting off other investments we had planned to purchase the new Forel line. It was the best decision we could make. As long-standing clients, we can confirm just how far this manufacturer has come over the years, from both a technological point of view, and in terms of its after-sales service.”

Bertoldo’s “High Tech” line consists of a edging machine, a washing machine, an inspection and frame application station, a coupling press with gas filling, and an automatic sealing robot. To adapt the line to the layout of the premises, a rotating corner conveyor and a turning conveyor were added (the latter for the automatic handling of low-emission glass in the make up of the unit), with the result literally “made to measure” for the client.

A high performance production line designed for flexibility, it offers the possibility of handling jobs for both the residential and commercial segments, enabling up to three chambers (quadruple glazing) to be processed to produce a finished unit of 80mm in thickness, with a capacity of 400kg per linear metre.

“By choosing Forel, we invested in quality and productivity, with a view to taking on the market,” says Mauro. “We are convinced that our renewed production capacity will be the trump card for us in these times of uncertainty. All companies have been hit hard by the Covid-19 emergency and these weeks of necessary lockdown, as well as by the difficulties tied to the “race” to comply with the various decrees issued over the period. A year of uncertainty at the general level awaits us all, but thanks to our reputation, to the reliability and the product of Vetreria Bertoldo, orders are coming in regularly and we’re continuing to manufacture, with the same commitment and enthusiasm our father has always taught us.”