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Gorilla glass goes for a car ride

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Gorilla glass goes for a car ride

Gorilla glass goes for a car ride

Corning, which manufactures Gorilla Glass, the super-tough glass for mobile electronic devices, has developed a specialized version of the glass that could end up in your next new car. The company says its Gorilla Glass for Automotive division is working with a number of auto manufacturers to deliver a superior glass product that’s specially designed for automobiles.

Glass is naturally heavy, but Corning says that the automotive version of its signature tough product is lightweight and will support manufacturers’ desire to incorporate displays into the driver’s visual space. The company says it will offer Gorilla Glass for both structural and interior automotive applications.

Automakers are under significant pressure to improve gas mileage, and one way to do that is by reducing the weight of the vehicle. According to Corning, automotive Gorilla Glass is one-third lighter than conventional auto glass. Depending upon the vehicle size and its design, windows can add 100-150 pounds to the finished weight of a vehicle. By reducing the weight of the vehicle, automakers can not only improve gas mileage, but also reduce the vehicle’s emissions.

Reducing the weight of the glass also has other design and performance benefits. Reduced weight can improve acceleration and vehicle handing. Corning also says that windshields made of Gorilla Glass can eliminate 50% of the vehicle glass breakage that occurs today. That could reduce the total cost of ownership of a vehicle, and could also reduce comprehensive insurance costs for drivers.

Corning also says that automotive Gorilla Glass is clearer than conventional auto glass. The clarity of the glass also enables automakers to incorporate larger, brighter head-up displays. In addition, Gorilla Glass can be more easily formed into curves and 3-D shapes, allowing the designers enormous flexibility in displays, controls and the outward appearance of the vehicle. The company also says that its glass will provide better, more responsive touch controls.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Corning

Chinese Auto Glass Manufacturer Outsources Jobs

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Chinese Auto Glass Manufacturer Outsources Jobs

Chinese Auto Glass Manufacturer Outsources Jobs

In a twist, a Chinese auto glass manufacturing firm has moved 2,000 jobs from its Chinese facilities to a former General Motors assembly plant in Moraine, OH. The Fuyao Glass Industry Group, owned by Chinese billionaire Cao Dewang, reopened the plant in October and could add as many as 1,000 more workers in the coming months.

The Moraine, OH assembly plant had produced small trucks and SUVs, including the S-10, the GMC Envoy and the Chevrolet TrailBlazer. GM idled the facility in 2008, and Fuyao Glass Industry Group purchased it in 2014.

The company, which supplies auto glass for both General Motors and Volkswagen, found it less expensive to manufacture glass in the United States than to manufacture it in China and ship it to the United States.

The company reported profits of $370 million in 2015. Dewang made the difficult decision to move the company’s North American operations to Moraine in response to what he characterized as China’s high taxes and high labor costs.

In addition to reducing Dewang’s overall costs, the move may shield the company from onerous tariffs being considered by the incoming Trump administration. Fuyao Glass has invested more than $1B in its US operations.

Glass is typically produced locally in relation to the manufacturer’s target market, so it’s not entirely surprising that Fuyao Glass would want a North American production facility. Producing glass locally allows the manufacturer to reduce its transportation costs, improve transportation logistics and respond more easily to market demand.

According to Dewang, he pays about 35% more in taxes on his facilities in mainland China than he does on his facilities in the United States. Additionally, the Chinese government has increased social welfare payments and value-added taxes on manufacturing firms. Dewang says that wages in the US are about 8 times higher than the wages he pays to workers in China, but the tax assessments increase his overall costs for Chinese manufacturing.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specialized glass coating that bonds permanently to glass surfaces. GlassPrimer also makes a glass surface molecular activator that is designed to work with UV-inkjet glass printing processes. For more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Truck PR, via Flickr.com

Safelite Auto Glass Drops Manufacturing

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Safelite Auto Glass Drops Manufacturing

Safelite Auto Glass Drops Manufacturing

Safelight Auto Glass announced last month that it will cease manufacturing operations by October 10, 2016. The company, based in Columbus, OH, is the nation’s largest auto glass installation company. The company’s manufacturing facility is located in Enfield, NC. As part of the closure, Safelite says that the first layoffs will begin in September.

Auto glass market on the verge of sea change

The decision to drop manufacturing doesn’t mean that Safelite is exiting the auto glass industry, but rather that the company will get its manufactured products from other suppliers. The company’s Enfield facility employs about 200 people and turns out about a million replacement windshields each year. Safelite will focus entirely on its windshield replacement service instead.

According to company officials, the decision to shutter the plant was based on the cost of the investments needed to maintain its position in the replacement windshield industry. Officials at Safelite said that the number of modifications required to meet both consumer demand and new automotive technologies, like Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, led to the plant’s demise.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems come in a variety of forms, and may include imaging and image processing, computer vision, head-up displays, computer displays, LIDAR, radar and other display technologies. Each vehicle or manufacturer may have its own technologies, which may or may not integrate closely with the vehicle’s windshield. Additionally, auto manufacturers are introducing ADAS technologies at a rapid pace. Driver assistive technologies are currently among the fastest growing segments in automotive electronics.

According to the company, the days of plain glass windshields are numbered. The company’s manufacturing facility could not make the investments necessary to create the large variety of enhanced replacement automotive windshields. The Enfield facility was opened in 1970, but Safelite has made auto glass since 1947.

Other suppliers are expected to fill in the gaps left by Safelite, but it is unlikely that a single glass manufacturer will capture the majority of the ADAS windshield market. Safelite currently manufactures more than 1,000 distinct auto glass products at the plant.

Glassprimer™ glass paint is a specially engineered coating that bonds permanently to glass and other impervious surfaces. If you would like more information about Glassprimer™ glass paint, please see the rest of our site. If you’d like to purchase Glassprimer™ glass paint, please visit our online store .

Photo Credit: Jared Kelly, via Flickr.com