Over 850 experts from all over the world promoted co-operation in the glass industry - The GPD conference has a more imp

Over 850 experts from all over the world promoted co-operation in the glass industry THE GPD CONFERENCE HAS A MORE IMPORTANT ROLE AS A DISCUSSION FORUM Over 850 global glass industry experts convened in Tampere, Finland from 18 to 21 June 2001 at the Glass Processing Days (GPD) conference, organized by Tamglass Ltd. Oy. The event brought together glass manufacturers, architects, vehicle designers and researchers from 60 countries around the world. The main speakers at the conference included Paolo Scaroni, Pilkington Group Chief Executive, Michael Robinson, Head Designer of Fiat, Stephen Selkowitch, Director of the Department of Building Technology at the Orlando Research Laboratory, and Lorenzo Ramaciotti, General Manager of the design company Pininfarina. In addition, several notable glass architects, such as James Carpenter and Thomas Herzog, as well as top designers Werner Sobek and Klaus Daniels also spoke at the conference. During the four days, around 200 speakers in nearly 30 sessions spoke at the conference. Cooperation between industry, designers and researchers arose as a topic of discussion During the conference a number of development ideas for the global glass industry as well as interesting discussion topics came to the fore. Chief Executive Paolo Scaroni emphasized in his own presentation the importance of coatings and e-commerce solutions as growth factors in the future of the glass industry. Head Designer Michael Robinson explained the significance of increasing the glass surfaces in vehicles to achieve All Around visibility as well as their use for different utility and leisure purposes. On the weekend preceding the conference, a separate Short Course programme including also a special part for architects and architectural glass professionals was arranged. The main speakers at the programme, which was being held for the first time, were the architects Klaus Daniels, Werner Sobek, Pekka Salminen and Antti Matti Siikala. The Short Course programme differs from the main conference in that it concentrates on one topic at a time, allowing a single theme to be addressed also on a practical level. Around 40-50 participants attended the event. The conference has reached a position as the decision-makers meeting forum According to feedback received by the Organizing Committee, the standard of presentations at the Glass Processing Days conference had become even higher compared to the previous conference. Speeches were well presented and they had been prepared with care. The role of the conference as a meeting place and a possibility to exchange information for decision- makers has become more pronounced. Approximately one third of the attendees represented the establishers and the top management of the glass industry. The feedback also stressed the importance of the conference and auxiliary events as a natural forum for forging personal contacts between designers, the research and scientific community, and representatives of the glass industry. The event has also become a venue at which the whole glass industry develops the business together on neutral ground in a relaxed atmosphere. Proof of the Glass Processing Days' role as a means of commercializing new products was obtained again. The Italian automotive glass industry consultant and inventor Giovanni Manfré presented in 1997 a solution developed by himself called Thermally Expandable Micro Sphere that enables the fast and trouble-free removal of automotive glass panels. Peter Bain heard his presentation at that time. At this year's Glass Processing Days conference, Manfré and Bain introduced the finished Debonding product. GPD Awards for distinguished global glass industry experts For the second time, the Glass Processing Days conference presented the GPD awards for important contributions to the development of the global glass industry. The Englishman John Brian Waldron of Pilkington received an award for his contribution to the development and harmonization of standardization in the architectural glass industry. The Italian Giovanni Manfré was recognized for his many innovative solutions developed for automotive glass. The American glass architect James Carpenter received an award for raising the prestige of glass architecture world-wide and for his innovative use of glass. The Organising Committee on the basis of recommendations made the choices from different quarters. The Devlopment of Glass Processing Days conference continues Next time Glass Processing Days will be arranged in June 2003. With the help of the received feedback the conference will be devloped further to meet the needs caused by the industry changes. An extra attention will be targeted for increasing the main themes and the ways to go through the issues. The collection of the sessions as well as the selection and invitation of the new speakers has already been started. Tamglass, which is part of the Kyro Group, designs and manufactures safety glass lines and machines for the architectural, automotive, furniture and domestic appliance glass industries. Safety glass is tempered or laminated glass. Tamglass has a total of 16 operating units in a number of European and Asia countries and in the Americas. The company has delivered more than 1,300 production lines to over 70 countries. The Tamglass Group's Tamglass Safety Glass Ltd., produces demanding, high value-added safety glass products using the latest Tamglass technology. Further Jorma Vitkala, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, GPD, information: +358 (0) 40-553 2042 Press VP, Communications Mika Nevalainen, Kyro Corporation, +358 relations (0) 400-882 024 or and photos: Communications Assistant Mari Kurkinen, +358 (0) 40-560 8311 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/07/11/20010711BIT00030/bit0003.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/07/11/20010711BIT00030/bit0001.pdf