Innovation

We make use of innovations to continue developing our business model and to strengthening our market position. With activities that range from boosting efficiency in our production processes to developing new products with a smaller ecological footprint and optimising our operating processes by applying digital tools: at Vetropack, innovation knows no limits. However, innovations also entail financial risks, because not all innovation projects ultimately lead to success.

Concepts, policies and measures

Overarching responsibilities

Our CEO supports the innovation strategy as an element of Vetropack’s overall corporate strategy. The CTO supports him in this regard. The Steering Committee Innovation controls and oversees the planning and realisation of innovations. The Technology and Production division is responsible for implementation. This division has responsibility for production in our plants, and also for developing processes and technologies. Our responsibilities in the Technology and Production division are as follows:

• The Technology and Projects unit concentrates on technological developments. We examine new technologies to assess their suitability for Vetropack – and where appropriate, we introduce them into our company. The focus here is on digitalisation and sustainability.
• The Performance unit is responsible for our production processes. Attention focuses on analysing, standardising and consistently optimising processes and on benchmarking both within and outside the Group so as to improve operative performance. To achieve these goals, we make use of Lean and Six Sigma.
• The Innovation unit develops the processes and products of the future. It also includes the Innovation Centre at our Pöchlarn site in Austria. Research at the Innovation Centre focuses on process and product development, as well as exploration of digital technologies in production. This unit includes an Innovation Manager Process/Technology and an Innovation Manager Digital Factory; they were recently joined by an Innovation Manager Product/Material who concentrates on materials and substances for glass production.

An in-house Steering Committee is in place where we regularly review the success of innovation projects and align our innovation strategy accordingly.

Innovations as measures to protect the climate

One project of relevance to climate protection concerns storage and/or utilisation of CO₂ emissions from the glass production process in connection with carbon capture and recovery. In the process known as 'carbon mineralisation’, carbon dioxide is converted into carbonates. Since the carbon dioxide does not return to the atmosphere, this project has the potential for substantially reducing future CO₂ emissions from glass production.

In the Zero CO₂ project, members of International Partners in Glass Research (IPGR) – the association chaired by Vetropack’s CTO – are developing a prototype furnace that supports the decarbonisation of glass production. And under the auspices of the No Soda Trials, glass is being produced without soda – the main source of emissions.

Digitalisation and automation

We are digitalising processes throughout our value chain – because digital solutions help us to make our internal processes more efficient, meet customer needs, and strengthen our competitive edge. Digitalisation of business processes offers the opportunity to make data available at the right time, in the right place and in the right form, so decisions can be made rapidly and transparently. Automation concepts allow us to acquire and evaluate data from the production processes in real time at all our locations.

Responsibility for driving digitalisation and automation projects ahead is assigned to the Head of the Engineering and Production department in collaboration with the Head of Information Technology (IT&OT).

We create the right technical conditions and deploy suitable tools to ensure that digitalisation processes are user-friendly. We use SAP S/4HANA as our Group-wide ERP solution, together with a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. More details are available in the Customer satisfaction section.

High-speed cameras are a valuable application in digitalisation, because they help us to monitor the glass forming process in real time so we can ensure product quality. On fast-running machines, the generated images allow precise detection of malfunctions and process anomalies for the purposes of preventive maintenance. An algorithm is used to classify the information about malfunctions and anomalies, which is made available immediately. This reduces periods of disruption and enables us to define preventive measures more accurately. A pilot run at our Pöchlarn plant has yielded some highly promising initial results.

Making use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

To highlight the growing importance of data analytics and AI for our company, and to design and adapt our processes accordingly, we apply a Group-wide policy on using AI technologies safely and securely. Based on this policy, we offer training content that should prepare our employees to make productive and profitable use of these technologies.

We are stepping up the use of AI in our Digital Factory Innovation unit. This is an organisational unit that drives the digitalisation of production processes ahead with the help of technologies such as computer vision or machine learning. In this context, we are making more use of deep learning algorithms for quality control of our products. Other applications for AI include article counting to optimise inventory management and production processes.

We see huge potential for further expansion in the field of computer vision and cognitive services. Possible applications include support for wear and cleanness checks in mould workshops, continuous monitoring of the production environment for irregularities or outages to minimise downtime, and ongoing development of inventory management thanks to more accurate monitoring and automation.

Dry Glass Forming project

We are continuing to drive implementation of IPGR’s Dry Glass Forming project ahead by setting up the industrial coating plant at our Pöchlarn facility. The aim of this project is to prevent the glass from adhering to the mould surface in future by selecting suitable coatings, thus avoiding manual or automated lubrication of the moulds. The focus here is on advancing the development of the coating materials so as to improve the durability of the coatings as well as the quality of the manufactured products.

Holistic Pallet and Pad Management (HPPM)

Around one million pallets and six million pallet pads are in circulation to ensure that our products are transported safely to our customers. HPPM was developed so that information about returns and the quality of pallets and pads is available across all our sites at all times. The HPPM system uses sensors to collate all information about reusable packaging in one location. This ensures that the pallets are clearly traceable, thus also making it easier to reuse them. Thanks to a cloud solution for the platform, customers and logistics providers can view and enter their data themselves.

Progress and events in the reporting year