Pilkington recently unveiled its £36M off-line coater. The coater, at the Cowley Hill site in St Helens, is one of the most advanced facilities of its type and began operation in November 2012. It enables ultra-thin special coatings to be applied to glass, creating energy-saving glazing products. The 280m long coater will allow the group to manufacture more products in the UK. These include Pilkington K Glass S; Pilkington Suncool; and Pilkington Optitherm. K Glass was launched November 2011 with production initially in Germany and Sweden. Sales have grown to 1M square metres in 2012 across Europe and the coater will enable the company to increase these sales. Pilkington's MD for UK & Ireland, Matt Buckley, admitted it had been a challenging year for the group. He said since the economic turmoil in 2008 there had been a 25% reduction in UK glass consumption and the market had not yet recovered. The downturn had caused Pilkington's Greengate float line to be mothballed after solar demand dropped. It has 15 downstream sites in the K but two of these, in S London and Leeds, are due to close. He said the introduction of the coater was a big step forward and is hopeful it will help bring a turnaround in fortunes, ensuring Pilkington is in the right shape for 2013.
