Pilkington signs 15-year supply deal with BOC

BOC has secured a 15-year, multi-million pound contract with international glass manufacturer Pilkington for the continued supply of nitrogen and hydrogen to the company´s main UK manufacturing facility at St Helens, Merseyside. BOC´s plant will supply 155 tonnes per day of nitrogen and up to 350 Nm3 per hour of hydrogen via pipeline to Pilkington´s furnaces which produce float glass products for the building and automotive industries. Dave Gilmore, Pilkington´s purchasing director, said: “We are pleased to reaffirm our confidence in BOC as a supplier of high quality products and specialist expertise to deliver solutions that maximise the efficiency and quality of our glass making processes. It is vitally important to Pilkington´s Merseyside operations that we are able to depend on security of supply and BOC has provided ample proof of that over time." BOC has been supplying the Pilkington facility for more than 40 years, working closely with the glass manufacturer to meet its needs, both across the UK and globally. Founded in 1826, Pilkington is UK-based, with manufacturing operations in 24 countries on five continents and sales in 130 countries. Over half of Pilkington´s sales are in Europe, approximately a third in North America and the rest in South America and Australasia. It operates 25 float plants worldwide, with interests in a further nine. Gordon Brown, BOC’s major customer director, Europe, said: "Pilkington is a very important customer. For us this contract clearly demonstrates Pilkington´s continued confidence in our abilities to provide the high quality products and security of supply they depend on. We have enjoyed a long-term partnership with Pilkington and will continue to work hard for and with them to build on that relationship, providing value-adding solutions wherever they are needed. "BOC is one of the largest industrial gases suppliers in the world and we consistently support our major customers on that basis. That means understanding their manufacturing needs, providing tailored solutions and the same high quality products no matter where in the world they operate." Notes: Float glass is made by melting glass and feeding a thin layer onto a tank of molten tin in a nitrogen and hydrogen (five to 10 per cent) atmosphere. The glass flattens out forming a perfectly smooth glossy surface on both sides with an even thickness. This allows the economic production of smooth clear glass. For flame polishing applications, hydrogen is also the fuel. Glass manufacturers look to BOC for its knowledge, skill and experience in delivering reliable engineered solutions for their combustion technology and glass process requirements. BOC’s glass experts have years of industry experience and are focused on designing and delivering solutions that address customers’ productivity, environmental and economic challenges at their facilities world-wide. BOC offers glass manufacturers a range of products and services - from one-hundred percent oxy-fuel combustion and oxygen boosting of air fuel furnaces to advanced melting technologies, energy-saving heat recovery systems and innovative NOx and SOx /particulate abatement solutions. BOC supplies gas and related solutions to the glass, chemicals, petroleum, water services, electronic packaging, fibre optics, hydrogen energy, metals and food industries. BOC helps to meet customer needs in a variety of ways, from the supply of small packages of a single gas or application through to designing, constructing and operating fully integrated gas and utilities schemes. The BOC Group the world-wide industrial gases, vacuum technologies and distribution services company, serves two million customers in more than 50 countries. It employs some 30,000 people and had annual sales of over £4.6 billion in 2004. Further information about The BOC Group may be obtained on the Internet at www.boc.com.