The installation of the coater itself, which arrived on 14 outsize special transport trucks from Germany, is nearly finished.

Following its completion later this month, the coater will be one of the most advanced facilities of its type in the world. With commissioning taking place throughout October,  manufacturing is scheduled to start in November.

The new coater at Cowley Hill, St Helens, encompasses a wide variety of advanced process control and monitoring systems that will not only further advanceour glass manufacturing capabilities in the UK but will also play a crucial part in meeting the growth in demand for energy-saving glass solutions.

The new £36m coater will produce a range of Pilkington products, including high performance energy-saving glazing products, the recently launched Pilkington K Glass™ S as well as Pilkington Suncool™ – a range of coated solar control products with high visible light transmittance and low emissivity in one off-line product.

Whilst being at the forefront of glass manufacturing technology, the new coater has also created 50 new jobs. The training of existing as well as new personnel has been a key element to the success of the coater opening on time.

Mike Sharples, Coating Plant Manager, said: “The training has been carefully phased to match the progress of the construction and installation.”

To keep updated on all the latest news from Pilkington UK Ltd please visit the news section on our official website. And for further information on both Pilkington Suncool™ and Pilkington K Glass™ S, two of the glazing solutions that new coater will manufacture, please view our product pages.