GW: As a leading supplier of products and services aimed at delivering value in the areas of furnace support, process optimisation and knowledge transfer, how does CelSian prioritise training in its overall offerings to the glass manufacturing chain?
Training is a very important segment of CelSian and we are investing an increasing amount to extend our capabilities. There will be future growth in training in many different ways and we are expanding our internal and external pool of trainers because of training diversification in terms of content, duration and format.

In addition to collaborating with technicians, technologists and engineers, a changing trend is discussions with human resources personnel about training needs for their company’s employees. The way to train people is changing. HR departments are looking for opportunities to retain and improve their workforces and they recognise training as an important tool. There is a real opportunity to develop new concepts that sit alongside their philosophies.

GW: What position does the CelSian – NCNG International Glass Technology Course hold in the industry’s training agenda?
For nearly 20 years, we have staged the five day International Glass Technology Course in Eindhoven, the Netherlands to provide a solid, theoretical background to meet the challenges of furnace operation and glass production.

Including replicas of the course staged in Toledo in the USA for the last 10 years to cater mainly for the North and South American regions and in the UK, in co-operation with combustion and energy expert Neil Simpson, almost 2000 glass professionals have now benefitted from receiving a broad overview of the melting process for all furnace types covering float, container and fibre glass and all different sectors together.

The International Glass Technology Course regularly attracts experienced glass professionals looking to better understand the things they see happening and behaving in practice. In addition, young people and new entrants to the glass industry are also very well suited.

Attracting young people to the glass industry is a challenge and training them properly can incentivise them to stay in the industry. It’s no longer about eight hour lectures… with regularly updated slides and manuals to keep the course fresh and up-to-date, our interactive training now includes case studies and one-to-one group sessions, as well as e-learning movies throughout the course. In advance, attendees have access to e-learning modules to guide them through the different topics of glass melting to ensure everyone enters the course with the same basic knowhow.

GW: Is there a follow-up curriculum to the course?
As well as a standard follow-up survey, upon request we can carry out post-course training to measure how the knowhow has increased since the pre-course e-learning movies.

All attendees also receive a certificate and there has been evidence of this assisting the progression of careers when people have been looking for new opportunities within the industry.

GW: What was the motivation to launch the series of two day expert training sessions in 2019?
We can now provide expert courses over two days to delve further into specific topics that may be rather too complex to cover in detail in our other courses.

For example, on 13-14 March in Manchester, UK, we will stage an expert training session dedicated to understanding the link between redox, fining and glass quality. Such a subject is of key importance for those that work on a daily basis on controlling and optimising glass quality, which is highly influenced by redox state (disturbances).

A further course fully dedicated to ‘advanced combustion and emissions’ will be held on 15-16 May in Eindhoven for batch and furnace managers and glass technologists.

The first expert training course was successfully staged over two days in the UK last January as a lean version of the five day International Glass Technology Course. Dedicating five days can sometimes be a challenge for companies, so a shorter course with more basic information worked well for such attendees as environmental managers and technical sales people, for example.

With the forthcoming courses already attracting great interest, more expert courses will be scheduled for later in 2019 and next year and we have ambitions for events in the USA and Asia, where we can align our programme to the regions. Industry needs will dictate the topics.

A regular course is also staged for the Dutch glass industry with a different format. A 10 day course takes place across approximately five months, with each day hosted by a different glass plant. Attendees receive a half day of theory training, followed by practical experience in the factory, so they have the great benefit of visiting all the plants and production facilities in Holland.