thai glass industriesvar.glassonline.com/uploads/publications/section... · tainer manufacturer in...

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Thai Glass Industries Public Company Limited, known for short by the initials TGI, is the leading glass con-tainer manufacturer in Southeast Asia and one of the

biggest in Asia. With a combined production capacity of 3,300 tons per day, TGI operates three plants in Thailand, one in Malaysia and one in Vietnam.

TGI meets the glass container needs of an impressive spectrum of bottling companies. Its wide range of designs

own on-the of d,

e s

THAI GLASS INDUSTRIESmore than six decades of the art and history of making glass

In this article we

are led through

the more than 60

years of company

history of Southeast

Asia’s leading

glass packaging

manufacturer Thai

Glass Industries.

Since its start-up at

the beginning of the

1950s, the company

has continued to

grow and develop,

also thanks to its

parent company,

Berli Jucker.

glass machinery plants & accessories 6/2014 33

34 glass machinery plants & accessories 6/2014

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to suit customer product require-ments means that the company is fully equipped to support manu-facturing segments as varied as beer, whisky, wine, water, soda, soft drinks, energy drinks, elec-trolytes, foods and pharmaceu-ticals.

TGI’s products are sold through the Packaging Product Division of its parent company, Berli Jucker Public Company Limited (BJC). BJC is a lead-ing commercial conglomerate, operating on its own behalf and for international principals,

in manufacturing, marketing, sales, distribution and services. Through subsidiaries and joint ventures, BJC has some of the most efficient manufacturing operations in the region.

TGI obtains full technical support from O-I (Owens-Illinois) North America, which is the leader in glass manufac-turing in the United States, as well as boasting the historic status of world pioneer in auto-matic glass container manu-facturing. TGI also obtains technical support from O-I

Asia-Pacific, the leading glass packaging supplier in the Asia-Pacific region.

With the acquisition in 2010 by BJC of Malaya Glass Products, in a joint venture with O-I Asia-Pacific, TGI has become part of a transnational business operation with glass container plants in Malaysia, Vietnam and China. Celebrating more than six decades – as well as five cycles of successful operations and constant devel-opment – TGI’s story begins back in 1951.

THE BEGINNINGS OF AN INDUSTRIAL PIONEER

In 1951, work began on clear-ing a 26.4-rai (4.2 hectares) greenfield site across the Chao Phya River from the city of Bangkok to set up Thailand’s first automatic glass container factory. Work was not easy, since to reach the area the only trans-port was via boat along the river because there was no main road access.

Today the Rajburana plant lies close to the Rama IX Bridge and the Dao Khanong Expressway, with a four-lane road running in front of it providing the main access, but back in the early 1950s, the new plant rose up in a world of its own, a glass fac-tory in the middle of a banana plantation, as one early employee recalled.

For all its boldness, how-ever, the site was just one of many challenges in those early years of Thai Glass Industries Public Company Limited under its initial name of Thai Glass Manufacturers Company Limited (TGM).

The local manufacturing of glass containers largely depend-ed on outdated methods from the pre-war days. Supplied by small-scale factories, glass con-tainers were normally of infe-rior quality. One serious manu-facturer in those days was the Glass Organization, a state enterprise under the control of the Department of Armed Forces Industries, where a small furnace and mechanical equipment were used to produce standard glass bottles and simple tableware.

permit an industrialist a choice of an ideal work site with good transportation access.

Large-scale users of glass containers comprised a mere handful of bottlers such as the government-owned Bangyikhan Distillery (for the famous Mekhong whisky), Boonrawd Brewery (for the celebrated Singha beer), Fraser & Neave, Union Soda and some other small factories for soft drinks, or ‘aerated water’, as it was quaintly called. The only encouragement for any new venture came from the Ministry of Industry.


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A GOOD OPPORTUNITYBerli Jucker company could,

however, see that there was a good opportunity for setting up a modern glass container manufac-turing business in Thailand. The person who inspired the whole project was Berli Jucker’s assis-tant manager, Walter L. Meyer, a visionary who anticipated the coming trend for industrialisa-tion in Thailand. After World War II, Berli Jucker had includ-ed bottles and other containers among their many imports, gain-ing an agency appointment from Singapore Glass Manufacturers, the principal container manufac-turer in the region at the time.

When Meyer took over the management of the company, he began immediately to guide it towards taking the momentous step of entering manufacture and industry. The demand for glass bottles and other containers was there and the contacts with Singapore Glass Manufacturers gave him the big opening. That company was an affili-ate of Australian Consolidated Industries (ACI), Australia’s biggest glass manufacturer, and Meyer persuaded ACI to invest in Thailand.

Australian Consolidated Industries came and Thai Glass

Manufacturers was formed in 1951. The Minister of Industry gave its complete support and cooperation to TGM and things began to take shape that same year when the ministry issued a permit for the erection of an automatic glass container manu-facturing plant. TGM took 14 months to set up its plant, a remarkably short time in the cir-cumstances, but it was not with-out its hitches.

John Wearne of ACI, one of the first technicians at the plant, recalls the scene in 1952. Two of the four original machines were transported from Singapore. These machines had fallen into the harbour in the war, and been fished out, overhauled and brought to Bangkok by Wearne.

In addition, one of the biggest challenges was to find suitable workers for the new industry. At the time, few Thais had experi-ence of mass production pro-cesses, and it was often a case of sending a recruiter out into the narrow streets and busy canals of Thonburi to look for likely work-ers and ask them if they wanted a job.

STRONG STIMULUS FOR EXPANSION

The opening of the new con-tainer manufacturing plant, which took place on 16 January 1953, gave local bottlers considerable relief, and a strong stimulus for expansion. Instead of having to indent for their supply of bottles months ahead and having to find large space to store them, bottlers needed only to come to an agree-ment with TGM for a regular supply, delivered at a time when they were required. The first fur-nace (RB1) started up with 50 tons per day capacity with bottles for soft drinks, beer and whisky as the bulk of the production line output, along with tumblers.

The early 1950s saw a great expansion of the soft drink trade

in Thailand. Franchise after fran-chise was given to local bottlers for Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, Green Spot, 7-Up, Bireley’s and other beverages. This expansion cre-ated increased demand for bot-tles and TGM catered for this demand by adding another fur-nace (RB2) to the factory in 1954.

For 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, the two glass fur-naces produced bottles of flint, amber and green glass as well as tumblers. Other receptacles and containers were also produced, ranging from the smallest 3cc medicinal vials to 1,000 cc bot-tles. Soft drink bottles of varying designs were made with names printed to suit individual buyers.

By 1968, the company could look back on 15 years of manu-facturing and considerable pro-gress. TGM was by now well established as a supplier to the pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries as well as the dis-tilleries, breweries and soft drink companies. TGM had become a significant employer with a staff of 850 people, comprising 840 Thais and only 10 Europeans.

As both the Thai economy and the regional economy forged ahead, the demand for glass containers increased, and it was necessary to add a third fur-nace. RB3 began operating with a capacity of 76 tons per day, thereby increasing TGM’s total production capacity to approxi-mately 180 tons a day. TGM was meeting its customers’ container requirements with the best in quality and service.

NEW NAMEIn the early 1970s, it

became the policy of the Thai Government to persuade firms to become public companies with the aim of spreading the income among the people, rath-er than confining it to a small group of private investors.


At the same time, in Australia, ACI’s leadership pursued a pol-icy that the company’s overseas operations should encourage local management and equity.

Falling in line with the new policies, TGM changed its name to Thai Glass Industries Limited, or TGI for short, and became listed on the new Securities Exchange of Thailand (SET) in 1975. When the SET officially started trading, TGI’s promi-nence in the Thai corporate world was shown by the fact that it was one of only eight companies on the exchange’s initial roster. ACI retained a 45 per cent holding in the newly-registered company.

For the shares offered to the public, the issue was immedi-ately oversubscribed, acquiring more than 1,000 shareholders amongst the Thai public. This was a period of good results for the company, despite the tur-bulent political, social and eco-nomic situation of the time. In the 1974 annual report, company manager John P. Burrows wrote: “It is pleasing to report that the company has exceeded its sales and profit targets in the first

year of operation. More so, when one considers the difficult condi-tions which prevailed for most of the year. Thailand itself experi-enced a revolution accompanied by widespread industrial unrest whilst the situation was further aggravated by spiralling increases in the costs of essential raw mate-rials and fuel oils.”

He also recorded significant technological advances, writ-ing: “During the year, two new glass making machine lines were installed and these have con-centrated on the production of pharmaceutical ware and food containers. The machines are of an advanced design and have resulted in gains in productiv-ity. Number three furnace [RB3] was rebuilt in October 1973, and a number of modifications were made which increased the production capacity from 72 to 90 tons of glass per day. Plant trials are presently in progress with an improved fuel burner system which, it is hoped, will be installed on the glass making tanks resulting in savings in fuel oil costs. The company will soon install an electro-boost melting

system on its largest furnace which will increase overall glass making capacity by 16 per cent.”

PRODUCTION AT FULL CAPACITY

By 1974, production was at full capacity. “We were going flat out,” recalls Khun Prasert Maekwatana, who joined BJC in that year and later became TGI’s first Thai Managing Director. The loss of export markets in Laos and Cambodia after the communist victories of 1975 in those neighbouring countries did not therefore cause too much problem for TGI, and the com-pany launched an expansion programme aimed at providing excess production capacity from 1977 so that there would be no shortage of glass containers in Thailand.

Accordingly, the company decided to build a fourth fur-nace (RB4) at Rajburana, boast-ing a daily capacity of 150 tons. Begun in mid-1975, it was put into operation in October 1976 at a cost of approximately THB 135 million. With the comple-tion of RB4, the plant’s pro-


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duction capacity increased by 60 per cent, resulting in a total production of 350 tons of glass per day. This latest development gave Thailand a glass container industry of world standard, plac-ing the company in a position to meet the demands of rap-idly expanding Thai industries for high quality glass container products of all types.

The company manager’s report for 1977 reflected the importance of the year for the company. Burrows wrote: “The year has been one of the most eventful in the Company’s short history. The factory site was extensively developed with the installation of the new number four furnace [RB4] whilst addi-tional land has been acquired to provide for future expansion. The new machinery brought with it more advanced technol-ogy, which meant that new skills had to be acquired, and we took advantage of the Technical Aid Agreements we have with world leaders in glass making by send-ing a number of our people to overseas factories for training. On the marketing side, sales were buoyant and further prod-uct areas have been developed, many of which are directed towards promoting exports.”

By 1977, Thailand was at the stage of ‘industrial take-off’ and the government was stressing development in export industries. Food processing was one indus-try showing exceptional export potential because of the availabil-ity of quality local raw materials. At this time, Berli Jucker saw a great potential for Thailand’s wide range of superb fruits and vegetables to gain greater over-seas acceptance through glass packaging and initiated plans to make “a completely Thai prod-uct” popular in world markets.

Further expansion of the pro-duction facilities at Rajburana would be undertaken in the

future as and when necessary so that customers’ requirements would always be met. This poli-cy assured adequate supplies to Thai industries which depend on glass containers for their prod-ucts, enabling them to plan their own expansion programmes with confidence. In line with this pol-icy, by 1980 the second furnace (RB2) was modified to increase its production capacity from 54 to 120 tons of glass per day.

Throughout this period, TGI enjoyed full management and technical support from its experienced partner and impor-tant shareholder, Australian Consolidated Industries, under the terms of the Management and Technical Assistance Agreement. Under TGI’s policy of training local people to handle both the manufacturing and marketing management programmes of the company, many senior positions previously held by expatriates were now held by Thais.

By 1981, the fast-growing city of Bangkok had joined the Rajburana plant by the banks of the Chao Phya River. Now, TGI’s production facility was surround-ed by go-downs and houses, and had a two-lane asphalt road at its rear, which had now become its front, whilst the river access – originally the only one − dimin-ished in importance year by year.

TOUGH TIMESThe company, by contrast, was

about to shrink, albeit briefly. The worst periods for TGI have come after big increases in excise duties imposed by the government and one of those hit in 1981, causing a big drop in demand for beer and whisky, and a consequent precipitous fall in demand for TGI’s bottles. But this blow was joined by several others: big rises in the costs of fuel, energy, raw materials, manufacturing com-ponents and more, plus – woe of woes – the entry of an ambitious

local rival into the glass container industry.

BJC’s chairman, Walter L. Meyer, was understandably downbeat in TGI’s 1981 annu-al report, under the heading Company Operations’:

“As a result of the sharp increases in Excise Taxes report-ed earlier, the manufacturers of popular soft drink and brewery products, whose sales fell over-night by some 50 per cent, found that there were more than enough second hand glass containers available in the market to service their daily needs,” he wrote. “The Management of TGI was, in the absence of any demand for new bottles, faced with the danger of sharply rising stock levels, which could only be avoided by shutting down furnaces.

Such a decision brought with it a number of associated prob-lems, including the deployment of the idle labour force, as well as the necessity to re-arrange the Company’s cash resources at a time of rising interest rates. The inevitable closing down of a large part of the plant was postponed for a short period as the Company was successful in securing some very low margin export orders amounting to BHT 47.4 million.”

“Considering all the circum-stances, it was decided that the best positive alternative, amongst a host of negative factors, was to shut down number two fur-nace [RB2] on a semi-permanent basis and at the same time take out number three furnace [RB3] for repair and modification ear-lier than originally planned. The cost of this repair work was BHT 47.8 million and the job was completed in three months. During this time the otherwise idle work force was transferred to help with the rebuild which obviated the need to use out-side people and minimised the expenditure. Number three fur-


nace [RB3] resumed production on 24 February 1981, with an increased capacity of 20 per cent, but it will be some considerable time before this additional ton-nage can be fully utilized.”

“Apart from the Government’s move on the Excise Taxes, which specifically dealt a severe blow to the beer, soft drink and glass container industries as well as numerous suppliers of raw mate-rials and services, other major glass users experienced a difficult year in keeping with the gen-eral economic downturn, as the country finally came to grips with the high cost of energy. Food processers and the pharmaceuti-cal sector reduced their orders for glass containers as a result of a fall in consumer spend-ing, accompanied by rising costs which reduced their margins.”

“The year proved most dif-ficult from an operating cost point of view as the Government, faced with a ‘catch-up situation’ announced hefty price-increases for oil and electricity. The cost of oil used for glass melting opera-tions increased by 36.6 per cent during the year. This was accom-panied by hikes of 52.8 per cent in electricity prices and all relat-ed items such as raw materials, wages, moulds and packaging materials registered correspond-ing increases.”

“A new competitor com-

menced operations last year as a result of which further excess capacity became available in the market. This resulted in a round of price-cutting, as each fac-tory moved to secure a share of any available general market business. Under these circum-stances, the company was not able to recover the cost increases by lifting selling prices to accept-able levels.”

But as any experienced busi-nessman knows, there are good times, and there are bad times. Business goes in cycles, and soon there was to come the biggest economic boom in Thailand’s history.

THE COMEBACKOn the positive side, this major

retrenchment of the early 1980s gave the company a useful chance to re-organise its production facilities without hindrance to output. The first furnace (RB1) was decommissioned because of its high energy consumption and the RB4 furnace was rebuilt to achieve a capacity of 300 tons per day, creating the biggest furnace in Southeast Asia. In January 1983, RB2 was restarted ena-bling re-employment of most of the workers who had been laid off.

In 1984, the most techno-logically advanced machines in Asia were installed. In 1986 new


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packing machines were installed and RB3 furnace had its capacity increased from 76 to 180 tons per day. In 1987, TGI made its first exports to China, supplying beer bottles to Zhuhai Brewery, which was a great encouragement to the company, which was then hav-ing to wind down its supply of beer bottles to Thailand’s biggest brewery.

Asian Hi-Tech Award 19881988 was a proud year

when the company secured the Asian Hi-Tech Award 1988 for Production Technology joint-ly given by the Asian Hi-Tech Award Committee and Thailand’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Energy. In 1989, reflect-ing the long and fruitful coop-eration between Berli Jucker and Australian Consolidated Industries in the management and technical support for TGI, the Australian Prime Minister, Robert Hawke, paid an official visit to the Rajburana plant, wel-comed by BJC Chairman, Walter L. Meyer, and the Australian general manager, Eric Young.

And during this period, begin-ning in the mid-1980s, there had been a massive and ever-rising increase in foreign investment in Thailand and the Thai econo-my was quickly moving forward, posting high growth rates and a huge expansion in consum-er spending as the Thai people became more and more affluent. Demand for glass containers con-sequently soared, and TGI decid-ed to build a second production facility which would considerably expand its daily capacity.

BOOM TIMEAnd from the severe setback in

the early 1980s, TGI soared to exalted heights at the end of the decade. Reflecting on 1988 in the company newssheet, Baan Kaew (Glass House), GM Eric Young, said, “In all industries in Thailand, everybody is having a good year because Thailand is just boom-ing and export is good, tourism is good and investment is good.”

The company’s success in this heady new economic climate was reported under the headline ‘Thai Glass profits at a record high”’ in The Nation newspaper on 11 July 1989: “Thai Glass Industries (TGI) Ltd’s fiscal 1989 prof-its hit a record high, with a 28.8 per cent increase in sales. Sales reached BHT l.22 bil-lion, announced TGI Chairman Walter Meyer at the company’s


annual meeting. After-tax profit also hit a record BHT 182.5 mil-lion, making the dividend of 45 per cent equal to BHT 45 per share approved by the share-holders’ meeting. The chairman attributed this success not only to the increasing demand of glass containers in Thailand but also to higher efficiency in the operation as well as the high production technology used at the factory.”

“As for TGI, it will have addi-tional capacity of 100 tons by the end of September this year, after rebuilding and enlarging one of its furnaces. Construction of an additional 200-ton furnace on a new site on Wat Sriwareenoi Road, off the Bangna-Trad Highway in Samut Prakarn, has already started and this new plant should be in operation by the end of next year’, said Meyer.”

New factoryIn 1991, the second factory

opened at Bangplee, to the east of Bangkok. Boasting world-class technology, it was the most mod-ern glass container plant in the region. The first furnace (BP1) with a capacity of 220 tons per day was started up in February and a second furnace (BP2) with a capacity of 240 tons per day was started up by year-end.

The early 1990s were a time of major change for TGI. Not only did the company more than double its output capacity, it also had a major change of control-ling ownership and of top man-agement. In 1992, ACI decided to sell all its TGI shares to BJC, making BJC the majority share-holder and causing a transfer in

the control of the company from ACI to BJC. As a consequence, the tradition of having an Australian as the chief executive was ended and for the first time a Thai was installed as Managing Director, Khun Prasert Maekwatana.

Reflecting the continuing boom in Thailand, two more fur-naces were built in rapid succes-sion at the Bangplee plant. In 1994, a third furnace (BP3) with a capacity of 400 tons per day and four bottle production lines began operations and, this time dedicated to tableware, a fourth furnace (TW1) with a capacity of 60 tons per day started up. The company also considered that it was time to usher in a new era of strategic diversification with tableware production using a stand-alone furnace producing glass of the necessary quality for tableware.

With the start of the 21st cen-tury, TGI entered a new era of compliance with the highest glob-al standards. In 2000, the com-pany achieved ISO 9002: 1994 certification under the Quality Management System (QMS) of Bureau Veritas (Thailand) for the Bangplee plant and the head office, followed in 2001 by ISO 9002: 1994 certification for the Rajburana plant, completing the qualification for the whole com-pany. Then in 2002, the com-pany achieved ISO 9001: 2000 certification under the same sys-tem (QMS).

The most significant event of 2002 was a change in the ownership structure. In that year, Thai Charoen Commercial Group (TCC) became the major-

ity owner of BJC, the parent company of TGI. With origins in the year 1960, TCC is one of Thailand’s leading conglomer-ates, currently operating in four principal business areas: bever-ages, property, industrial trading and consumer products.

PUSHING FORWARDResponding to market

demands, more changes came in the production lines. The TW1 tableware furnace at Bangplee was adapted for both tableware and high-end containers in 2000 and in 2001 the RB4 furnace at Rajburana was rebuilt with an increased capacity of 400 tons per day. Then in 2004, because of a higher demand for bottles, the tableware production facility (TW1) was terminated. The BP4 furnace was built on TW1 space with a capacity of 300 tons per day and four container produc-tion lines. Further enhancements came with the installation of four new machines for quality check-ing, automatic arranging, auto-matic film-wrapping, and clean room system.

Two energy issues were now addressed. In 2005 a switch from fuel oil to natural gas for furnace energy was initiated at Bangplee and an electricity sub-station with a capacity of 115kV was installed there to ensure an uninterrupted power supply. In 2006, a glass museum of compa-ny history and of glass was estab-lished at Bangplee and that same year there was a changing of the guard at the company’s helm. After giving 14 years of sterling service as TGI’s first manag-


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ing director of Thai nationality, and 32 years of total service to BJC, Khun Prasert Maekwatana retired, though continuing as a valued member of the board. In this decade, the company made further important advances in international certification.

In 2007 came ISO 14001: 2004 certification under the Environmental Management System (EMS) of Bureau Veritas (Thailand), and in 2009 the com-pany achieved ISO 9001: 2008 certification under the Quality Management System (QMS) of the same certifying body.

In 2007 the BP2 furnace was rebuilt with an increased capacity of 380 tons per day and in 2008 a new furnace (BP5) began oper-ating to meet the higher demand for beer bottles. It was the biggest furnace so far, with a capacity of 435 tons per day, two bottle pro-duction lines and state-of-the-art technology. At BP4, a Narrow Neck Press-and-Blow machine was installed for manufacturing lightweight bottles.

Under Khun Aswin Techajaroenvikul, President of BJC and Chairman of TGI, BJC undertook an organization-al restructuring. The Industrial Supply Chain now comprised TGI and BJC Packaging Products Division for glass containers, Thai Beverage Can Co., Ltd. for aluminium cans, and Berli Dynaplast Co., Ltd. for rigid plastic containers. This reorgani-sation resulted in the creation of one of Southeast Asia’s largest packaging groups.

MAJOR EXPANSION2010 was a highly significant

and very successful year for TGI, thanks to an increased focus on safety, quality and productivity improvement, as well as lower costs for major raw materials. This, in turn, brought a 15 per cent sales increase compared to 2009 and resulted in the best

annual performance of TGI operations in five years.

The company introduced Six Sigma methodology to more effectively satisfy its custom-ers and, for the third consecu-tive year, it received awards for good labour relations at both the Bangplee and Rajburana plants from the Ministry of Labour. Administrative accommodation at Bangplee began to be trans-formed as construction of a new office building started.

The year also brought further enhancements to the furnaces and production lines. A Narrow Neck Press-and-Blow machine for manufacturing lightweight bottles was installed at BP3, and RB2 was adapted for the pro-duction of small ware to satisfy growing demand.

But by far the most important event of 2010 was a new venture that transformed the company from a major local player to a significant international player. In a joint venture with Owens-Illinois (O-I), the world’s larg-est glass packaging manufacturer with whom TGI has had a long association, BJC acquired Malaya Glass Products Sdn Bhd, the glass packaging manufacturing unit of Fraser & Neave Holdings Sdn Bhd. Registered as BJC O-I Glass Pte. In Singapore, this enti-ty took over four glass container factories located in Sichuan, China; Johor Bahru, Malaysia; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Saraburi, Thailand.

With this deal, announced in Bangkok on 21 July 2010, BJC became the largest manufacturer and marketer of glass packaging in Southeast Asia by operating five glass manufacturing plants in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia with a combined production capacity of 3,300 tons per day.

The four plants acquired had a total of about 1,900 employees and manufactured glass contain-ers for beer, non-alcoholic bever-

ages and foods, making an excel-lent fit with TGI’s current opera-tions. BJC and O-I undertook joint management of the opera-tions in Malaysia and Vietnam on a 50/50 basis, whilst BJC assumed majority ownership of the operations in Thailand. The Saraburi plant became integrated into the existing TGI operations in Thailand, while the Chinese plant became managed as a part of the existing O-I operations in China.

This came about at a point where BJC held 98.59 per cent of the shares in TGI, which was already the largest glass packag-ing manufacturer in the coun-try, operating eight furnaces – three at Rajburana and five at Bangplee − with a total capacity of 2,445 tons per day. It also further cemented the close tech-nical cooperation of BJC and O-I and their determination to jointly upgrade the glass packag-ing manufacturing industry at the regional level.

A trans-national companyAswin Techajareonvikul,

President of BJC, celebrated the new partnership by remarking, “I am so delighted that BJC has made a step further towards its goals. Our joint venture with O-I to acquire Malaya Glass Products not only helps BJC to make a remarkable increment in its man-ufacturing capacity from 2,400 to 3,300 tons per day, I also see it as an opportunity to supply qual-ity products to the markets by applying expertise and the latest technologies from both partners to those plants.

Thus, the company will be able to provide an alternative for qual-ity glass products to existing and new customers in this region.”

Berli Jucker has also invested USD 53 million in a new con-tainer glass plant in My Xuan Industrial Park. Said Khun Aswin, “Vietnam is an important market

for us and we are expanding into this market across a range of sectors that complement our business portfolio in Thailand. The beverage market, driven by the growth of the beer sector, will continue to drive demand for container glass. Since early 2009, we have penetrated the Vietnamese market using our TGI facility in Thailand.”

In 2011, Thai Glass Industries proudly completed 60 years

of successful operations as Thailand’s leading glass con-tainer manufacturer. The com-pany achieved OHSAS 18001: 2007 certification under the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) of SGS (Thailand), accomplishing another important upgrading to the highest world standards and making a major commitment to the welfare of its staff with a new technical training centre and a

new museum recording the com-pany’s six decades of history and its accomplishments.

Rajburana Plant - 15 Moo 1, Rajburana Road - Khet Rajburana, Bangkok 10140 - Thailand

Tel: +66 - 2427 - 00604 - Fax: +66 - 2427 - 6603

www.thaiglass.co.th

THAI GLASS INDUSTRIES


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