Float Glass Fabrication

Cardinal’s float glass plants are designed to provide for the demands of our valued customers. Top of the line residential window manufacturers rely on a constant supply of high quality float glass. At Cardinal FG Company, such quality is what you can expect - our five U.S. FG facilities will provide it for you every time.

Cardinal is looking ahead of the industry by using new technologies that will meet even tomorrow’s marketplace. Our constant growing spirit is taking glass manufacturing to a higher level.

Our furnace design gives Cardinal an excellent system for producing float glass in a nonstop environment. The capabilities that have been built into the process allow our operations to have maximum flexibility to produce the many different thicknesses of glass – from 1.6 to 7mm that are required for the residential market. 

Our practical packing system preserves glass quality. State-of-the-art glass packing is done on the automatic or manual spur lines, depending on size. The need for clean production has resulted in a system that minimizes contact with the glass surfaces during the packing phase. This capping system uses 90˚ rotators, barrel turnovers, robots and stackers to ensure proper glass orientation for downstream operations.

Our computerized inventory program provides accurate supply intelligence down to the very lite. The glass warehouse accommodates storage of up to 25,000 tons of glass for our customers. To ensure that we have the proper on-hand inventory, we have a tracking and stock locator system that connects this inventory with current and projected customer demands.

Our patented rack system minimizes handling. In order to reduce the times a pack of glass is handled, we introduced a system called a collapsible A-frame. It ships the glass from our floor via standard sized trailers directly to the customer’s line for processing. The racks need minimal separating or bracing materials, which saves time and factory space in the process and reduces waste.

In addition, with our exclusive Intelligent Quality program (I.Q.), our customers can depend on the quality and consistency that our products are known for. I.Q. represents a series of quality control processes that guarantee that glass will always meet or exceed specifications. In our float glass facilities, we installed I.Q. inspection systems in these areas:

• Annealing
• Temperature control
• Thickness profile
• Defect detection
• Optimization system

• Float glass plants are enormous - over 350,000 square feet under each roof.
• Each plant uses $500,000 of natural gas and $85,000 of electricity every month.
• Plants run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• Each FG plant ships 35-40 trucks of glass every day, at almost 35,000 square feet per truck.
• Glass is cut in sizes as small as 16” x 20” to as large as 130” x 204.”

These systems as well as our industry-leading inspection processes are the assurance that Cardinal glass will always meet or exceed specification and expectation. Great glass helps make great windows, so manufacturing superior float glass is always our stated goal.