Glaston 150 years: from forest company to world’s leading glass processing technology company

Glaston Corporation                                              Press Release 20 January 2020

Glaston’s roots extend back to 1870, when the company Hammarén & Comp was established at the Kyröskoski rapids. Throughout our history, our company has evolved from a traditional forest industry company into the world’s leading glass processing technology company. For 150 years, quality, development of new technologies and internationalization have been strongly present in our operations.

Glaston’s roots go back to the company Hammarén & Comp, founded in 1870. Operations focused on forestry and paper, and the successful Kyröskoski Works was established. Ever since the days of our founders, the company has continuously developed its operations and, in order to respond to changing circumstances in both domestic and foreign markets, has boldly seized business opportunities beyond the country’s borders. In addition, utilization of new technologies to secure efficient, high-quality operations has been an enduring characteristic of the company. The company has exported products since 1907. In 1909, Hammarén & Comp became a limited company, and in 1941 the company’s name was changed to O/y Kyro A/b.

A major change in Kyro’s business took place in the 1980s, when the company’s management decided in 1981 to diversify its operations. With the acquisition of Tamglass Oy, operations expanded beyond traditional forest industry into glass processing. The company became a conglomerate. Tamglass, which specialized in the manufacture of laminated and tempered safety glass and particularly the sale of tempering machines and technologies, rapidly developed into a leading manufacturer of tempering machines.

From the middle of 1980s onwards, acquisitions were focused on glass processing technology, and the company began to specialize increasingly on flat tempering technology and its development. From 1990 to 2000, Kyro saw a transformation in which the company evolved from a forest industry company into a modern and international technology group. In 2007, Glaston Corporation, specializing in glass processing technologies, was born. In 2019, the company took the next big development step with its acquisition of the Swiss-German company Bystronic glass with the ambition to further strengthen its position in the glass processing value chain.

Cooperation and innovation

Our company's goal has always been to play the role of a reliable and responsible partner. Since our founding, we have been actively involved in the development of our industry. A great example of this is Glass Performance Days (GPD) conference, our industry’s leading international conference,  organized by Glaston. The forum’s objective is to gather and share the latest information among the industry’s operators.

We are known to be the frontrunner in glass processing technologies. Glaston was among the first players in our industry to seize the opportunities presented by the digital age. At the forefront of our product development has been digital and IoT-based solutions and services that enable the optimization of machine performance and the transition to fully automatic glass processing. We have developed new sensor, processing, interface and cloud service technologies that make our products better, more efficient and more reliable. For our customers, this means ease of use and higher efficiency. Digitalization is also evident in the modernization and upgrade products we offer, which enable customers to monitor production in real-time and to digitalize their operations with their present machine stock. We want to continue to be in the forefront of development and innovation. Our company’s smarter than before machines and services give us new opportunities and help our customers keep one step ahead. 

Industry visionary

For 150 years, we have been a frontrunner and visionary in our industry. We have boldly seized new opportunities in both technology and business, first in the forest industry and, since the 1980s, increasingly more focused on the glass processing industry. Today, glass processed on our glass processing machines is delivered to the architectural, automotive, solar energy and appliance industries. By volume, most of the glass manufactured with Glaston’s technology is supplied to the construction industry. We operate in eleven countries around the world in production, services and sales. Glaston has around 800 employees.

For further information, please contact:
Joséphine Mickwitz, VP IR, Communications&Marketing, tel +358 500 5070

Glaston Corporation
Glaston is the glass processing industry’s innovative technology leader supplying equipment, services and solutions to the architectural, automotive, solar and appliance industries. The company also supports the development of emerging technologies integrating intelligence to glass.

As of April 2019, Bystronic glass is part of Glaston Group. Together we are committed to providing our clients with both the best know-how and the latest technologies in glass processing, with the purpose of building a better tomorrow through safer, smarter, and more energy efficient glass solutions. We operate globally with manufacturing, services and sales offices in 12 countries. Glaston’s shares (GLA1V) are listed on NASDAQ Helsinki Ltd.