One of the longest established occupations within the glass industry.
Until the second half of the 19th century bottles were made by hand gathering,
blowing and finishing the neck. By 1887 glass making developed from
traditional mouth blowing to a semi-automatic process when Ashley introduced a
machine capable of producing 200 bottles per hour in Castleford, Yorkshire -
more than three times quicker than the previous production methods. Twenty years later, in 1907, the first fully
automated machine was developed in America by Michael Owens from major glass
manufacturers Owens of Illinois, and used at its factory in Manchester, Illinois
making 2,500 bottles per hour.
Today, glass making is a modern, hi-tech industry
operating in a fiercely competitive global market where quality, design and
service levels are critical to maintaining market share. Modern glass plants
are capable of making millions of glass containers a day in many different
colours, shapes and sizes.
The complexity of the manufacturing processes, new
equipment, customer demands and the ever present need for Health and Safety
procedures to be observed has made the need for qualified, competent Operators more
important than ever.
The current GQA
Level 2 Glass Container Manufacturing qualification was updated in 2010 to take
account of changes in the Industry.
For details of GQA’s Glass Container Manufacturing qualification
and Centres approved to offer it visit www.gqaqualifications.com
