SORG Group’s Conditioning Department reaches a 50-year milestone this year. Founded in September 1976, the department has grown and developed over five decades, supplying more than 1,620 forehearths and 580 working ends to glass plants worldwide.

Over that time, SORG has moved conditioning technology from gas-fired systems to equipment that runs on electricity for boosting, colouring and stirring, and the forehearth itself.

The latest step is the Viking®, a forehearth that conditions glass on 100% electric heat at any tonnage, tested and proven in full industrial operation, with heating elements built into the superstructure to protect the glass from contamination.

Alongside VSM®, VSM+® and CLEAN Melter®, the Viking® forehearth means SORG can now take glass from melting to full conditioning, without burning gas.

Fifty years on, the department’s goal hasn’t changed: provide even glass, at the right temperature, on every line it serves.