Site visits

Glass Technology Services (GTS) has 53 employees, with some employees contracted by British Glass. Chris Holcroft, Principal Technologist, took us on a tour of the laboratory / research and development area, where we observed how the company conducts routine analysis, tests, assesses quality, and  glass product innovation. GTS provides independent advice and support to the global glass manufacturing supply chain, from raw material suppliers to end users.  They work with, amongst others, the pharmaceutical industry and glass, homeware and food and drink retailers, for instance on beverage glass failure analysis. GTS also carry out research and development, new product development, technical and environmental consultancy, assessment training and quality assessment. Additionally, the company also does analysis and analytical support for the glass supply chain, from batch to end users, from properties analysis, melting, defects trouble shooting to end-user complaints and failures. Testing includes quality assessment, environmental calculations and analysis, verification [...]

For our latest site visit, the EDI team toured the foundry and heat house of the 66-acre Sheffield Forgemasters site, in Sheffield. Sheffield Forgemasters has 700 employees, and specialises in integrated steel production, from preliminary design and R&D through to melting, casting, forging, finish machining, testing and delivery. Their steel processing produces some of the most complex steel forgings and castings in the world, which are used in the most extreme environments. These include defence & marine, civil nuclear, offshore oil & gas, high pressure reactors, nuclear reactors, power generation, petrochemicals, renewables, construction, ingot & bar sectors. Sheffield Forgemasters was privately owned from inception in the 1800s until 2021, when it was purchased by the Ministry of Defence. The £400M acquisition is being utilised towards a recapitalisation programme, which will see significant investment in defence critical assets. EDI is overseen by the non-executive board that is linked to the [...]