Zedtec has been at the forefront of glass conditioning since 1983. Our forehearth technology had been developed over a number of years by then sister companies Hotwork and Zedmark Refractories. Zedtec was formed specifically to provide forehearth and glass conditioning solutions.

One of Zedtec’s early innovations was the now commonly used high pressure firing system. This was introduced to an existing forehearth at West Yorkshire based Lax & Shaw. As a result of the system achieving higher combustion turndown coupled with the use of air dampers to control forehearth pressure, the conversion enabled Lax & Shaw to achieve higher fuel efficiency and a more flexible production, as well as making marked improvements in operational safety. This system is now considered industry standard and used on forehearths worldwide.

Glass conditioning was once again revolutionised when Zedtec developed and first applied the Rapid Cool Technology. This remains the most effective cooling technology available. By introducing cooling air through the forehearth superstructure, the rapid cool section can extract a much higher proportion of excess heat from the glass than a traditional cooling section. Consequently, the glass pull can be increased for a given length of forehearth or the forehearth can be shortened where space restriction is a design parameter.

By joining the TECO Group in October 2003, Zedtec has brought their know-how and expertise in glass conditioning to a business already established as one of the world leaders in the glass industry.

The addition of the Zedtec portfolio to the established TECO Group enables the Group to design and engineer turn key projects from the batch plant to glass forming machine. Zedtec will continue to develop its product range to meet customers’ evolving requirements in glass conditioning.