A quarter of a century ago, SCHOTT followed a customer to San Luis Potosí and a Latin American success story began. The plant, which manufactures flat glass for the household appliance industry, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. 

The plant was initially founded by the U.S. company Gemtron in 1992; following a joint venture in 1998, it became part of SCHOTT. Today, more than 130 employees work on five production lines in San Luis Potosí over an area of 4,500 sq m. The plant chiefly produces refrigerator shelves, cook tops, control panels and oven doors. In the past fiscal year, more than 5 million processed glass parts were shipped to customers. The SCHOTT Gemtron plant is reportedly certified with the international quality standard ISO9000 and has received numerous safety awards from the Mexican Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare, as well as recognitions from customers.

“To fend off the competition—primarily from Asia—and to remain competitive, progress in innovation is critical,” said Christian Mias, Ph.D., vice president of SCHOTT Flat Glass/Operations Americas. “The next step is to make further progress in terms of innovation and productivity. Whether metallic refrigerator shelf designs, integrating innovative LED technology into household appliances or the large glass tablets that the team recently developed using laser technology, I’m confident that innovations like these take us to the next level.” 

For more information, visit www.schott.com/home-appliance.