The Glass Manufacturing Industry Council (GMIC) has initiated a six-month program called Technical and Economic Analysis (TEA). The program is intended to document the current state of glass melting technologies in the worldwide industry, as well as efforts made in the last century to upgrade those technologies that were less than fully successful. C. Philip Ross, president of Glass Industry Consulting, and Gabe Tincher, formerly in strategic planning at Owens Corning, will head the program as principal investigators. The GMIC's Next Generation Melting Systems (NGMS) Task Force intends to combine the outcomes of the resulting report with a detailed analysis of future possible directions for glass melting to identify a viable path forward that will ensure the viability of the industry into the indefinite future. A key aspect of the study, to be carried out with funding from the Department of Energy's Office of Industrial Technologies, is the consideration of the "business model" that determines whether an industry, or a segment of that industry, can be successful in the long term. The project will evaluate current business models and seek to develop possible alternatives that may take several routes, including requiring less capital to build, using significantly less energy, making major advances in reducing emissions without expensive controls, and continuing to improve quality attributes required for tomorrows glass products.

Individuals interested in providing non-proprietary information to the principal investigators should e-mail Phil Ross at gici@cox.net, or contact the GMIC at (614) 818-9423 or mgreenman@gmic.org.