Vidrala Group, a leading company in the design and production of glass packaging for food and beverages, is finalist at the 9th edition of the enerTIC Awards with its project "Digital Bottle”. With this strategic initiative, Vidrala seeks to save energy through the implementation of a process control system in the plant, which is based on the deployment of new control systems in the glass furnaces for the manufacturing process of its containers using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques.

This system facilitates the optimisation of the furnaces to operate with minimum energy and maintain the quality of the glass and increasing at the same time the efficiency of the packaging and melting process by reducing defects in the shaping processes. This transformation project will lead to energy savings of more than 88 GWh/year, a productivity improvement of 2.5% and energy savings. In addition, software tools play a key role by allowing Big Data analysis to identify operational trends. In this way, operators can maximise process efficiency and identify trends in order to correct processes before defects or equipment failures occur.

According to Liher Irizar, General Manager of Vidrala, "we are very proud to be finalists in such important awards, although we have to face the final phase, I believe that being among the top three in the INDUSTRY 4.0 category is already a great achievement, taking into account the other very interesting projects presented. Digital Bottle is a reflection of where the Group is heading in terms of strategy".

These Awards for Innovation and Technology for Efficiency in the Digital Age seek to recognise the most innovative projects and the most committed managers in energy efficiency and sustainability. The winners of this edition will be announced at the Awards Ceremony.