Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
SA
INT-
GO
BA
IN A
ND
GL
AS
S W
OO
L
TH
E S
TO
RY
OF
AN
IN
TE
RN
AT
ION
AL
SU
CC
ES
S
THE STORY OF AN INTERNATIONALSUCCESS
SAINT-GOBAIN AND GLASS WOOL
THE STORY OF AN INTERNATIONALSUCCESS
SAINT-GOBAIN AND GLASS WOOL
From the pre-war pioneers to today’sworld leader, this book traces the glasswool epic at Saint-Gobain. An industrialadventure made up of technologicalsuccesses and conquests of internationalmarkets, but also of periods of doubt and corrected errors. A story of passionatemen and women: engineers, salesmenand women, industrialists, logisticians…This book also shows how much everyindustrial chronicle necessarily comesface to face with ‘History’, as proved hereby the outbreak of World Wars, crises in the Near and Middle East, or the fall of the Iron Curtain. Today again, it is the overall context of global warming which fixes newpriority stakes for building insulation.
DOCOUV-gb-def:Docouv2 2/09/08 9:35 Page 1
THE STORY OF AN INTERNATIONALSUCCESS
SAINT-GOBAIN AND GLASS WOOL
GB 001-013-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:41 Page 4
Saint-Gobain Insulation
18 avenue d’Alsace
Les Miroirs
92096 La Défense
Editing and rewriting
Editorial follow-up
Pascale Alix
48 rue Vivienne
F-75002 Paris
www.editionstextuel.com
Design and implementation
Éditions Textuel
Graphics
Caroline Pauchant
Editing and rewriting
Patrick Philipon
THE STORY OF AN INTERNATIONALSUCCESS
SAINT-GOBAIN AND GLASS WOOL
GB 001-013-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:41 Page 6
FOREWORD 11
CHAPTER 1THE PIONEERING ERA 15
The inventors 20
Saint-Gobain observes 36
The birth of the Pool 41
Creating the means of production 43
The War: a turning point 47
Post-war: hopes and disappointments 50
CHAPTER 2THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE ENGINEERS 55
A technological epic 58
‘TEL‘ conquers the world 78
The new license game 86
‘Everything is fine’ 93
CHAPTER 3A TIME OF TURBULENCE AND ADAPTATION 99
Far from the needs of the market 102
The reaction 111
Renewed profitability 120
The model's limit 129
Another test 133
CHAPTER 4RECOVERY AND NEW CHALLENGES 139
A world opens up 142
Pursuit of a customer-based policy 148
Birth of a worldwide brand 158
The TEL pushes back its limits again 160
New frontiers 166
Answering a planetary problem 170
CONCLUSION 185
GB 001-013-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:41 Page 8
11
FOREWORD
This book recounts an adventure lived by passionate men and women. Saint-Gobain
became involved in the production of glass wool for insulation just prior to the Second
World War, but the adventure really took off fifty years ago, when the Group launched a
revolutionary fiber production process: the TEL.
This innovation, which proved to be the basis of a great industrial success, was not invented
overnight by a genius. Intuition certainly played a part, but the process, that arose from
the work of teams of engineers and technicians, was developed gradually thanks to a
genuine experimental approach. The pre-war pioneering adventure gave way to the golden
age of the enthusiastic engineers who developed the TEL. They found themselves the
industrialists ready to take the risk of exploiting the process, thus turning a technological
innovation into an industrial success. By granting licenses, they federated a group of
independent companies spread over the world's main industrial countries. Progressively,
this group consolidated its position to form the present world leader in insulation.
This technological and industrial epic was first and foremost a human adventure. The
process could be created because the pioneers lent their enthusiasm and vision to its
technological development. Its deployment was a success because the industrialists had
patiently gathered numerous skills. Certain errors were avoided because technicians and
salesmen listened to the customers. The TEL was able to conquer the world because
Sodefive's 'ambassadors' and their foreign partners created a 'licensee's club'
GB 001-013-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:41 Page 10
12
The story is far from over. Insulation has become the best answer to the current environ-
mental crisis. Today, new teams face new challenges, including meeting the heavy world
demand for insulation. May this book help them continuing the adventure, and
convince them that a company is above all a community of men and women brought
together around a project.
Claude Imauven,
Senior Vice-President of Saint-Gobain,
Director of Construction Products Sector.
GB 001-013-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:41 Page 12
CHAPTER 1
The inventors
Saint-Gobain observes
The birth of the Pool
Creation of an industrial tool
The War: a turning point
Post-war: hopes and disappointments
THE PIONEERING ERAThe glass industry has lived through a technical and industrial
revolution since the beginning of the XXth century. It is a period
where big glass makers, groups which mastered all glass making
activities, rule the industry. Bringing ideas and technologies from
the United States, Eugène Gentil launches Saint-Gobain into a
diversification policy. The adventure in fiberglass begins in the 1930's
and rapidly reaches a considerable scale. The war brings a halt to this
operation and convinces Saint-Gobain to develop its own process.
15
Glass wool manufacture at the Lucens factory in Switzerland, around 1945.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 14
Creation of the ‘Société d’Etudes Verrières Appliquées’,or SEVA, at Chalon-sur-Saône. The SEVA was responsi-ble for designing and maintaining the machines inSaint-Gobain’s brand new bottle manufacturing facto-ry, and quickly became the ‘mechanic’ for the wholegroup. It also supplied the spinners for glass wool.
The American glass maker Owens-Illinois inventedan industrial fiber production process by blowingonto a drum. This new method surpassed anythingthat existed in Europe, both in terms of fiber qualityand productivity. Saint-Gobain soon acquired therights to it, and launched itself into insulation.
The ‘Maatschappij Tot Beheer en Exploitatie vanOctrooien’, a Dutch company jointly owned bySaint-Gobain and the Bicheroux family, acquired therights to the Hager process and held the patent inGermany. This was the group’s first step in the glassfiber industry.
1936-1938
Creation of the ‘Société d’Etudes pour leDéveloppement de la Fibre de Verre’, or Sodefive.This entity was to bring technical and commercialsupport to all of the Hager licensees. It soon filledthis role for the TEL licensees, leading a real ‘club’,until it was wound up in 1997.
The agreement between Saint-Gobain and Owens-Corning was definitely sealed in New York. The sig-natories gained access to the Gossler, Owens andHager processes for insulation, as well as Owensand Corning for textiles. Technical improvementswere immediately diffused. The « Pool » was born.
1932 1948-1950
In two years, the group built a glass wool factory. Itbought ‘Glasswatte’ in Germany and the ‘Soie deVerre’ at Soissons, in France, one after the other. Atthat moment, Isover was created. This new companythen bought a factory at Rantigny to produce the‘textile’ fiber there.
19371930
1926
1716
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 16
View of the workshop. Glass wool manufacture at Lucens, in Switzerland.
Fitting a glass wool pipe covering.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 18
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the glass industry
experienced a revolution. New manufacturing processes were
appearing, for windows as well as for container glass (bottles
and flasks). Production units were being automated, and
knowledge of the physics and chemistry of glass was im-
proving. Moreover, a new function was appearing in the glass
companies' organization: research.The future belonged to the
'combined glass-makers', groups big enough to be present in
all branches of the industry and to master all its aspects.
Saint-Gobain was aware of this and embarked on a huge di-
versification policy. From a flat glass maker came a manufac-
turer of window glass, container glass and specialty glass,
including the famous Securit, used in car windshields, which
appeared in 1929. At the beginning of the 1930s, the Group
embarked on a new adventure: fiberglass. For several years,
this strange material had been increasing in popularity.
“Glass wool (cotton, glass padding) looks like silk and conducts
heat so badly, thanks to the air trapped between the fibers,
that it produces a feeling of warmth to the touch. We make
fabric for gout sufferers and rheumatics.With the waste, we
make heat-insulating jackets for steam pipes.With the long
strands, we weave lamp wicks, in Germany… These same
strands are also sometimes used as insulators for electrical
installations, or gaskets for steam joints…” This article from
the 'Revue des Sciences et de leurs applications', which appeared
in 1908, says it all. If we leave aside the rather anecdotal
decorative uses, glass fiber owes its success above all to its
thermal insulating qualities. The industrial revolution in the
mid-19th century, with its steam driven machines, needed
insulating materials. Stone wool, manufactured right next
to blast furnaces, dominated at first (see p.21 “Slag, the first
fibrous industrial insulation”).At the end of the century, with
the development of the merchant and military fleets, there
was a need for a material which was more flexible and lighter
and which could withstand the vibration of the ships' engines.
At the same time, blossoming industries such as electricity (wire
insulation) and the cinema (screens) were looking for
insulating and non-inflammable 'textiles'.All that remained
was the change from the small-scale production prevalent
at the time, to real industrial processes.
THE INVENTORS
At the end of the 19th century, the increasing prevalence of steamships and the arrival of electricity increased the need for light,flexible insulating materials. The first real industrial glass woolproduction processes were soon to be created in Austria andGermany, from the fertile imaginations of their inventors.
SLAG, THE FIRST FIBROUS INDUSTRIAL INSULATION
With the industrial revolutions of the19th century, there was an increasingnumber of steam-powered machines.To avoid the precious fluid cooling inthe pipes, they had to be thermally insulated.A need had just been created.The first answer came from the iron and steel industry,at about the same time, on both sides of the Atlantic.Cast iron is obtained by heating a mixture of iron ore and coke, plusvarious additives, in a blast furnace.The molten metal, which is heavy,runs out of the bottom.Above remainsa non-ferrous liquid mixture: slag.This is drained off, and stored in tanks.However, the tanks sometimes leak,and must be immediately cooled with water. During such an incident,someone noticed that fibers wereformed.Various fiber productionprocesses were thus created in the immediate vicinity of blast furnaces,all based on the same principle:blasting a strand of slag with a steamjet. No doubt because slag and steamwere both readily available… The firstintentional production was reportedaround 1840 in Wales; the firstpatents were filed simultaneously in Germany and the United States circa 1870. Slag wool is dense,non-inflammable, very heat resistant,and suitable for insulation of high-temperature installations, such assteam tubes.The fibers are nevertheless too short to be woven and do not withstand vibration very well.These limitations were to glass wool'sadvantage.
Cast iron flow.
20 21
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 20
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
1. The liner 'Liberté', insulated with 35 tonnes of glass wool.
2. Insulation of refrigerated holds.
23
Insulation of a naval boiler with removable batts.
2
1
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 22
24
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
ATHE GOSSLER PROCESS
Diagram of the Gossler process, patent issued 22nd August 1922.
Glass with a special composition is melted in a suitable oven, the lower
part of which consists of a bushing. As the liquid glass flows through
the holes in this bushing, it forms strands which are rolled around
the rotating drum, ensuring continuous spinning.
25
Distribution of the glass fibers on big tables, in very thin layers.
These are stacked so that the fibers in one layer cross those of
the neighbouring layers. This manual operation is called unstacking.
Batts with an average density of 160 kg/m3 can be obtained, up to
100 milimeters thick.
This story begins in Germany, with two main players: Gossler
and Hager. Oscar Gossler, a small industrialist from Hamburg,
set up his company at the beginning of the 20th century. He
fitted ocean liner cabins in the shipyards, and very quickly
discovered the need for insulating materials which had good
mechanical qualities and were vibration-proof. From 1916,
Gossler therefore decided to become involved in glass fibers,
so he contacted Gédéon Von Pazsiczky, a Hungarian inventor
who had already filed patents in this field and who drew his
inspiration from the first mechanical glass fiber production
process, invented by Dr Pollack at Stockerau, near Vienna in
Austria.This machine's principle was itself derived directly from
the use of the spinning wheel in 16th century Venice (see p.27
'Spun glass: an old story') and consisted (and still consists) of
drawing out molten glass strands onto a rotating drum.Von
Pazsiczky arranged the drum horizontally and fed it with
molten glass through a channel. The patent was issued in
1919 and industrial production of 'glass silk' began in 1922,
in Hamburg. Gossler sold the fiber - he produced nearly 1,000
tons of it in 1930 - and sold licenses to use his process to
various European manufacturers. Gossler production units
appeared in Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Sweden,
Czechoslovakia and England. In France, the company 'La Soie
de Verre', in Soissons, acquired the license in 1929.After having
directly recruited Dr Pollack in Austria, Gossler improved his
machine again, by adding an electric bushing. In 1930, he
sold the improved process to a certain Boussois, who commer-
cialized it in France… opposite the 'La Soie de Verre' factory!
Gossler factories, generally of a modest size, covered Europe.
Most of them were producing around a hundred tons of fibers
per year, or even less.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 24
a crank. Both remained seated.The technique spread quickly toBohemia, Thuringia and France.Venetian glass-makers set up atNevers around 1560 and made small decorative objects in spunglass, such as 'angel hair' decorationfor Christmas manger scenes.
In 1665, the English physicist andnaturalist, Robert Hooke describedthe drawing out of fine filaments ofglass and predicted that it could bespun. But it was René AntoineFerchault de Réaumur, the famousFrench physicist and naturalist whowas to write the first full encyclopedicessay on spun glass. He presentedthis work to the Royal Academy ofScience in 1713. Apart from a precisedescription of the manufacturingprocess, the report specified theproduct's properties (fineness,flexibility, tensile strength) andabove all, anticipated applications,particularly weaving. Réaumur thenmoved on to practical work and madefilaments of a few microns in diameter.Weaving tests were disappointing.
In 1822, the Gordon brothers filed a patent in England concerninglamp wicks made from woven glass filaments which were incombustible and therefore gave asmoke-free flame. There were alsoseveral famous uses for glass strands:the bees on the Empress Josephine'scoat during her coronation (1804),a gown for Queen Victoria in 1844,Episcopal dress given in 1853 to the Archbishop of Strasbourg, whorefused to wear it, etc. Famous anecdotes, but with no great
industrial significance… The 19th
century, on the other hand, saw twodecisive advances. Louis Schwabe,a German who had settled inManchester, invented the first bushing. This is a container whosebottom is pierced by numerous holes, and in which glass is meltedand forms filaments, by flowing out through these holes. Schwabepresented his invention at the BritishAssociation conference in 1842, withlittle success. The French chemistJules de Brunfaut, who was studyingglass art in Venice, modified its composition to obtain more flexible filaments. He soon set up inStockerau, near Vienna, and in 1886founded the first 'industrial' glassspinning works there. Still using thewheels the Venetians loved so much,he obtained filaments which werethree meters long and six microns in diameter. His catalog presented articles as varied as lamp shades,upholstery, neckties, wigs, hats and even wedding dresses…
The first traces of glass fiber production date to 3,500 years ago on the banks of the Nile! TheEgyptians heated glass in a clay bowl, plunged a metallic rod into the molten material and with amovement of the arm, drew out theglass which had stuck to the rod intoa crude filament. These filamentswere then rolled in joined spiralsaround clay shapes and the resultingitem was heated in an oven. The glassmelted and the glass stuck together.All that remained was to break theclay shape to obtain a hollow glassobject. The Romans in turn improvedon this technique.
Spun glass was then forgotten untilits revival in the 16th century, on asmall island in the Venice lagoon:Murano. The objects decorated withglass strands which were made therequickly became famous. On thebeginning, the process of producingthe strands was quite exhausting. Ittook two workers, each with a metalrod called a 'ferret'. One of themwould plunge his rod into the moltenglass, take out a ball, which the otherwould immediately touch with hisown ferret. Once the glass had adhered to the metal, the two associates would run away from eachother. They thus drew out a strandwhose fineness essentially dependedon the strength of their legs! An ingenious, and perhaps lazy,craftsman soon imagined that theend of the strand could be stuck withwax to the rim of large woodenwheel. From then on, a worker heldthe end of the strand on his ferret and the other worked the wheel with
SPUN GLASS: AN OLD STORY
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
1. Vase in spun glass.
2. French workshop manufacturing beads and glass strands in the XVIIIth century.
26 27
3. Worn by the actress Georgia Cayvan, this spun glass dress was in thenews during the 1893 Universal Exhibition in Chicago. It was actually anadvertisement for the Libbey Glass Co., whose products however did nothave much to do with fiberglass. Edward Libbey had called on an inventiveyoung glass blower, Michael J. Owens, who obtained long fibers by heatingthe ends of glass rods then drawing them out on a foot-operated drum.
1 2
3
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 26
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
28 29
3. Grooved disk on which the melted glass falls.
THE HAGER PROCESSAs for the Hager process, considered to be the forerunner of
the TEL, it began in a fairground! Legend has it that as Friedrich
Rosengarth was walking around a fair in 1928, he was attract-
ed to the small machine belonging to the cotton candy seller
(see p.31 'Friedrich Rosengarth: the inspired handyman').
Everyone knows the principle, which was revealed to the
passers-by by the sweet sellers at the universal exhibition in
Paris, in 1900: sugar is melted at more than 120 degrees in a
small rotating container provided with holes, through which,
strands escape and immediately solidify when exposed to air.
The seller collects the flying filaments with a stick. Rosengarth
wondered whether such a 'drawing out' process could be
applied to other molten materials, particularly glass.With no
money, he turned to Fritz and Julius Hager, two industrialists
who had a transformer factory in Bergisch Gladbach, on the
outskirts of Cologne, in Germany.They agreed to finance the
tests on condition that they could give their name to the process
and co-sign the technical documents. Following his
intuition, Rosengarth quickly developed a centrifugal fiber
production process.The molten glass fell onto a grooved disc
made from refractory material, turning at several thousand
revolutions per minute. On 19th November 1931, the Hager
brothers, in association with Rosengarth, created the
'Glasswatte GmbH', which began production. The 'Hager' is
a simple and rustic process, giving a fiber of average quality,
but it was well suited to the needs of the time. Just like its
competitor, the Gossler process, it spread very quickly in
Europe. Glass-makers acquired licenses in Sweden, Italy,
Norway, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Spain and
Romania. In France, too, but not yet at Saint-Gobain...
1. The Hager process in Denmark in 1935. Fiber collection is carried
out manually with the help of a hook.
2. The Hager process in Norway in 1935. Fiber was sold either in
the form of loose wool, or a manually-made felt to make insulating
batting of around 100 kg/m3.
1
2
3
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 28
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
had proof that his process was valid.To move on to glass, he would needconsiderable means, so he spoke tothe local industrialists, the Hagerbrothers.What came next is well-known.A perfectionist, he tirelessly improved his process at Bergisch in Germany, occasionally intuitivelyfollowing the same lines as the advances in the TEL, which was thenbeing developed. For example, he hadthe idea of fixing a perforated bandon the disk, which from that momenton strongly resembled a TEL spinner.Had he had the idea when visiting the La Villette laboratory in 1954, ordid it derive from a first test which hehad carried out immediately after thewar? The fact remains that the newprocess was set up and christenedBergla, at the request of the workers.All these tests were expensive,however, and the factory was losingmoney. Rosengarth was politelyasked to retire, but was to remain an informal technical consultant.Saint-Gobain paid him a salary untilhis death in 1977.
What an amazing career this glassworker turned engineer, then inventor had. Friedrich Rosengarthwas born in 1885, and worked at the'Schalke' glassworks in Germany during the 1920s. Here he improvedhis education thanks to eveningclasses. Shortly afterwards, he set himself up as a consultant andbuilt glass-making factories inSwitzerland, then in Russia and other Eastern European countries.
He was also a tireless handyman,who was always working on a new invention in his garage. For example,he created the forerunner of the spinning brush car wash systems that can be seen in so many servicestations. The machine in questionwas used to…brush his fox terrier automatically! The poor animal was attracted into the device by a sausage. Legend has it thatRosengarth got the inspiration for his centrifugal fiber productionprocess from a cotton candy machine. He quickly made a prototype in his famous garage.A wooden disk and a vacuum cleanermotor was all he required: he produced Cellophane fibers. Here he
FRIEDRICHROSENGARTH, THE INSPIREDHANDYMAN
31
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 30
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
Sewn batting production line, at Lucens in Switzerland.
32 33
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 32
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
Group photo at the Gullfiber factory in Sweden, around 1937.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 34
36
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
In 1930, the first glass fiber was produced from the Hager pro-
totype. Alas, after having fiberized only twenty kilograms of
glass, the clay disk exploded! As he was not a glass-maker, Fritz
Hager was not sure whether he should pursue the adventure
alone, so he turned to a professional, in this case Pierre
Schrader, the representative of Saint-Gobain in Germany,
who referred him to Eugène Gentil (see p.40 “Eugène Gentil:
The architect of diversification”). Here he found an attentive
ear. Since 1919, Saint-Gobain's 'Head of Special Missions' had
regularly visited the United States, where the glass market was
booming, driven by urban development and the rapid growth
of the automobile industry. Eugène Gentil observed the
changes in the glass industry there and brought back new man-
ufacturing processes. He noticed that for the past few years,
fiberglass had been selling in large quantities for house and
building insulation. Convinced of its development potential
in Europe, he felt that Saint-Gobain should become involved.
He therefore suggested to the 'Maatschappij Tot Beheer En
Exploitatie van Octrooien' that they buy the rights to the
invention. This Dutch company, created in 1930 and based
in Schveningen, was jointly owned by Saint-Gobain and
the Bicheroux family, a Belgian glass manufacturer. Its aim:
to exploit the patents and manage the two partners' licens-
es in the areas of glass and, from then on, glass fiber. It was
therefore the Maatschappij which held the Hager patent in
Germany, in 1930, ensured its maintenance and distributed
its licenses.
Owens-Corning Fiberglas (OCF),the big American glass fiber manufacturer, has always maintainedan ambivalent relationship withSaint-Gobain. From the creation ofthe Pool in 1935 until 1949, the twofirms were both partners and rivals!The story of this rival partner goesback to the 19th century. In 1868,Corning Glass Works was createdfrom the transfer of Brooklyn FlintGlass's factories to Corning, a smalltown in New York. Specializing in 'noble' glasses, the firm invented in particular Pyrex, at the beginningof the 1920s. Having suffered duringthe Great Depression, Corning thentried, without great success, to diversify into glass fibers and in 1935 called for assistance from itscounterpart, Owens-Illinois Glass,which had just made a resoundingentry into this field.
The latter had seen the light in 1903,when Michael Joseph Owens left his employer, the New England GlassCo., to found his own company, theOwens Bottle Co. This productive inventor, who was already wellknown for his glass fiber productionprocess, had just perfected an automatic bottle manufacturing machine. In 1929, Owens mergedwith the Illinois Glass Co. to form the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. TheDepression arrived a few months later… The firm was already sufferingfrom the effects of ten years ofProhibition - the banning of alcoholthroughout the United States -which had seriously affected the bottle market. It was time to findnew outlets. These were to be first,glass bricks for the building industry,then fiberglass. In 1933, after twoyears' research, Owens Illinois
OCF: THE RIVAL/PARTNER
patented a new glass fiber production process which was much better than anything that already existed.In 1935, Corning turned to Owens,and the two glass-makers pooledtheir fiber production activities.On November 1st, 1938, the joint-venture became an independentcompany: the Owens-CorningFiberglas Co. was born. The SecondWorld War would make its fortune.Glass fibers were everywhere:in the warships' insulation, inbombers, the crews' lifejackets,the cloth of certain parachutes…
After the war, OCF, while developingits building insulation activity,embarked on a new specialty: wovenglass fibers for reinforcing plasticmaterials. The bodywork of the famous Chevrolet Corvette was made of this composite material.At the end of the 1950s, at the time of the introduction of TEL atSaint-Gobain, OCF held 80 percent of the world glass fiber market for all applications! Saint-Gobain was to develop its insulation activity to the point of being able to attack OCF in the American market in 1967.This latter nevertheless continued itsinternational development. OCF isstill present in reinforcement fiber in Europe, but sold the whole of itsEuropean insulation activity at thebeginning of the 21st century. Fromthen on, Saint-Gobain has been theundisputed world market leader.
SAINT-GOBAIN OBSERVESAs early as 1930, Saint-Gobain acquired the rights to the Hagerprocess. During the following years, it nevertheless allowed two opportunities to directly produce glass fiber slip by. Yet thisindustry was already well established in the United States andwas developing in Europe.
In 1931 Gossler, which was in financial difficulties, approached
Saint-Gobain to discuss the possibility of being bought out.
The Group, whose management was not yet convinced of
glass fiber's potential, did not follow-up on the proposition.
In 1933, Saint-Gobain let a second opportunity to become
directly involved in the production of glass fibers pass them
by. The Maatschappij actually offered it the license for the
Hager process in France. The Group refused, declaring itself
“not wanting to launch a new activity,” so in 1933, the 'Société
des Glaces de Boussois' became the French Hager licensee
for the next fifteen years. Saint-Gobain, therefore, found
itself in the quite paradoxical position of controlling, albeit
indirectly, the best European glass fiber production process,
but without the means of production, or even the legal right
to exploit this process in France!
Yet, thanks to the innumerable Gossler and Hager licensees,
the glass fiber industry was expanding in Europe. In this re-
spect, three important names must be mentioned. First, the
'Vetreria Italiana Balzaretti Modigliani', a large Italian glass-
making company, founded in 1850. At the beginning of
the 1930s, Piero Modigliani went to the United States to
study the new glass spinning techniques. In 1931, he
began production at Livorno, using the Gossler process. He
perfected products such as Thermolux. In 1933, he bought one
of the first licenses for the Hager process, then acquired the
new American Owens process in 1937. From the pre-war
37
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 36
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
ATHE 0WENS PROCESSperiod onwards, Piero Modigliani was thus using the three
major modern processes. Schuller is a very old German
glass-making dynasty, and in 1931,Werner Schuller launched
fiber production using the improved Pollack process. He
founded the 'KG Wo Schuller' in 1937 and built four large
factories, including one in Mulhouse, which Saint-Gobain
took over after the war, before quickly closing it down. Last
but not least, the Heye group, a very important Dutch-German
glass-maker, and one of Saint-Gobain's largest competitors,
bought a license for the Owens process in 1933 and began
production in 1934, at Gerresheim. The following year, it
bought out Gossler.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Corning and Owens Illinois
were preparing to dominate the market (see p.37 “OCF: the
rival partner”). In 1931, the president of Owens contacted the
inventor, James Slayter, who had just filed a patent concern-
ing the manufacture of stone wool. He took charge of a research
team, and the work advanced rapidly. In 1933, Owens Illinois
Glass patented a glass spinning process using 'blowing,' where
molten glass filaments are stretched by the effect of a steam
jet. The process far surpassed the Hager method, as much in
terms of product quality as in output. In 1935, Owens and
Corning formed a joint-venture to exploit it.
38
1. Diagram of the Owens process.
2. Owens manufacturing line.
3. 4. Glass wool manufacture on an Owens machine, at Rantigny, in 1943.
1
2
4
3
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 38
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
'Head of special missions'.When,in 1919, he obtained this unknown position in Saint-Gobain's managementteam, Eugène Gentil already had along experience in the glass industry.After graduating from the 'EcoleCentrale' in 1903, he joined 'VerreriesLegras' the following year and was recruited by Saint-Gobain in 1912 to direct the brand new flat glass factory in Chalon-sur-Saône. In 1913,he went to the United States for thefirst time, to study the American Window Glass process initially developed for Chalon. He returnedthere after the war, in 1919, as heconsidered that this process was out of date, and began negotiationswith Libbey-Owens.
This was the beginning of the 'specialmissions' where he showed what hewas capable of. He went to theUnited States nearly every year between 1920 and 1937 to observethe new techniques, negotiate licenses and create a solid network of friends and relationships. In 1927,he even entered into a gentlemen'sagreement with Corning, accordingto which each of them promised to'tell everything' to the other. His
actual role was to detect and bringback the best processes in all thebranches of the activity; those which would guarantee the Group'sdiversification policy. Notable 'conquests' include: Pyrex (1922),the Hartford feeder, then the Lynchhollow glass machine (1923),electrocast refractories for glass furnaces (1925),the Pittsburghprocess for plate glass… and ofcourse, the Owens process for glassfiber production.
He was appointed deputy managing director then managing director of the 'Glaceries de Saint-Gobain' in 1934; he then had plenty of elbow room to launch theGroup into fibers. The day before heretired, in 1949, he inaugurated theLa Villette research centre, where theTEL process would be born. Followingthis, he regularly visited the Rantignyfactory to follow developments inthe process. He died in 1961 at theage of 81.
EUGÈNE GENTIL,THE ARCHITECT OFDIVERSIFICATION
40 41
Leaving the port of New York, 1954.
The Owens-Corning Fiberglas factory at Kansas City.
In 1933, Owens Illinois announced the finalization of its new
glass fiber production process, which was more efficient than
the Hager method. Its first licensee was none other than their
major German rival,Heye. Eugène Gentil was,of course, informed
of this. Managing director of the 'Glaceries de Saint-Gobain'
since 1934, and determined to lead the Group into the produc-
tion of glass fibers, he was convinced that for this he had to hold
the rights to the most efficient processes. He asked the
Maatschappij to begin negotiations with Owens. He left once
again for the United States in 1934, for a voyage which would
mould Saint-Gobain's policy relating to insulation for years
to come. On his return, he held an exclusive license for the
Owens process for all European countries, their colonies and
dominions - except Holland, Germany and Italy, for which
Heye already held the license. In exchange, Owens obtained
the rights to the Hager process for North America.
On 22nd May 1935, a first Memorandum agreement marked
the official creation of what was to become the Pool. The
signatories committed themselves to combining their inno-
vative abilities and their patents, to sharing their experience
and developing, as far as possible, glass fiber technology and
applications throughout the world. For this, rights to all of their
processes were exploited in a 'Pool' which was supposed to
last until 1960. Negotiations with the Americans lasted near-
ly three years. Finally, on the first of November 1937, the main
agreement was signed in New York. From then on, the
Maatschappij managed the Owens patents throughout the
world, with the exception of North America (United States,
Canada and Mexico), which was 'Owens' territory'. This lat-
ter received a free, North American license for the processes
controlled by the Maatschappij. The royalties resulting from
third party licensing would be divided equally between the two
partners. It was forbidden to export glass fiber to the coun-
tries where Pool licenses already existed. The Maatschappij
managed the export problems for the rest of the world. In 1939,
the rights to the Gossler process, outside Germany, were
integrated into the Pool. In addition, each Pool licensees
would give its licensor the benefit of all the improvements it
had made to the process, free of charge. The licensor would
then pass on these improvements to the other licensees.This
principle, known as Flow back, ensured constant technical
progress in glass fiber manufacture. A long time after the
end of the Pool, Saint-Gobain would continue this with the
licensees of its own processes.
On 29th December, 1938, the Maatschappij transferred all of
its rights and activities in the fiberglass field to a new, non-
industrial company, the 'Algemeene Kunstvezel Maatschappij'
(AKM), in which Saint-Gobain held 85 percent of the shares.
With an office in Paris and another in The Hague, AKM
managed the Hager, Owens and Gossler patent portfolios, for
THE BIRTH OF THE POOLA license for the Hager process for Owens against a license forthe Owens process for Saint-Gobain: this principle of pooling the rights to the fiber-production processes was the origin of the 'Pool', created in New York in 1935. The partners eachcommitted to improving glass fiber technology and applications.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 40
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
42 43
Advertising in the newsletter 'L'Équipe' at the beginning of the 1950s.
both 'insulation' and 'textile' fibers, negotiated the license
agreements and coordinated the licensees. In the same year,
Owens merged with Corning, to form Owens-Corning Fiberglas
(OCF).These two changes of players did not modify the terms
of the Pool agreement at all. From the initial agreement in 1935
onward, however, Eugène Gentil was in a position to take
Saint-Gobain into the fiberglass market.All that remained was
to build a factory.
CREATING THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION
In 1936, pushed by competition, Saint-Gobain bought'Glaswatte' in Germany, then 'La Soie de Verre', in Soissons,France, before finally building a factory of its own in Rantigny.The Isover company was born and started production using the Owens process. Very quickly, it became one of the mainEuropean players.
In 1935, Glaswatte, which used the Hager process, needed
money to grow. Pierre Schrader, Saint-Gobain's representative
in Germany, sent two observers to evaluate the Bergisch
Gladbach factory. Hardly impressed by what they saw, they
sent back a mixed report. The process seemed to them to be
technically quite crude, but the centrifugal process was
interesting and could be further developed. However, it was
an outside factor which finally carried the day. The Heye
group, a formidable rival which was already exploiting the
Owens process, made an offer to acquire Hager.The reaction
was immediate: Saint-Gobain took control of Glaswatte on
17th September 1936. Jean Gaulis, an engineer who had
been recruited earlier to coordinate the Group's fiber
activities, joined Glaswatte's board. Saint-Gobain became a
fiberglass producer.
In the same year, the Group bought 'La Soie de Verre' in
Soissons, France.The company, which used the Gossler process,
produced insulating fiber batting for insulating boilers,
particularly in the navy. It held an exclusive contract with
the navy since 1932 and also worked for the prestigious
'Compagnie Transatlantique', insulating the boilers of the
liners 'Normandie', 'Champlain' and 'Ile de France'. It also
produced a felt made from longer fibers, used as a separator
between the positive and negative plates of electric batteries.
Lacking the means to invest, the company was in difficulty,
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 42
44
Rantigny factory, twisting, winding, folding.
Rantigny factory, textile weaving.
THE SILIONNE PROCESS
as compared with its competitor, Boussois, which was
preparing to launch the more efficient Hager process. Roger
Lacharme, the managing director of 'La Soie de Verre' ,
received Saint-Gobain's proposal as a gift from on high.“One
day in 1936, a visitor named Gaulis introduced himself. He had
hardly entered when he revealed his intentions: he had been
sent by Saint-Gobain's managing director, Mister Gentil, to
negotiate the purchase of 'La Soie de Verre'. The reason was
simple. Mister Gentil […] had just bought the Owens process,
in America, […] and was wondering how to use it in the most
practical way. He leafed through the directory and when he
discovered 'La Soie de Verre', decided to get in touch with the
company,” he said later.The reality was, no doubt, slightly less
miraculous. In fact Henri Crochet, La Soie de Verre's director,
also held an important position in the glass branch of
Saint-Gobain, so the Group already knew about the company.
The purchase was concluded at the beginning of 1937 and a
new company was immediately formed: Isover had just been
created, with an investment of a million and a half francs. Jean
Gaulis was its executive director, Roger Lacharme the sales
director and Lucien Deschamps the technical director.At the
end of 1937, the first Owens oven started production, next
to the twelve existing Gossler ovens. It alone produced 700
tons of fiber per year, against 350 tons for all the others put
together. “You'll see, Lacharme, one day glass fiber will have
a higher turnover than flat glass”, Eugène Gentil remarked.A
prophecy which would come true…in the 1970s. Isover was
a producer of fiberglass for insulation, but was also trying to
be present in the 'textile' fiber market, which was however tech-
nically different. Saint-Gobain's diversification adventure
with chemical textile fibers was coming to an abrupt end.
The 'Société des Textiles Nouveaux' (STN), in which the
chemical branch of the Group had a shareholding, was in
fact experiencing difficulties. In 1937, this company closed
and the Rantigny site was dedicated to the textile fiberglass
activity. Three engineers from Owens Illinois arrived in
September to install the Silionne and Veranne bushings - two
manufacturing processes for producing long glass fibers.
The changes continued with the creation of Isoverbel (Belgium)
in association with Saint-Roch, and the acquisition of
Modigliani (Italy) in 1938. Piero Modigliani, who was obliged
to move to the United States for political reasons, sold his
shares to Saint-Gobain. On the eve of the Second World War,
the Group had a company, Isover, access to all the known fiber
manufacturing processes, two production sites in France,
plus those of the companies they controlled in Germany,
Italy and Belgium, marketing services and a catalogue of
products. Saint-Gobain was then producing around a third of
the 15 to 20,000 tones of fiberglass manufactured each year
in Europe. For its part, the United States was producing 20,000
to 25,000 tones. Despite its initial hesitations, in a few years
Saint-Gobain had become a major player in the fiberglass field.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 44
porary management of the Company, decided to launch their
own research into fiberglass production. The war years, and
with no apparent major damage, the promising landscape of
the end of the 1930s had been radically changed.
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
THE FIRST INSULATION CONFERENCE
The very first world insulation conference was held in Paris,in May 1939. Eugène Gentil, the managing director of the 'Glaceriesde Saint-Gobain', felt there was a need to create an international insulation community, to reinforcethe relationship between the Poolagreement signatories and the licensees. He therefore thought of organizing an annual conference.For this first of a long series,the delegates met in a restaurant on the Champs Elysées in Paris.On the menu: technical problems;commercial, legal and health aspectsof fiberglass. German, American,Belgian, British, Danish, Spanish,French Italian, Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish representatives werepresent.
With the exception of a brief interruption during the German
invasion of France in 1940, the war did not stop Saint-Gobain's
production of fiberglass; on the contrary, it was even to
become a major turning point. At the end of May 1940, the
advance of the German troops forced Isover to evacuate the
Rantigny factory. The personnel withdrew to Cognac, but
returned to the Oise region in August to launch production
of long fibers. In the same year, bombs intended for the near-
by railway station partially destroyed the Soissons factory.
Fortunately, the Owens line and a few of the Gossler lines were
spared.They were moved to Rantigny, where all Saint-Gobain's
fiberglass production was now concentrated. Even though it
had been reorganized and was slightly smaller, the factory was
still functional.
The real impact of the war can be found on another level: re-
lationships with its American partner, OCF, completely
changed. For fear of incurring the wrath of the US anti-trust
authorities, OCF broke the export restrictions mentioned in
the Pool agreement. More importantly, by the simple fact that
the war was going on, the relationship between OCF's
engineers and the European users of the Owens, Silionne and
Veranne processes was interrupted. Eugène Gentil himself
was blocked in New York. Saint-Gobain could not, therefore,
benefit from the latest technical developments. However,
this hiatus was to have positive repercussions. In May 1941,
Tony Perrin and André Ayçoberry, who had taken on the tem-
THE WAR: A TURNING POINTActivity continued during the war, but Isover, deprived of contact with its licensor, had to manage the development of the processes alone. At the same time, the American authorities started legal proceedings against OCF.The future of the Pool was threatened.
Rantigny factory.
4746
International fiberglass conference, at Wiesbaden in Germany, 1954. Around 25 countries took part.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 46
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
Three drawings taken from the brochure 'Tel qu'en un écrin'.
48 49
Model made by 'les Glaces de Boussois' for a glass wool advertisement.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 48
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
After the Liberation, the relationship with OCF did not return
to its previous basis. Boosted by the enormous orders from
the army, the American glass-maker had changed scale, and
this could be felt in its attitude towards its partner. What
was more, the US Department of Justice, had launched an
enquiry concerning OCF. In June 1949, OCF, Owens Illinois and
Corning put an end to the proceedings by entering into an
agreement with the authorities. According to this consent
decree, the patents issued prior to 1938 were to be accessi-
ble to everyone, free of charge. In addition, OCF promised to
sell licenses for the patents issued prior to 1938 to anyone,
at a reasonable price, to put an end to all its agreements with
foreign companies and to conclude new, non-restrictive
agreements with them. Moreover, OCF was to become totally
independent of its two 'parents', Owens Illinois and Corning.
In short, the 1937 Pool agreements were null and void.
Everything would have to be re-negotiated.This was done on
February 6th, 1951, the date the new New York agreements were
signed, marking the official end of the Pool.
Sensing this outcome, and seeing the date its patents would
fall into the public domain drawing closer, the Saint-Gobain
management was thinking about AKM's mission. How could
the royalties be justified when the patents were null and
void, and how could it differentiate itself from OCF? The
only solution was to offer technical and commercial assistance
POST WAR: HOPES AND DISAPPOINTMENTSUnder pressure from the American authorities, the Pool was dissolved in 1949. On the ground, however, everything was goingwell in a France which was being completely rebuilt… until the arrival of a formidable competitor. Isover's only solution:create a better fiberglass production process.
to the licensees, and thus contribute more actively
to the overall development of fiberglass technology and
applications.This would also be a good way to win the loyalty
of these industrialists.As AKM did not have the means, Saint-
Gobain decided, on April 8th, 1948, to create Sodefive, (Société
d'Etude pour le Développement de la Fibre de Verre). Its aim,
as defined in its articles of incorporation was:“the study and
implementation of technical and commercial assistance
which can be provided to manufacturers and users of glass
fibers, with the aim of allowing them to improve and
develop their industry and generally, all research and operations
directly or indirectly connected with the above aim”.
In the field, the atmosphere was quite optimistic. France was
being rebuilt and modernized.There were opportunities to be
seized for building insulation, and precisely at this moment,
a new product appeared: a glass fiber mat impregnated with
a binding agent, which was much easier to handle than the
former pure fiber batting. The first product of this kind was
intended for refrigerator insulation; this soon gave birth to the
'Imprégné au Brai à Rantigny', the famous IBR which revolu-
tionized building insulation. Isover was convinced of its
product's quality and in 1948 asked for an expert opinion from
the research laboratory of the 'Conservatoire National des Arts
et Métiers'. In April 1949, the CNAM gave its verdict: “It was
noted that after being submitted to 37 hours of vibration, the
glass wool mat called feutre Isover IBR, showed no settling,
the glass fibers were not broken and no dust was detected at
the bottom of the partition”. In short, it was an undeniable
technical success. However, it also had to be accepted by the
customers. Roger Lacharme went to the United States in
1947 and discovered new marketing methods.“Before under-
taking this voyage, I was an intuitive trader. On the other
side of the Atlantic, I discovered rational methods for organ-
izing an advertising campaign, a promotional activity or
conquering a market,” he declared. He therefore developed
a modern sales network and launched the in-house magazine,
'L'Équipe' , which symbolized the activity's revival. The
architects finally listened and the contracts started to arrive.
Le Corbusier called on Isover to insulate the famous 'Cité
Radieuse' in Marseille, which was inaugurated in 1952.Insulating the cars which transported the British royal family during its visit to Australia in the 1950s.
Covers of 'L'Équipe', the French sales department's newsletter.
50 51
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 50
CH
APT
ER 1
- -
TH
E PI
ON
EER
ING
ER
A
5352
Later on, Sodefive developed a newactivity meant for the licensees:sales and marketing assistance.“We understood that owning andmastering a process which was technically superior to the competition was not enough,”underlined Dominique Elineau.A small cell was therefore created tostudy the markets and the changes in their needs. Its aim was also to circulate information related to thenew products, to assist the licenseesin their industrial investments,to help them in comparing the products of the competitors…The fall of the Berlin Wall finallyopened a new era. The general management of the Insulation branchgave Sodefive a new mission,different from its primary vocation.Capitalizing on its skills, knowledgeof the markets and players, it participated to the establishment of the branch in Eastern Europe then in China. In 1997, only five licensees remained, and there was no significant and immediate perspective of entering into any new license agreements. A dedicatedstructure was not justified. After half a century of existence, Sodefivewas wound up and its activity reintegrated into the Group'sInsulation branch.
SODEFIVESERVES THE LICENSEES
The Société d'Etude pour leDéveloppement de la Fibre de Verre(Sodefive), which was created to offer a service to licensees, wasgradually to become an internationaldevelopment tool for Saint-Gobain.
The story began in 1948. The brandnew subsidiary's explicit missionwas to provide licensees with technical and commercial assistance. By doing this, it was supposed to be contributing to the development of the fiberglassindustry throughout the world…to the Group's greater profit,even if only in terms of royalties.At the beginning, the company didnot provide technical assistance per se but was in charge of the coordination. The CRIR engineerslooked after this in the field.Sodefive in fact took on the role of interface, organization… and promotion. “It was at the end of the fifties that a team spirit appeared between the licensees.The personality of Marc Tolédano,Claude Caron and Claude Jumentiercontributed to create a type of relationship based on trust andfriendship between those licensees.They knew they could count onSodefive” explained DominiqueElineau, the last managing directorof Sodefive. The word was out:through its way of operating,the company had created a real 'licensees' club'. This state of mindwas put into concrete form throughmeetings of technical or sales managers, international conferenceswhich brought together 'people whoknew and appreciated each other',and even, at the beginning of the1980s, a magazine.
However, a formidable competitor appeared on the horizon.
In 1948, a joint subsidiary of Pont-à-Mousson and the American
Johns Manville set up a stone wool factory in Saint-Etienne-
du-Rouvray, in Normandy. At the beginning of the 1950s,
this new insulation product appeared on the French market
under the name Roclaine. Its producers made no secret of the
fact that they wanted to 'suffocate' glass fiber.To this end, they
gave significant discounts to their clients, which meant that
stone wool was 25 percent less expensive than glass wool. In
addition, as it could stand higher temperatures, it was better
suited to certain industrial uses. Finally, its salesmen never failed
to point out that their product 'did not prick your fingers', which
was the case with glass fibers produced using the Owens
process. “It was close. There was a risk that the commercial
efforts undertaken over the years would be wiped out, and these
rivals spread the rumor that the Rantigny factory would be
forced to close its doors in two years,” Roger Lacharme recalls.
Saint-Gobain no longer had a choice. It had to perfect a new
glass fiber production process which gave better results than
the Owens process. Roger Lacharme literally laid siege to
the research center, now set up in Paris, on the boulevard
de la Villette, and arranged for the fiber production research,
started during the war, to change pace and scale. The era of
the engineers was beginning.
GB 014-053-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:43 Page 52
CHAPTER 2
A technological epic
“TEL” conquers the world
The new license system
“Everything's fine”
THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE ENGINEERSAfter the war, the cards were re-dealt. Cut off from its technology
providers during the conflict, the Saint-Gobain Group developed
its own means of production. The research department got to work
and soon the TEL was born - a new process based on an original
fiberizing principle. It was a technical and commercial success: licenses
were granted throughout the world. A good period was opening up
for Isover.
55
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 54
Saint-Gobain and CertainTeed, an American construc-tion material producer, created CSG, a joint ventureintended to manufacture and sell glass wool in theUnited States. The first lines, set up in the factories inPennsylvania, Kansas and New Jersey, started up oneyear later. The TEL had come to compete with OwensCorning on its own ground!
Beginning of the construction of the IndustrialResearch Center at Rantigny, better known by theacronym CRIR. It was a genuine research and develop-ment center and associated three fundamental labo-ratories (chemistry, physics and applications) withindustrial scale pilot lines. Research had at last foundits place.
The Yom Kippur war (1973) then the Iranian revolu-tion (1979) provoked two oil crises, marking the endof the first thirty post-war years. It was crisis time andenergy had become expensive; insulation suddenlyhad the wind in its sails. In an economic contextwhich was difficult, Isover still had a prosperousdecade.
Pierre Heymes, a young test engineer, filed twomajor patents, one after the other, dealing with thefiber production processes. The second, in particular,described the association of centrifugal force andthe action of a jet of hot gas to draw out the glass.This was the first statement of the famous Saint-Gobain fiber production principle.
This was it! After seven years’ perfecting, the TEL –actually the Supertel, as the researchers called it –began its industrial career at Rantigny, where itsuperseded the Owens process. Gabriel Aufaure, thefactory director, took the risk. A wager which wasquickly won, as the TEL was superior to all the otherprocesses and was soon to conquer the world.
After the disappointing tests of the LET machine,which was too complicated, the decision was takento ‘turn it over’. Moreover, Heymes had already putthis idea forward a few years previously. The veryfirst TEL machine, with the spinner at the bottom,appeared at the Billancourt center before beginninga test campaign at Rantigny.
1945-1946
1950
1957
1960
1967
1973-1979
5756
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 56
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
The beginningAfter the flight of the French civilian population during the
German invasion, fiberglass production began again at Rantigny.
However, at the beginning of 1941, it became clear that the
severing of relationships with the OCF engineers was handi-
capping Saint-Gobain.The company was no longer benefiting from
the latest technological advances.The same was true for Gossler.
Saint-Gobain therefore decided to develop its processes itself.
Tony Perrin,who had taken on the position of managing director
of the 'Glaceries', in the absence of Eugène Gentil (kept in
New York), and his assistant, André Ayçoberry, turned to the
'Laboratoire d'Etudes Thermiques', or LET.This Billancourt-based
research and development unit was dedicated essentially to
flat glass processes. Its director, Ivan Peyches, had just
returned from captivity. On his return, André Ayçoberry asked
him to study all the existing processes to identify any possible
improvements. In his sights were the Gossler, a slightly out of
date fiber production process using a wheel, the Hager, based on
centrifuging, and the Owens method of blowing with steam,
inherited from slag fiber.
In a few months, Ivan Peyches had made up his mind: the Hager
centrifugal process was the most logical of the three from a
physical point of view. In addition, this simple process,which could
use recycled glass, corresponded well to this period of
shortages. It nevertheless had one major disadvantage:Boussois
held the license! So an alternative had to be found. From that
moment on,work began on what was to become the LET machine,
after the initials of the laboratory. It lasted until 1951.
A TECHNOLOGICAL EPIC
For the researchers, Hager-type spinning was the most logicalway of producing glass fibers. However, they added extra drawingby hot gases, thus creating an original fiber production principle.The TEL, which applies this principle, had a difficult birth afterseveral changes…and an about-face.
58
Ivan Peyches.
59
THE TEL PROCESS
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 58
ACCURACY OF VOCABULARY:WHAT DO WE CALLTEL?
“In the technical context of TEL, I cannot find a unique element which distinguishes the process from its competitors.The entire process is thejuxtaposition of a myriad of details.Taken one by one, they may appear minor, but through their synthesis into a homogenous whole, they form a technology which is perfectly competitive in the glass fiber insulationindustry.”This is how it was put by René Goutte, an engineer who supervised the setting up of the Saint-Gobain insulation activity in the United States. But what exactly didhe call 'the TEL'? Precise vocabulary isessential. In the beginning, there wasthe LET machine, which was outlinedduring the war and took the initials ofthe 'Laboratoire d'Etudes Thermiques'.The idea of turning the spinner over allowed a new centrifugal fiber producing machine to be developed:the LET machine was turned into TEL by a physical, as well as anacronymic, reversal.After new developments the TEL becameSupertel, before being industrialised in1957.What René Goutte, and everyoneelse with him called 'the TEL' was infact the Supertel, then its successivedevelopments. It became the genericname for the Saint-Gobain fiber production principle.
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
The LET machine was developed with various improvements
on the Hager process.The most important concerned the grooved
disk, which was quickly replaced by a 'spinner' whose edge was
pierced with holes.What the researchers called the 'tournette'
or 'whirler' among themselves looked more like a flying saucer
than a spinner, and its flying qualities as it shot across the
workshop during certain adjustment incidents reinforced the
comparison… The first tests of the machine, built by the SEVA
(see 'The SEVA: a mechanic “spins” a tale), took place in the
industrial testing department at Saint-Romain-le-Puy, in 1942.
It was a failure, and they had to wait until 1944 before 16 micron
diameter fibers were obtained.
The spinner was developed, receiving first two, then three rows
of holes. New tests were started at Rantigny, with another feed
method.The spinner received soft glass 'marbles', injected from
below by compressed air.Once again, the tests were disappoint-
ing.Mister Herbert,who was director of Rantigny at the time,was
severe.“It will never work”, he maintained.Among the grounds
for complaint:excessively high cost,a fragile machine, short-lived
spinners and products of a dubious quality, because of the soft
glass.Not to mention the problems with the fiber collection,due
to the strange arrangement of the machine, which was inherit-
ed from the Hager process and had the spinner on top.This was
the end of the LET machine.
1. LET spinner.
2. Prototype of the LET machine.
1
2
60 61
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 60
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
Spinners with different diameters.
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 62
destined for drilling the combustionchambers of aircraft jet engines, washaving trouble perfecting a systemsuited to spinners.A single machine ofthis type would however replace all theelectro-erosion machines from 1998!
Meanwhile, the diameter of the spinners was increased successively to 300 millimetres (1967), then 400 (1978), 600 (1980) and even 800 millimetres from 1983.The alloywas also developed, and was the subject of cooperation with CNAM and the University of Nancy.
In 1985, SEVA and CRIR (IndustrialResearch Center of Rantigny) againstrengthened their links and introduced regular technical exchanges, thus formalising a cooperation which had been initiated three decades earlier.
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
At Saint-Gobain, glass fibers are made in spinners. Originally called'tournettes' or 'whirlers', these spinners must withstand rotationspeeds of several thousands of revolutions per minute without deforming, and receive molten glass at over a thousand degrees Celsius.
These fragile parts have become thespeciality of the 'Société d'EtudesVerrières Appliqués' (SEVA). It was created in 1926 under the name"Société d'Etudes et d'ExploitationsVerrières" (SEEV) by Saint-Gobain tolook after the design and mechanicalmaintenance of the brand new bottlemanufacturing factory in Chalon-sur-Saône. In fact the company was soon indemand from the whole of the groupfor all the mechanical parts or units ofits production installations, and there-fore realised the prototypes and was responsible for manufacturing the various fiber production machines.The spinners are a special case, as notonly does SEVA manufacture them,it also develops them - and at the same time adapts its productionmethods.These parts are a decidingfactor in the quality of the fiber, tosuch a point that SEVA is still the only supplier for all the Group's factoriesand subsidiaries.
The first spinners were manufactured in 1956-57 for the start up of TEL and Supertel.They were 200 mm in diameter and realised on a hydraulicpress in Nicral sheet.The holes weredrilled 'by hand' with drills of less than a millimetre in diameter.About
64 65
twenty drillers worked in an isolatedworkshop, so that they could hear thedrill 'sing' - to determine the state ofthe drill bit by ear. But the techniquedeveloped very quickly: the diameterand material of the spinners, as well asthe method of production and drilling.
Pressed sheet is not very strong andwas quickly replaced by moulded parts.The La Villette laboratory chose anAmerican alloy (iron, chromium, nickeland tungsten), which was to be useduntil 1978. It was melted in an electricfurnace with no contact with the airand poured into hard sand moulds.Theparts were then finished on the lathe.In the mid-1990s SEVA changed to ceramic moulds.A replica of the spinner was realised in polystyrene,then this model was covered with successive coats of ceramic, whichwere solidified in the furnace. Fromthen on, most of the spinners were manufactured according to thisprocess. Drilling by hand was superseded by an electro-erosionmethod, where the metal was attackedby intense, repeated electric arcs.
After having unsuccessfully tested acommercial machine, SEVA designedand created its own tools and put theminto service in 1964.There were up to eighty electro-erosion machines in 1997, but as the system had nevertheless reached its limits, SEVAchanged to electron beam drilling.It had been studying this process formore than twenty-five years, but the only manufacturer of this type of machine, which at that time was
SEVA, A MECHANIC “SPINS” A TALE
Drilling workshop at the SEVA in the 1960s.
Machining workshop at the SEVA in 1970.
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 64
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
1. Piles of spinners in the SEVA's machining workshop.
2. Fitting a TEL spinner.
3. Stock of spinners at different stages of manufacture.
67
1
2 3
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 66
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
Diagram of the principle of the V2 motor.
“The best of our test engineers”, washow Pierre Heymes was described at Saint-Gobain.After leaving the 'Arts et Metiers' school in 1942, theyoung graduate immediately received a grant from the CNRS to work in the'Laboratoire d'Études Thermiques' atSaint-Gobain, which was then directedby Ivan Peyches.The latter, who at thetime was developing a complete fiberproduction theory, needed a study of fluid dynamics. He asked Heymes to embark on a thesis, supervised by professor Ribaud, president of theSaint-Gobain research committee.On this occasion, Heymes understoodthat the drawing force a fluid can exerton a thin strand - in this case a strand of molten glass - depends on both its speed and its temperature. He was hired by Peyches in 1943, and began to develop what would becomethe Saint-Gobain fiber production principle. In 1944, he visited an exhibition of salvaged German V2s behind Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris,and understood how to eject the essential hot gases at very high speed.From then on, everything moved very quickly.A first patent was filed in 1945.The second, which associateddrawing by the combustion gases
with the action of centrifugal force,followed in 1946.The Saint-Gobain fiber production principle was registered,but it was several years before suitable burners were available.From the beginning of 1946, Heymestook over management of the fiberproduction tests, and divided his timebetween the laboratory in the 'Place de la Nation' and Rantigny. In Paris,he developed the Superfine process,whose burners were the forerunners ofthose in the Supertel.At Rantigny, hededicated himself to the LET machine.Note that, ever the visionary, he had at that time suggested turning it over, thus designing the TEL withoutknowing…
He supervised the development of the process until 1951.At that time,Saint-Gobain had a difficult problemto solve: the simultaneous polishing of both sides of a glass strip. Saint-Gobain's management gave great importance to this question, and IvanPeyches did not hesitate for a second.The only person who could find the answer was Pierre Heymes, who therefore abandoned the fiber production process for which he had laid the foundations.
6968
Birth of a processThe LET machine doesn't work? Let's turn it upside down! “We
are designing a new approach to the LET centrifuging machine,
called TEL, in which all the components are turned upside down
and the spinner is on the lower part,” wrote Ivan Peyches, in his
introduction to the report on the disappointing tests at Rantigny.
Giving Caesar his due moreover, he pointed out that such an
arrangement had been suggested in 1942,by the manager of the
factory in which the first tests of the machine had been carried
out, then reformulated in 1946 by Pierre Heymes,who at the time
was taking over the management of fiber production tests.
The very first upside-down machine dates from 1950.The glass
arrived at the top through the aperture in the unit's axle.The fibers
were blown downwards by an air current and fell onto a collect-
ing conveyor belt. Just one axle, no vibrations; the machine was
both simple and better-designed than its predecessor.The first
tests were encouraging; the machine worked and the fibers
discharged easily. On the other hand, the burner had to be
improved.A test and modification campaign began in 1951 at
Rantigny.Work was carried out on the composition of the glass,
the external burner, and above all, the spinner. Form, material,
number of holes; everything was developed. However, there
remained one problem: if the melting temperature was too low,
the glass devitrified; if it was too high, the spinner suffered. In short,
the tests took a long time and did not give any convincing results,
despite the new machine's obvious qualities.
In the autumn of 1952,Roger Lacharme, spurred on by the com-
petition from Roclaine,urged the management to launch the new
fiber production process.The Owens type fiber was too prickly,
too heavy and was having trouble competing with stone wool.
Sodefive was also in favour of an acceleration of the tests.
Moreover, it was its technical director, Lucien Deschamps, who
had the idea of getting someone to take a fresh look at the TEL.
He suggested Mister Corvillain, a graduate of the 'Ecole
des Mines' and at the time, manager of the 'Glacerie de
Chantereine', who took over the management of the tests in
September.Thanks to numerous minor modifications and adjust-
ments, the tests were finally satisfactory.“The future of the TEL
machine can be envisaged with optimism. It is absolutely essen-
tial that industrial operation for several months on an ad hoc fur-
nace confirms the results obtained,” Corvillain wrote. In short,
the TEL was viable and tests had to be continued at full-scale.
The industrial tests on the TEL began under the management
of Marcel Lévecque, from the basic research laboratory at the La
Villette center.They took place from 1953 to 1955 in the facto-
ry at Lucens, in Switzerland,where one of the three furnaces was
given over to them. The work concerned the machine, which
was still a bit fragile, the drilling of the spinners, improvement
of the fibers and increasing output. Lévecque multiplied the
rows of holes in the spinner, to 35.The last test campaign, car-
ried out at Rantigny from 1954 to 1956, concerned the burner,
and finally defined the composition of the glass suitable for the
process.The machine now had a spinner with 27,000 holes and
produced three tons of ten micron diameter fibers per day. It was
finally ready for industrialization.
In June 1956, two TEL machines began operating at Rantigny.The
first products were sold to Frigidaire, a subsidiary of General
Motors. Yet, on 17th July 1956, the machines were stopped.
This was the end of the TEL! Meanwhile, the Supertel had
demonstrated its superiority during a comparative test.
PIERRE HEYMES,THE FATHER OF THE SAINT-GOBAINFIBER PRODUCTIONPRINCIPLE
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 68
70
“I would like […] to emphasise againthat on a research level, we need to carry out basic work which is too oftendisparaged…” is what Marcel Lévecque,head of the Technical Research andDevelopment Department, had to sayat the tenth anniversary of the physicslaboratory, in 1971.
As the 'theoretical branch' of the CRIR,the laboratory began its activities in 1961 under the aegis of DanielFournier, assisted by the former manager of the Rantigny factory inspection laboratory, ClaudeJumentier.The unit included three sections - thermal, mechanical andacoustic - corresponding to the threebasic properties expected of insulatingmaterials. Its mission was also threefold. Firstly, to look at all aspectsof the question - to make an inventoryand describe the performances of allthe materials intended for acoustic and thermal uses.To this day, the
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
laboratory still keeps a characteristicsfile which has few equivalents in theworld. Next, to carry out basic researchinto the properties of the materials.This forms the major part of the work and consists of describing andmodelling the phenomena taking place in the fibrous environments,and understanding how the structureof these materials influences their performance. Finally, none of all thiswould be possible without the thirdline of research: the perfecting of precise and reliable methods of measuring these properties and phenomena.What is known as 'metrology' is essential to knowingabout the different materials, as well as comparing their performances in an unquestionable manner - a trumpcard when having to negotiate withregulatory authorities throughout the world and develop texts which often put fiberglass at a disadvantagethrough simple ignorance of its
properties. Isopermeability curves,thermal conductivity measuring equipment, study of convection andthermomigration in light, fibrous insulation, effect of boron.Althoughthe laymen have difficulty imaginingwhat it is all about, it is not difficult to guess that the laboratory works at a very high level, and often in cooperation with public research institutions and universities. From 23rd to 25th November 1971, a seminarwas organised at Ermenonville.Thiswas the opportunity to draw up a balance sheet of ten years' activity.Claude Jumentier, a former 'salesman'turned researcher, explained how a basic laboratory, which may appear to be a long way from reality, can help those who sell fiberglass in a very concrete way.“I remember that difficulties came from three directionsat the same time: the customers, thecompetition and the regulations forthe use of insulating materials.Theproblem concerning the customerscame from the lack of adequate and reliable information. In the case of the competition, the problem was tofind an appropriate and irrefutable argument. Finally by 'regulation',I mean all the rules or specificationsdecreed by the profession's institutesand authorities, which led to restrictions in the use of insulating materials.”The laboratory has answered all theseexpectations.The distance travelledcan be measured since the fifties,the period when the quality of a fiberwas measured… by touch!
THE PHYSICS LABORATORY: A SCIENTIFIC TOOL
The operator measures a loudspeaker's characteristics with a sound level meter.
The sound levels recorded by the microphones are transcribed directly in decibels on the recorder.
71
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 70
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
1. Diagrams of the Supertel.
2. Heating the spinners by induction.
In October 1950, a young man of 28 entered the La Villette basic research laboratory.A graduate of the'Conservatoire National des Arts etMétiers', he had just spent three yearsat the 'Office National d'Etudes et deRecherches Aérospatiales' (Onera)where he had worked on ceramics,metallic alloys and combustion.As he had also studied thermo-dynamics and the chemistry of glass,he had a mastery of all the aspects offiber production, at least in theory.This was no doubt the reason why,on 13th October 1952, Ivan Peyches en-trusted him with the management ofthe TEL team, as successor to PierreHeymes.“There was an excellent thermo-dynamics specialist in the basic research laboratory, called Marcel Lévecque… I decided to entrusthim with the TEL process. In a fewyears, Lévecque was to take it throughall the stages of development and turn it into a real industrial process”,Ivan Peyches later remembered.And in fact the person that his associates unanimously called 'the boss', took an interest in all aspects of the machine, had lots of ideas, and completely overwhelmedhis work associates. Exhausting,
sometimes, but results were achieved.The brilliant theorist that he couldhave remained showed what he wascapable of as a pragmatic and ingenious research worker. It was perhaps this aspect which gained himthe respect and unfailing friendship of Gabriel Aufaure, the director of theRantigny factory.The two associateswould be in on the creation of the CRIRin 1960.
Lévecque then became director of theTechnical Research and DevelopmentDepartment of the glass Division,before becoming technical director of the glass fiber branch, then taking on responsibility for CertainTeed in theUnited States. CertainTeed's new research center, which was inaugurated on 26th June 1979, waschristened the Lévecque technical center.
MARCEL LÉVECQUE,THE 'BOSS'
72 73
And the TEL becomes SuperThe name Supertel dates very precisely from 13th October 1952,
at La Villette, during a meeting about the conclusions of the
Corvillain report. In addition to the launch of the industrial tests
on the TEL, it was decided to dedicate research effort to a new
process. The idea was simple: to apply the fiber production
principle defined in 1945 - 46 by Pierre Heymes to the TEL
machine.This programme, called Supertel,would be carried out
at La Villette and at Rantigny, under the supervision of Marcel
Lévecque.
The first step consisted of drawing out the glass strands at very
high speed under the action of combustion gas. Very quickly,
Peyches imagined associating this with the centrifugal fiber
production that he saw working during the TEL tests, for which
he had taken responsibility. A patent from 1946 describes
what has become the Saint-Gobain fiberizing principle: the
association of the centrifugal force and 'over-drawing' by hot
gases from an internal combustion burner.
Finalization of the Supertel began in April 1953, with the
construction of a production line at La Villette and installation
of test lines at Rantigny, and lasted four years. Four years
during which a metallic alloy for the spinner had to be defined
which would withstand the heat, an internal combustion
burner had to be created, capable of delivering 'hard' flames, that
is, sufficiently rapid and coherent to draw out the fibers, stop the
composition of the glass and create a glass heating system by
induction.
On 19th October 1953, exactly a year after the initial meeting,
the first Supertel fiber was produced at La Villette. It measured
two microns in diameter,but contained too many impurities.The
burner was improved until April 1954, when the tests on the
other constituent parts of the process began at Rantigny. In
1956, the Supertel had definitively proved its superiority over the
TEL, which was stopped.
21
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 72
7574
The molten glass falls into the spinner, which turns on a vertical axis.This spinner's exterior, in heat-resistant steel, is drilled with a large number of holes. The glass is pushed through the holes by centrifugationand is divided into numerous strands. A powerful jet of hot gas thendraws out the fibers.
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 74
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
7776
There was no longer a place for empiricism or 'do-it-yourself solutions'. Successive research managers in the Insulation activity introduced scientific processes andlaunched basic research programmes.They needed laboratories and a realtest center, and in 1960, this happened:the CRIR was created at Rantigny.
From the beginning of the 20th century,the glass industry had become aware of the importance of research, andSaint-Gobain was no exception.However, it was during the war yearsthat Ivan Peyches moved from theobligatory empiricism to assert the importance of scientific methods,combining the search for theoreticalknowledge with controlled experimentation.A new era had just begun. Questions which were apparently as trivial as 'what determines the recovery of thicknessof a glass wool mat which has been compressed during transport?'would lead to high level theoreticalwork, involving mathematical modelling, and would be the subject of joint theses and studies with universities or other academic institutions. In May 1956, MarcelLévecque even wrote a quite visionarynote to Sodefive, the patents department - and to Peyches: 'Productanalysis has been neglected in Europeand must be more systematic. Perhapsin a few years we will see theoristslooking into the architecture of fiberglass, fiber 'topologists' applyingtheir difficult mathematics to allow us to discover the true possibilities of our products'. It was obvious that improving the properties of an insulator or discussing with the regulating authorities requires solidtheoretical knowledge. Immediately
after the war, nobody knew muchabout the properties of fiberglass or its behaviour over time.
Beginning a real scientific programmerequired manpower, means and installations.The first work on the LETmachine began at the 'Laboratoired'Etudes Thermiques' at Billancourt, in1941. On the night of 3rd March 1942,a bomb aimed at the nearby Renaultfactories destroyed the laboratory.This was then transferred to the 'RueFabre d'Eglantine' in Paris, close to the'Place de la Nation', where tests on ultra-fine fiber, which required verylittle glass, began in the summer.Thetest material was then transferred tothe 'Boulevard de la Villette', wherethe first fiber research center was builtin 1949.All that remained was to solvethe problem of access to molten glass,essential for the tests which tookplace in various factories in the Group, according to the glass strandsavailable. In April 1953, tests of theSupertel began; the decision wastherefore taken to build a complete fiber production unit. It had its ownmelting cell, reception conveyor belt and sizing device.
This was not yet enough. In January1960, Marcel Lévecque and GabrielAufaure were thinking: even thoughthe Supertel had been successfullylaunched, it needed improvement.What was more, the need for insulation was developing very quickly.The rural exodus, urbanisationand economic growth had combinedto create an explosion in house building.The licensees needed assistance and training to follow the developments in such a promising market.As for the researchers, the experience of 1953
had shown them that to test a processon an industrial scale, they neededtheir own pilot line.Added to these preoccupations was a problem whichwas anecdotic, but not insignificant:the burner tests generated whistlingwhich was so intense that theBoulevard de la Villette neighbourhoodhad begun to tire of it… In short, it wastime to think about building a real,large-scale test center.This would be the CRIR: 'Centre de RecherchesIndustrielles de Rantigny'.
“We needed to work directly and not in the abstraction of a laboratory.So I asked for a research center to bebuilt next to the factory. In that way,everyone would be happy and couldwork in their own area.” Lévecque remembered.Work began quickly withthe construction of the pilot workshop,to which were joined three basic laboratories dedicated respectively to chemistry, physics and applications.As a consequence, the organisation ofresearch within the glass Division wasrevised: the Technical Research andDevelopment Department was createdin 1960 and placed under MarcelLévecque's responsibility. Research had finally found its place.
A PLACE FOR RESEARCH
Rollisol, one of Isover's first big commercial successes in the 1950s.
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 76
Spanish advertising, 'Neither hot nor cold, and no noise'.
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
Unquestionably, the Supertel surpassed the rival processes
technically, but should its industrialisation be generalised? The
answer, which is so obvious now, was far less so in 1957. The
licensees wondered. There remained some uncertainty about
the viability of the process over time, notably concerning the
behaviour of the spinners, which were subjected to high
temperatures. In addition, investment was needed to adapt
production lines which had been optimised over many years for
the Owens process. Nevertheless: Sodefive quickened the pace,
having seen OCF make direct promises to the licensees.At the
same time, the Heye Group was adopting new glass composi-
tions for the Owens process and was letting it be well known.
In 1956, Sodefive could only gain time, while hoping that the
process would soon be perfected. It organised countless visits
by foreign company representatives to Rantigny, to show them
the new process under test.
Finally, in May 1957, Gabriel Aufaure, the director of the
Rantigny factory, took the decision. The Owens process was
closed down and replaced by the Supertel, which everyone
apart from the Saint-Gobain researchers called the TEL. Industrial
production began with six 'heads', as Supertel operated accord-
ing to the 'rule of sixes': six tons of fiber per day (per head), six
thousand holes per spinner, six microns in diameter. “There is
a risk, but we are taking it”,Aufaure replied to questions from
a worried associate. It was a gamble which rapidly paid off: the
'TEL' CONQUERSTHE WORLDMay 1957: industrial exploitation of the Supertel began atRantigny. The process was much better than the competition,producing a fiber of unequalled fineness and lightness. This was the beginning of an international success. In a few years,dozens of licenses were entered into across the world.
78 79
Japanese visitors from the Asahi Glass company, accompanied by Marc Toledano from Sodefive.
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 78
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
80 81
product fulfilled its promises. Not only was it soft to the touch,
but for equal insulating performance, it weighed half as much
as stone wool. Customers, who were at first surprised by this
lightness, had to be convinced, but this happened quickly.
Isover reoriented and refined its marketing by offering its
customers a product which was no longer basic, but effective
and with real characteristics. From then on, it was to be judged
using performance criteria. Even though new developments saw
the light of day at La Villette until 1959, the 'TEL' was officially
launched. It was to dominate the insulation world for decades
to come.
The following industrialisations took place outside France.
The 1958 world insulation conference in Cannes was the first
opportunity to take stock. Marcel Lévecque presented the
Supertel to the representatives of the whole world.1958 to 1963
was the 'golden age for granting of TEL licenses', in the words
of Claude Jumentier, the technical director of Sodefive. Most of
the pre-war Hager licensees became TEL licensees, and new
ones arrived. Sodefive showed what it was capable of.A mobile
team was set up to help each new licensee design, build, then
start up its installations. The crowning achievement of the
edifice, or in any case the most significant: in 1968, Saint-
Gobain installed the TEL in the United States (see 'CertainTeed:
The American adventure'). And the movement continued
towards the East.
1. 2. TEL line start-up at the Vamdrup factory in Denmark, in 1965.
1. Construction of a TEL line in Brazil, in 1963.
2. Lighting the furnace at the Etten-Leur factory in the Netherlands in 1962.
3. TEL line in production at the Etten-Leur factory in the Netherlands.
1
1
22
3
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 80
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
82 83
In 1966, CertainTeed, an Americanconstruction material producer, tookover the glass-maker Gustin Baconand wanted to get into the insulationmarket. However, its fiber productionprocess, which it had bought from Pall in 1964, at the same time as a factory at Mountaintop(Pennsylvania), had never been successful. Malcolm Meyer, the managing director, therefore contacted Saint-Gobain and begannegotiations, which concluded withthe creation of a joint venture,with equal shares held by the twocompanies. CertainTeed Saint-Gobain(CSG) was born on 1st July 1967 for a period of thirty years. Saint-Gobainmade its technology available as partof a license paid for with bonds whichcould be converted into CertainTeedshares, while CertainTeed brought access to the American constructionmarket, where it was already firmlyestablished, thanks to its asphalt shingles. On this occasion,Saint-Gobain took a first share inCertainTeed and finished by taking total control of CSG in 1988.
During the summer of 1967, a team of American engineers came to Rantigny in order to familiarise themselves with the TEL process.Then a French team directed by René Goutte left in the autumn,to supervise the factory installation.The deadlines were very tight:seven production lines had to be set up and started before July 1968.They were divided among the sites at Mountaintop, Kansas City and Berlin, New Jersey. On theMountaintop site, the ground first hadto be 'cleared', as the Pall installationshad remained as they were, includingthe solidified glass! The factories
finally started up at the agreed time,despite the difficulties, surprises andsometimes fits of laughter due to aradically different technical culture.For example, as energy costs practicallynothing in the United States, therewas no provision for recovering the heat from the smokestacks as Europe usually did.When it started up, Mountaintop was theSaint-Gobain Group's biggest TEL unit. Due to the oil crisis, whichbrought new insulation regulations,the American market exploded.A new factory was opened in Athens(Georgia) in 1975, with an enormouselectric oven, and a big production linewas set up in Kansas City in 1978, thenat Chowchilla (California) in 1979.
CSG was selling in particular a productwhich had been perfected previouslyby CertainTeed: InsulSafe.This was a fiber without binder designed for attic insulation. It was highly compressed as it came off the production line, to limit transportcosts, given the large delivery distances characteristic of the UnitedStates. It regained its initial volumeduring its blowing application.This product alone occupied four production lines.
CERTAINTEED: THE AMERICAN ADVENTURE
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 82
THE LONG VOYAGEOF A POLAR 'ICE CUBE'
Mo-I-Rana, February 1959. In thissmall Norwegian village close to the Arctic Circle, some men were indulging in a very strange occupation:they were cutting a three-ton blockout of the Svartisen glacier, wrappingit up carefully in glass wool and loading it onto a truck, covered with a simple tarpaulin. On the morning of the 22nd, to the music of the localbrass band, the giant ice cube began a 12,000-kilometer voyage, which took it to Lambaréné in Gabon,after having crossed Europe, theMediterranean, the Sahara desert and the Equatorial forest! Norway,Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgiumand France were crossed quickly.On 28th February after an uneventfulweek's drive, the truck and its preciousload embarked at Marseilles aboardthe Sidi Mabrouk.At this point, the icecube had only lost three liters of
water. It was unloaded in Algiers on the first of March, and remained there for two full days, thanks to formalities. It must be said that Operation Svartisen was also delivering medication intended for Dr. Schweitzer; a very attractive cargoin an Algeria at war. On 3rd March,the truck set off early in the morning,under military escort.Ahead of it weremore than 3,000 kilometers of desert,in temperatures which could reach 55 degrees centigrade (131°F) in theshade.At Ghardaïa, no road, just atrack remained. Real hell began. Fromdune to dune, oasis to oasis, the truckfinally reached Zinder, close to theNigerian border, on 12th March.TheSahara was behind it. In the nineteendays of the 7,500-kilometer trip, theice cube had lost 177 liters of water.On 13th March, the last stage began; anEquatorial one, to Gabon.The red dirttrack now crossed the forest, in a per-petual moist heat. Nigeria andCameroon were swallowed up, as faras the port of Douala, where the truckembarked on 19th March for an
overnight crossing to Libreville.Gabon's decrepit bridges would nothave been able to take the weight ofthe truck, making the last plannedland stage impossible. On the 20th,when they arrived in the Gaboneseport, they met with Admiral Le Gall,the director of Sodefive who organized the whole adventure withthe team of the Norwegian licensee,Glava.The Gabonese capital was celebrating the first anniversary of thecountry's independence, and the truckdrove on to Dr. Schweitzer's hospital,in Lambaréné.The cases of medicinewere delivered to the famous doctoron 22nd March. Finally the momenteveryone had been waiting for arrived:the tarpaulins were removed, then theglass wool.The 'ice cube' appeared -its corners were slightly rounded, butthat was all. It had lost just 336 kilos,a mere tenth of its weight, since thestart! Glass wool had just proved itseffectiveness as a thermal insulator,in a brilliant manner.
Diagram of a section of the truck transporting the ice.
84 85
Dr Schweitzer, awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1952,helped unload the medicine given by several European Red Cross organisations.
After 12,000 km, the block of ice has only lost 1/10th of its weight,thanks to its glass wool protection.
1 2
1. Leaving for Oslo, along the Norwegian fjords.
2. Algeria, the truck is unloaded from the 'Sidi Mabrouk'.
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 84
out of bad, however: on this occasion the Group's management
became aware of the importance of a solid patent portfolio to
support a strong licensing policy.
The licensing policy became an international development
tool for the Group.The royalties financed research efforts, the
'flow-back' principle, maintained and even reinforced by
Sodefive, contributed to technological progress, but above all,
the assistance given to licensees gave Saint-Gobain a knowl-
edge of the foreign markets that it could not have acquired oth-
erwise. This system of assistance was institutionalised when
Marcel Lévecque imposed systematic technical assistance for
each licensee, at the rate of one visit per year. This visit was
programmed at the beginning of the year and of course did not
exclude specific visits on request. Intervention in the case of
an incident, but also basic research for new operations or
technical improvement: Sodefive's range of missions was
widening. To a point that in 1959, a techno-commercial
assistance cell was created, whose creed was: 'the licensee
must be helped to increase its sales.' It maintained a techno-
logical watch over the products, led the licensees' network,
organised the insulation conferences and studied local markets
(climatic, economic and architectural characteristics)… Little
by little, what was to be called the 'Sodefive licensees' club'
was formed.
During the negotiations for the 1951 agreements, which were
supposed to replace those of the Pool, OCF realised that some-
thing had changed: Saint-Gobain's R & D efforts were bearing
fruit and visits by OCF's researchers to Rantigny and Lucens,
Switzerland, in the summer of 1954 confirmed this. At this
time, a new series of agreements were being negotiated, this
time specifically concerning the centrifugal processes. On
22nd October 1954, a 'basis for agreement' was signed for
each to use and license the TEL and Supertel processes. OCF
received the license for these processes, as well as the right to
grant sub-licenses, in return for royalties for Saint-Gobain.
The same applied in the other direction for the centrifugal
processes that OCF was perfecting.
Yet while the technicians were exchanging their knowledge and
the agreements were being signed, the patent departments were
involved in a bitter legal battle. The patent filed by Pierre
Heymes in 1946, which described the Saint-Gobain fiberizing
process, and therefore that of the Supertel, was attacked
without respite from 1948 to January 1958, the date on which
the American patent office finally granted paternity of the
principle to Heymes. For each opposition, the claims had to be
reformulated. After a final skirmish concerning the date of
issue, the affair was finally closed in 1961… for a patent which
was to fall into the public domain in 1965! Good always comes
THE NEW LICENSEGAMEThe Saint-Gobain Group had become a technological driving force. For its part, Sodefive launched a policy of global assistance for its licensees, and little by little,built the 'Sodefive licensees' club'.
The Rantigny site, birthplace ofSaint-Gobain's glass fiber, is today an industrial research center and logistical platform.The industrial history of this village in the Picardyregion of France, 70 km from Paris,goes back to the 17th century.At thattime, the Brèche, a small tributary of the Oise river, turned around fiftywatermills, certain of which would be turned into factories in the 19th century. The biggest of them,the 'Roue de Rantigny', which for a time belonged to the Duc de laRochefoucauld, became 'nationalproperty' during the Revolution,before passing into various hands.In 1826, it was enlarged and modernised, and in 1876 became acopper and gold rolling mill, whichwas to develop into a gold and silvergoods factory towards 1900.In 1927, the 'Société des TextilesNouveaux' (STN) bought the site toset up production of artificial fibers.STN became a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain when the group began making cellulose fibers and closeddown its activity in 1937.The sitewas then given over to textile fibers.The newly-created Isover set upVerrane and Silionne lines here, thenin 1941, the Owens and Gossler linesrepatriated from the bombedSoissons factory arrived. Rantignywas then producing 'textile' and 'insulation' fibers. Moreover,during its history, the site would atone moment or another house all the fiber production processes thatSaint-Gobain has exploited.
The activity, suspended, then re-started in slow motion during thewar, began again with a vengeance in1946.The previous year, the site of aformer aluminium powder producing
factory set up in 1919 next to the watermill, had been acquired. Fromthen on, the site continued to expandand was covered with new buildings;work extended to a diversion for theBrèche in 1958-59.
In 1960, work began on setting up the research center, next to the factories. During this decade,Supertel was working at full output.New extensions were necessary.The site was producing nearly 20,000 tons of fibers per year in 1960 - and reached nearly 70,000tons in 1982. Polystyrene, with a'home-made' process developed by the CRIR, arrived in 1972.In 1976, most of the old buildings had been destroyed to make way for a single large modern building. Fromone and a half hectares in 1937, thesite finally reached 32 hectares in the1980s, at the height of its splendour!This was to be its swan song.Industrial production progressivelydecreased from 1983 to 1986.Thepolystyrene manufacturing workshopwas sold off to Lafarge; the insulationproduction lines were divided between the Orange and Chalon-sur-Saône factories.The historic mill andits outbuildings were destroyed in1987 for safety reasons, and the lastline producing pipe sections closeddown permanently in 1997.
RANTIGNY : BIRTHPLACE OF THE FIBER
The Rantigny factory.
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
86 87
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 86
The Rantigny factory in 1953.
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 88
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
91
1. Advertisement for glass wool, in 1954
2. Some examples of advertising which appeared in the press, in 1951.
1 2
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 90
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
December 1968, a bomb drops. Boussois-Souchon-Neuvesel
(BSN), number two producer of flat glass in France, after Saint-
Gobain, launched a hostile public takeover bid for its bigger
rival! Antoine Riboud, its young managing director, suddenly be-
came famous for wanting to 'swallow up' a Group which was
three times bigger than his own. It was in fact a public offer to
provide BSN for those of Saint-Gobain, not a purchase. Antoine
Riboud intended paying with bonds which would be convert-
ible into BSN shares. Would David beat Goliath? In any case,
the operation was on the front page of the newspapers, as it
was the first big financial manoeuvre of this kind in French
industry. Saint-Gobain was suffering at the time; despite
the promising development of the insulation activity, other
branches, particularly the chemical activity, were experiencing
difficulties and the Group was losing money. The counter-
attack took surprising forms. For example, the Group asked
the French communication agency, Publicis, to launch a huge
communication campaign, which among other things would
see the shareholders visiting 'their factories' during their 'open
houses'.A group of bankers, led by the 'Compagnie Financière
de Suez', came to Saint-Gobain's rescue. Finally, Antoine
Riboud's project failed: at the close of the operation, BSN had
only picked up 7% of Saint-Gobain's shares. However the
Group was further weakened by this episode. It was short of
liquid assets and 40% of its shares had changed hands. Since
1964, Suez had held an important share in Pont-à-Mousson's
'EVERYTHING IS FINE'
Faced with a hostile tender offer, Saint-Gobain allied itself with Pont-à-Mousson, in 1970. Once it had overcome this initialdestabilisation, the Group went from strength to strength. Twosuccessive oil crises, in 1973 and 1979, caused the insulationmarket to explode. Saint-Gobain's insulation branch has a spectacular decade.
Advertising campaigns in the professional and consumer press.
9392
Development of the Erika logo (Epaisseur Rentable d'Isolation k),the feminine face associated with the brand from 1969 to 1981.
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 92
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
capital.This iron and steel group,the world leader in cast iron pipes,
was merely a third of the size of Saint-Gobain, but held strong
financial reserves. The idea of a merger was raised, and
encouraged by the the French President Georges Pompidou and
his government. In 1970, it happened: 'Saint-Gobain-Pont-à-
Mousson' (SGPM) was born. A world-size group had just
emerged.
As part of the “dowry”, Pont-à-Mousson brought the Roclaine
company, which was immediately attached to Isover - and
finally absorbed in the 1980s. But the most outstanding event
was the arrival at the head of this newly-formed group of
Roger Martin, managing director of Pont-à-Mousson, who
introduced a new, more modern and better organised style of
management.The group was structured by product branches.
The visibility given to the insulation business in this new organ-
isation showed its strategic importance for the Group.
The Rantigny factory could no longer meet all the demand
and work began on a new factory in Orange, in 1971.The first
oil crisis came in 1973, closely followed by the second. The
insulation market exploded. Saint-Gobain took up the position
of leader on the world insulation market and even set up in Japan.
The 1970s were euphoric; everything was going well, or so it
seemed.
Promotional campaign for roof insulation in France, 1978.
94 95
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 94
CH
APT
ER 2
- -
TH
E G
OLD
EN A
GE
OF
THE
ENG
INEE
RS
Advertising for the Isover stand at the Batimat trade show in 1967.Invitation to the Batimat trade show, 1970s.
9796
GB 054-097-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:44 Page 96
CHAPTER 3
Far from the needs of the market
The reaction
Renewed profitability
The model's limit
Another test
A TIME OF TURBULENCE AND ADAPTATIONAt the end of the 1970s, the Insulation branch of Saint-Gobain
was 'surfing' the wave of its success. Production capacities were
continuing to increase. Why should the coming decade not be
as good as the last? And yet… technological excellence was not
enough to sell products. As a consequence of not having realized
this in time, Isover was to have a turbulent decade. A period of
questioning which would see the emergence of new strategies,
closer to the customers' needs.
99
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 98
In half a century, nearly a hundred TEL productionlines had been set up throughout the world. Thistechnology had reached all the continents. At thesame time, a real network of licensees was formed.
On 12th May of this year, Saint-Gobain signed alicense agreement with the Korean glass makerHankuk Glass Industries. The Group thus continuedits conquest of Asia. A glass wool factory was createdin 1986, at Inchon. A new factory started up in 2004at Dangjin.
The Saint-Gobain group was nationalised and inDecember, a new management team arrived. Éricd’Hautefeuille took responsibility for the Insulationbranch and undertook its recovery. On the menu: inter-national development with the acquisition of licenseesand above all, the predominant requirement to take intoaccount customers’ needs.
1986
Improvement of customer service: computerization, logistics,palletization. The Multipack was the successor to the Compact,Saint-Gobain’s first innovative and patented packaging, and movedon to a new stage. All insulation products were now available on apallet, in standard sized packages. A plus for Isover’s logistics..and itscustomers.
1984
1986-2000
The privatisation of Saint-Gobain-Pont-à-Moussonwas a success. Despite the multitude of individualsubscribers, the ‘hard core’ of the shareholdingreturned more or less to what it had been beforenationalisation. Jean-Louis Beffa took charge of theGroup on 23rd January.
1982
1957-2007
101100
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 100
Research and products which were out of touch with the marketThe TEL process alone could not cover the whole range of
insulation applications. In particular, it did not meet the
needs of industrial insulation, which required insulation
capable of resisting high temperatures.The fiber production
engineers therefore invented a new, more versatile process,
the TOR (see p. 104 “The TOR: technical success and econom-
ic failure”). Research begun in 1967 came to a successful
conclusion ten years later. A pilot line was built and two
industrial lines began in Germany.The process the engineers
had thought up allowed fibers to be produced from practically
any kind of glass! The quality of the products intended for
industrial insulation was clearly superior to that of stone
wool. Unfortunately, this engineers' dream came to a sudden
end.The high energy consumption used in production proved
fatal after the first oil crisis and the resulting increase in the
price of gas.
Isover also tried its hand at products outside its core business,
glass wool.These diversifications generally met with failure.
The first attempt concerned phenolic foam production from
1975 to 1983. The research phase ended with the construc-
FAR FROM THE NEEDS OF THE MARKETIntoxicated by their success and the new means made availableto them, the researchers perfected even more high-performanceprocesses and new products, which were at times not suited todemand. Isover also extrapolated strong market growth and setup new production lines. Unfortunately the market returned to normal after the euphoria, and Isover found that it had excesscapacity. In addition, the rest of Saint-Gobain was suffering from the crisis. The 1980s were starting badly…
102 103
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 102
“For several years, our researchdepartments have been exploring newavenues and have discovered a fiberproduction process that can withouta doubt be described as revolutionary.It has now passed from the laboratorystage to that of a pre-pilot”. On 24th
January 1974, Roger Martin, presidentof Saint-Gobain, was very optimistic,in front of journalists invited to the'Théâtre de la Ville de Paris'. In fact the new process had not yet beenperfected, but the competition heardthe message. Saint-Gobain was notresting on its laurels and it would be difficult and certainly costly tochallenge its technological lead.
The story of this 'revolutionary'process began in 1965, when MarcelLévecque asked the CRIR to thinkabout the successor to the TEL, eventhough the TEL was still beingdeveloped. New preoccupations hademerged, such as pollution,profitability, the wish to competewith stone wool in high temperatureapplications, and the fear ofdifficulties with the supply of boron, an ingredient in the glass used by the TEL.
In December 1967, after two years'inconclusive exploratory research, abrainstorming meeting was convened.On the menu: procedures in whichthe material to be fiberized wouldnot have to run through holes. Theideas flowed. Prototype followed prototype and on 15th September1969, a first fiber appeared on anoriginal static device. A burner sweptthe surface of a layer of molten glassdeposited on a horizontal plate,equipped with holes through whichpowerful compressed air jets blow.
These pass through the layer andenter the flame, taking some glasswith them, which is then drawn outinto filaments. This was the beginningof a long perfecting period, strewnwith technical developments and u-turns.
In 1972, the process produced fibers asfine as those from the TEL! Theoreticalstudies showed that at the junctionbetween the flame and the secondaryjet, intense vortices are generated, andit is these that draw out the glass filament. The process was thereforenamed TOR for 'Turbulence ORganisée'.
In 1975, the TOR was giving resultswhich were stable and reproducibleenough to move up to pilot or evenindustrial scale. Another advantagewas that the TOR could produce fibersfrom different materials. The decisionwas then taken to build two pilotlines. The first was dedicated to basaltfiber production, to obtain stone wool which would stand up to hightemperatures and thus be suitable for the insulation of industrial installations. On 27th June 1977, afteradditional finalization at the CRIR, areal TOR basalt industrial productionunit started up in Ladenburg, at G+H,a German subsidiary of Saint-Gobain.The second, set up at the CRIR, wasdedicated to 'low density' glass woolfor building insulation. This line started up in August 1978, also withdimensions typical of an industrialunit. Then came the difficult period.At the end of the 1970s, the industrialinsulation market weakened. TheLadenburg line was stopped. A TORline using a glass as fireproof asbasalt was launched in 1980 atBergisch Gladbach to manufacture
pipe sections. It too would bestopped. At the same time, the testsbeing carried out at the CRIR toreplace the TEL in the area of classicalthermal home insulation showed noadvantage. The savings due to the useof glass without boron, for example,were cancelled out by higher energyconsumption and the slightly inferiorquality of the products. The TELremained unsurpassable.
At the end of 1981, the InsulationBranch's technical management drewup the TOR's balance sheet. It wasundeniably a technical success, butoffered no economic advantage overthe TEL for building insulation. As forhigh temperature insulation, this wasno longer a strategic priority for theGroup. The R&D expenditure on thisprocess was not continued in 1982.This was the end of the TOR. Theadventure had nevertheless allowed a more economic burner to bedesigned, since adapted for the TEL,and a pilot line to be set up at theCRIR from 1981 to continue the TEL adventure. It also allowed Saint-Gobain to show its competitorsand licensees its capacity for innovation and its adaptability to the economic contexts.
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
The CRIR.
104 105
THE TOR: TECHNICAL SUCCESS AND ECONOMIC FAILURE THE TOR PROCESS
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 104
“He managed an international groupbut as he liked meeting regular peopleand concrete discussions so much, hewould without a doubt have preferredto be the boss of a small to mediumsized company. He was the oppositeof a technocrat”, recalls XavierGrenet, who was for a long time an associate of Eric d'Hautefeuille.Born in 1940,chief engineer of theMines, he began his career in the Civil Service, then quicklyturned towards the iron and steelindustry, which was at that time a sector in crisis.
In 1982, Jean-Louis Beffa called onhim to manage the Insulation Branchof the newly-nationalized company.He was to be the main architect ofIsover's recovery, and then wouldimplement a bold international development strategy. He began withScandinavia and built the foundationsfor the conquest of the EasternEurope and Asia. A paradox for a man who preferred 'taking the train to Guéret to flying out to Seoul'according to a joke at the time. Infact Eric d'Hautefeuille loved above all meeting the 'small' customers
and confronting the realities on the ground.
In 1992, after 10 fruitful years, he was appointed director of the FlatGlass branch, which he reorganizedfrom top to bottom. His successencouraged Jean-Louis Beffa toappoint him to the post of chief operating officer of Saint-Gobain in1996. He also became a director in1998. But apart from his industrialsuccess, what impressed people washis human dimension. All accounts of him are full of expressions such as'deep sense of humanity', 'constantkindness' or 'simplicity and warmth'.He attracted unanimous respect fromall those who were close to him. Bothbefore and after his retirement in2000, he was involved in volunteerwork, such as that of the 'Apprentisd'Auteuil'. 'Big Eric' as his associatescalled him, died prematurely in 2004.
106 107
above all, the Dane, Rockwool. Rockwool arrived in 1975 of-
fering high quality stone wool, capable of competing with glass
wool, not just in industrial applications, but also in residen-
tial applications.They finally built a factory at Saint-Eloy-les-
Mines in the Auvergne region in 1980.All these manufacturers
were trying to take market share and had aggressive commer-
cial policies. They went looking for customers and launched
an intensive price war. At the same time, based on the mar-
ket explosion, the Insulation branch had increased the produc-
tion capacity of its factories at Orange in France and Speyer
in Germany. Alas, the optimistic forecasts had not included
the drop in prices or a dip in the market after a few euphoric
years. Isover found itself with overcapacity and products
which had become more difficult to sell.
Added to this was the bad results of Saint-Gobain Pont-à-
Mousson's other branches. Unlike insulation, the flat glass and
pipe divisions were suffering from the economic slump due
to the oil crises. At the end of the 1970s, Isover was the only
profitable branch of the Group. It, therefore, supported the
others, both on a financial level and by taking on personnel,
and thus suffered indirectly from the oil crisis! Everything
was going badly. In 1982, Saint-Gobain Isover was losing
more than a million francs per day. It had to react.The Group's
nationalization, (see p.110 “Nationalization and Privatization”),
followed by the arrival in December of a new management
team at Isover led by Eric d'Hautefeuille, marked a turning
point.
ÉRICD’HAUTEFEUILLE,'BIG ERIC'
Saint-Gobain's board of directors in 1987.
Éric d’Hautefeuille during a Sodefive conference.
tion of an industrial pilot, but the increase in costs of oil-
derived raw materials, as well as the difficulty of improving
the image of the material's fire-resistance, condemned this
adventure. Another significant attempt was made with the
manufacture of U-shaped preformed plaster trays which held
a fiberous insulation and formed a roof insulation system.The
process, nicknamed Gilda, was stopped in 1983. Here again
the engineers had perfected a product which was remarkable,
but not suited to market needs.As the distances between roof
beams are not standard, a huge number of product
references would have been needed. In addition, the U-shape
led to exorbitant transport costs, due to the low filling ratio
of the trucks.
Badly-adapted production At the end of the 1970s, glass wool was selling more quickly
than it could be made. After the oil crises, Isover had actual-
ly worked hard to worked hard to influence regulations
encouraging the use of insulation. Assisted by these new
regulations, Isover's results were on a good path and the
company was in the situation of having a virtual monopoly
in France. The result was a casual commercial policy… “We
couldn't supply all the customers on time, so we made
choices and negotiated delivery times with the others,” a
commercial manager recalls. In short, the customers waited.
The 'backlash' was not long coming. New competitors sprang
up in France, such as the Slovenian,Termo, the Finn, Paroc, and
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 106
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
109108
GERMANY: SPEYER, TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE
At the beginning of the 1970s, the old Bergisch Gladbach factory wassurrounded by the town. Despite havingaround 20 spinners on 8 differentlines, it could no longer satisfy marketdemand. It was decided to build anew factory further south at Speyer.The factory started up in 1973 withspacious solid buildings on a site which was big enough forfuture developments. In the maincourtyard there was a bronze bust of Eugène Gentil, an homage to the past, on a site turned towards the promise of the future.The start up of the two lines was aclear success and the good technicalperformance at the beginning hasbeen maintained invariably until the present day.The Speyer factory was well designed,well built and well run and has for more than twenty years beenSaint-Gobain's technological model in Europe, the first stop for anyimportant visitor, future licensee or customer. Additionally, it has been the industrial test site for theCRIR's pilot line, as it was certain that instructions would be respected,procedures followed, measurementscarried out and reported and cooperation guaranteed.Numerous long-term industrial testshave been carried out: tests on alloys,the first 600 mm diameter spinner,then 800 mm, etc. It was also enoughto say “it worked at Speyer” to silencethe opposition and promote a newtechnique elsewhere. Despite its ageand thanks to reinvestment year afteryear the Speyer factory remains a remarkable production unit.
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 108
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
Meeting the customerIsover began its cultural revolution by 'rediscovering' the
customer. From now on, it would go to meet this 'unknown
person' on their turf. First of all, physically. Up to that point,
Isover had sold its products to 'super-stockists', wholesalers who
took care of distributing them to the dealers and retailers,
without worrying about market needs. In other words, the
company was quite distant from its real customers… The de-
cision was therefore taken to work without these
“super-stockists“, and to deliver directly to all the dealers,
large or small. The factories would look after the logistics:
transport, adjustment of production to demand, and guaran-
tee service to their clients. From now on, the products would
go directly to the final distributor.
Meeting the customers on their turf also meant offering
products answering their expectations. Glass wool is an ef-
ficient building material, and Isover indisputably mastered its
production.The consumer, however, was faced with a specific
problem: how to insulate a roof, an attic, a pipe, a partition
wall or a refrigerator? Proposing a fiber was not enough.
“There is a shortcoming at this level” Eric d'Hautefeuille
noted on his arrival. Products suited to the different market
segments had to be developed.This was the beginning of a new
research and development effort, on terms different from
those of the previous decade.
THE REACTIONAfter the nationalization of the Saint-Gobain Group in 1982,then its privatization in 1986, Isover was reorganized and its approach changed. The company was to implement a very toughrestructuring plan. In a few years, manpower in France was reduced by half and production was rationalized. The TEL process,slightly forgotten at the beginning of this period, still contributedto the insulation companies' recovery. On a marketing level,from then on, Isover was to meet with its customers and develop a new range of products suited to its users' real needs.
“The public sector will be enlarged by the nationalization of the nineindustrial groups laid down in theCommon Program and the SocialistProgram, the iron and steel industryand the publicly-funded arms andspace activities. Nationalization of loans and insurance will be completed.” This was the 21st ofFrançois Mitterrand's 110 proposalsduring the May 1981 presidentialelections. Saint-Gobain - Pont-à-Mousson appeared on the list.The nationalization law was adoptedon 13th February 1982, and on 21st April, the nationalization of SGPM was announced. Roger Fauroux nevertheless remained CEO of Saint-
Gobain and appointed Jean-Louis Beffa as his deputy. Saint-Gobainrefocused on its business and began a restructuring plan.
In the 1986 parliamentary elections a center-right government came to power, run by Jacques Chirac,with Edouard Balladur as Minister of Finance. On the program:privatization of 65 public companies…including Saint-Gobain. The law waspassed on 2nd July 1986. Saint-Gobain,profitable once again, was the first to be offered to the public, betweenDecember 1986 and January 1987.The offering was a success: a millionand a half buyers acquired 20 million
shares. However, when takinginstitutional investors into account,Saint-Gobain's capital distributionwas fairly close to what it had been before nationalization. Back to square one, in a way. Meanwhile,the management team had changed.Jean-Louis Beffa had taken charge ofthe Group on 23rd January 1986, forthe first time, and was reappointedafter the privatization. When itreturned to power in 1988, theLeft changed nothing. This was theperiod of 'neither-nor' policy of theSocialists: neither nationalization nor privatization.
NATIONALIZATION AND PRIVATIZATION
Isover advertising from 1978.
110 111
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 110
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
113112
CONFIDENCE MEASURE
The ‘Association pour Certificationdes Matériaux Isolants’ (ACERMI),created in France in 1985, deliversconformity certificates guaranteeingon the one hand that the productreally has the characteristicsadvertised on the label, and on theother, that the manufacturer has aneffective operational quality controlsystem. Such a document isessential to obtain the taxreductions that the governmentgrants to anyone starting insulationwork on their residence. ACERMI isindependent of the producers, andfor its analyses relies on the ‘CentreScientifique et Technique duBâtiment’ (CSTB) and the‘Laboratoire National d’Essais’(LNE). Twice a year it takes productsfrom the manufacturers andinspects their quality controlsystem.
Saint-Gobain has taken theinitiative in the creation of thissystem. The aim of the operation,apart from the obvious benefit forthe users, is to ‘clean up’ themarket. From then on, competitionis based on indisputablefoundations. Several other countrieshave implemented similarcertification systems (Komo in theNetherlands, Aenor in Spain, Tüv inGermany…).
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 112
'Problems, solutions, services' brochure, 1981.
Research continues,refocused on the TEL process Despite the disappointing TOR adventure, the CRIR did not
give up.The research effort, refocused on the TEL, did not let up.
Even during the crisis period, the company maintained its R&D
effort.A 600 mm diameter spinner saw the light of day in 1980
and the fiberizing process named 'Arlanda' produced
finer fibers with better mechanical properties. With a more
efficient burner and a very speed of the spinner, 'Arlanda' fiber
production increased the process's productivity. It was a great
technical, economic and commercial success because of the
lower density it allowed and the investments it avoided.
'Arlanda' fiber production meant that CertainTeed did not
have to build a new line and increase its capacity at a time when
the company was having financial problems. Its president,Art
Winner summed up his satisfaction with the phrase “One
square foot saved, one million dollars in CertainTeed's
coffers”. Production per spinner reached 20 tons per day.This
improved productivity and the increase in the compression
ratio which considerably reduced transport costs, helped Isover
get through the crisis.
Without a doubt, palletization represented the best example
of the use of the TEL fiber's new mechanical properties to
answer real market demand (see p.125 “Palletization. A
winning load”). This packaging process, perfected by the
Orange development center, was industrialized in 1987 and
spread to all the companies. Germany, with Isover G+H,
adopted it first, in 1990, followed by Finland, Italy, the
Netherlands, Poland, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, Great
Britain, Russia, Ireland… Internationalization of new products
- and good ideas - was from now on one of the building blocks
of Isover's approach. Among these products was Calibel,
which combined plasterboard with a mineral wool panel.
The TEL fiber qualities also crossed the Atlantic and allowed
a new product to be created: InsulSafe (see p.116 “InsulSafe
crosses the Atlantic”).
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
Painful decisionsAt the end of 1984, Rantigny's main production lines were closed
down for good. Granted, it had long been superseded by the
Orange factory, but the closing of the historic site, decided
in 1983, symbolized the recovery plan begun in December 1982.
The Group's losses left few choices: hard decisions had to be
made and the production capacities and manpower reduced
- decisions which are always painful. Saint-Gobain-Pont-à-
Mousson launched several successive reorganization plans.As
a result, the Group's manpower decreased by 20 percent
between 1982 and 1986. In France alone, Isover lost, 2,600
employees between 1982 and 1984. As for the production
capacities, they were then concentrated at the Orange
factory for most of the product line and for long runs, and
at the Chalon-sur-Saône factory for more specific products.
To this was added the stone wool factory at Saint-Etienne-
du-Rouvray, from Roclaine, which had been part of Isover
since May 1982.The Insulation Branch refocused on its core
business, glass wool: the foams were sold, glass tissue
production was stopped in France and a unit was created
dedicated to using glass and stone wool fibers for other than
insulation (hydroponic cultivation, fibers for roads, fine fibers
for battery separators…).
Internationally, too, things had to be 'tightened up'. The
policy of conquering the Asian market suffered a setback.
Although everything was going well in Korea, in Japan, Nihon
Glass Wool, (the joint venture between Isover and the Japanese
cement manufacturer Nihon Cement, created in 1974),
was going badly. (see p.118 “Japan”). The construction of a
factory to anti-earthquake standards and problems adapting
the product to the local market cost a lot of money.What was
more, the competitors began a price war.The losses accumu-
lated, and in 1982 Isover had to pull out of this adventure.
114 115
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 114
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
116 117
In 2005, CertainTeed InsulationGroup's American war horse finallyset foot in Europe. This glass wool,called InsulSafe, is sold 'loose' withno binder. Heavily compressed fortransporting, it is applied by beingblown with a blowing machine.InsulSafe was cheap, quickly installed,non-flammable and a good acousticinsulator, and met with success fromits launch in 1982 - a clear successfor the engineer Les Infante who persisted for years in trying to manufacture blowing wool with theTEL process. Numerous developmenttests of the InsulSafe production linetook place from 1972 onwards at theBerlin, New Jersey factory. Tenacitypaid off: today, five production linesin Kansas, California and Georgia areworking at full capacity to supply a product which alone represents a third of the American market!
Since 1982, the Blue Bell technicalcenter in Pennsylvania has continuously developed the product.Originally intended for loft spacesand unconverted attics, the productquickly became usable for housewalls. The other American producershad trouble following the progress ofInsulSafe, which was still the leader.However since 1997, the eternalcompetitor, Owens Corning, had been following closely, with its own blowing wool. So in 2006,CertainTeed launched InsulSafe Super Premium - this fifth generationproduct allowed 20 percent extrasurface to be covered with the same volume. Enough to take an undeniable lead over thecompetition.At the same time, InsulSafe becamethe first really worldwide InsulationActivity product. In fact Isover AB's
factory at Billesholm (Sweden) hasbeen producing its own version since2005. It is denser than the Americanproduct to meet North European climatic requirements and intendedfor the Swedish and Finnish markets.It appeared in countries which werealready familiar with blowing wool,but depended on its superior performance to make a name foritself, faced with the competition.And since 2006, more temperatezones in Europe have become interested. The CRIR has perfected an 'intermediate' version, betweenthe American and Swedish products,intended for the French and Britishmarkets. Although initially producedat Rantigny, as of 2007, InsulSafe will come from the Orange factory.
Application of InsulSafe blown glass wool in an attic.
INSULSAFE CROSSES THE ATLANTIC
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 116
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
1. Tsuchiura factory in Japan.
2. Akeno factory in Japan.
3. The Japanese version of the Erika logo.
JAPAN
Fresh out of the elite French engineering school, 'Polytechnique',the young René Goutte was offered ascholarship by Saint-Gobain to spenda year at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology, in Boston. “An offerwhich couldn't be refused!” In 1961,back in France, he began working atthe Rantigny factory, where he hadhis first contact with the TEL, thenbeing developed. During the summerof 1967, the long journey began.Management proposed that he lookafter the setting up of the factoriesfor the new joint venture it had just created with the American,CertainTeed. The mission was a clearsuccess (see p.83 “CertainTeed: TheAmerican Adventure”). But in February1974, another challenge presenteditself: Japan, where Saint-Gobain hadjust signed a joint venture with NihonCement, the second biggest Japanesecement producer. René Goutte leftwith his family to live in Tokyo.Bolstered by his experience inRantigny and Pennsylvania, RenéGoutte was keen to have a factorywith a basement for the motors, thewaste disposal conveyors, the watercleaning filters, the fans in short,all the supporting systems for themanufacturing process itself. Akenowas thus to be the first insulation factory on two levels, a solutionwhich has since become standard.The first products came off the line in1976. His stay was coming to an end.
After the Japanese episode, RenéGoutte returned to the United States,where he finished his career.However, the Japanese adventure had not always been easy: adaptingthe products to Japanese marketstandards had been tricky, as hadmanaging the different Japaneseregional dialects, not to mention the cost overrun on the constructionof a factory to anti-earthquake standards… to the point where in1982 Isover decided to withdraw from a joint venture which was losingmoney, to become a simple licensoragain. However, one aspect hadalways worked: the TEL technologyand its different developments. Andthe results in production terms werequickly seen. When the Akeno factorywas ready, in August 1976, Japan wasproducing 75,000 tons of glass woolper year.
Nippon Glass Wool's production alonereached 40 percent of this volume. TheJapanese manufacturers such as AsahiFiber Glass, Nitto Boseki and NipponSheet Glass were very unhappy aboutbeing attacked. The price war whichfollowed was not beneficial to any ofthe companies. Nippon Cement andNippon Sheet Glass moreover mergedputting an end to this war. This washow Nihon Micro-G wool, was created,and renamed MAG en 1994. As the TELlicensee for Japan, MAG today has a 41 percent share of the national market.
1
2
118 1193
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 118
Improved distributionFrom 1987 onwards, the distribution system developed in France,
with the creation of the regional warehouses. Six big
warehouses, all linked to the rail network, covered France.They
contained all the available products on palettes - the major
part of the range - which were immediately sent on by truck
to the final customer.The famous yellow Isover trains appeared
at this time, which according to the French national railway
company (SNCF) were the longest trains in Europe. Each was
composed of 52 open wagons, carrying 16 or 18 Isover palettes
- packages which met the SNCF's very strict quality checks.
A load was not allowed to move, even when meeting a high-
speed TGV train in a tunnel! Each week, four or five of these
nearly 800 meter giants left the factory at Orange, in addi-
tion to the two hundred trucks loaded with specific products.
120 121
1 2
1. 2. The yellow Isover trains being formed at the Orange factory.
RENEWED PROFITABILITYIn the middle of the 1980s, the Insulation Branch became profitableagain. With a process which had a significant advantage over thecompetition and a new distribution system, the Isover brand was nowshowing its true strength. The Insulation Branch launched a policy of acquiring its licensees.
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 120
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
LE
TEM
PS D
ES T
EMPË
TES
ET D
E L’
AD
APT
ATIO
N
123
From packaging to shipment.
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 122
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
“It is imperative to find solutionswhich provide answers to customers,work sites and factories.” JacquesChevenard, director of the InsulationBranch from 1978 to 1981, did notmince his words. At the time, theproducts were coming off themanufacturing line, in rolls orpackages of batts stacked by hand on to palettes. Difficult to handle,badly protected and cumbersome,they were a nightmare for theshippers and users alike. The dealersasked for packages which could behandled by fork lift trucks, stackedand protected from moisture… butretained the unit packaging the usersneeded and were marked with clearinstructions for use. The answer camefrom the Orange site. It emerged intwo stages. All the technical,commercial and human constraints of the operation had to be taken into account.
In 1979 a new type of packageappeared, made up of nine, lightlycompressed horizontal rolls, lying on a preformed cardboard palette.The Compact was born. Officiallylaunched in October 1980, theCompact was protected by twopatents in 1981 and 1983. The firstline equipped with palletizationmachines started up at Orange inMay 1981. The dealers appreciatedit…The Compact was protected from bad weather, could be stacked two or three high and was easily handledby a fork lift. A fork lift driver couldload a truck with 288 rolls in half an hour, whereas before, it took two hours for two operators to pack240 uncompressed rolls into the same truck.
PALLETIZATION : A 'WINNING LOAD'
pallets. The success spread to Saint-Gobain's other factories, beginningwith Germany. Progress continued:continually increasing compressionratios meant that eighteen rolls perpalette in 1986 increased to thirty-sixin 1994 and forty-one rolls perpalette in 2002! And, without a doubt, it will not stop there. Isoverwas in the forefront in thepalletization of mineral woolinsulation under compression,and is still leading the field with a compression ratio on its palettes 30 percent greater than that of its closest competitor.
The Bicompact, soon appeared, madeup of two linked Compacts, but therewas still room for improvement.The brand new development center at Orange dedicated itself to thisfrom 1983. The first idea: place theroll vertically - obvious - then stacktwo loads on a wooden palette andcover everything with polyethyleneshrink wrap. This was to become the Bi-compact vertical, which was morerigid than its predecessor. Meanwhile,the competitors, Johns Manville andRockwool drew inspiration from theCompact and launched their ownpalletized loads. But at Orange,reflection continued.
Finally, in 1986, the Multipackappeared. This solution was attractivebecause of its flexibility and simplicity:single panels or rolls were compressedfor a first time on the the productionline, then gathered together under apolyethylene belt which compressedthem again. A 'module' of three rolls(for example) was then obtained.Three modules stacked formed a 'load',which was itself compressed again and lined-up. Finally, two loads werestacked on a wooden palette.The whole, which was two and a half meters high, was wrapped inpolyethylene cling film, or shrinkwrapped to hold everything in positionand keep it watertight. The Multipackwas duly protected by patents.
But it was not enough to think up a packaging system. Machines wereneeded which would be capable ofrealizing it at the end of the line,without slowing things down. Finally,the first palletization line started at Orange in January 1986. Soon allthe Isover products were delivered on
Cosmiques refuge
The Cosmiques mountain refuge, at 3613 meters on the slopes of Mont Blanc, was destroyed by a fire in 1983 and rebuilt the followingyear. Insulation is particularly important in this environment, and wascarried out using Isover products. The pallets of Bicompact Vertical wereparticularly appreciated for their suitability for helicopter transport andtheir small dimensions, essential on this tiny rocky peak…
125124
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 124
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
126
Multipack palletisation line, patented by Isover.
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 126
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
'dragons' at the time, were likely to welcome new factories
or buy insulation products. Isover already had a licensee in Korea.
There remained Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan.
All of these are “hot” countries where the demand for insu-
lation for residential construction remained limited. Sodefive
therefore launched a study of the industrial and commercial
insulation markets: ceilings, pipe sections, panels for
industry, etc.All these products required a coarser fiber; a less
sophisticated process than the TEL would be more than
enough. On the other hand, the Isover units were designed to
produce large quantities of fibers, more than was needed
locally. They therefore had to suggest small factories using
flexible and basic processes. At that time, the patents
relating to the TEL principles were coming into the public
domain, one after the other. New competitors were appearing:
engineering companies, who were offering simple fiberizing
units, based on the first generation centrifugal processes and
therefore free of royalties. From then on, the candidates did
not hesitate. Why link themselves to Saint-Gobain with a
process which was too sophisticated for the needs of markets
that were essentially industrial? So the Branch's Engineering
department designed a small capacity production tool, based
on simple technologies and adapted to the needs of these coun-
tries: this was to be the Mini TEL unit. It was offered in Egypt
or in Tunisia, but these projects did not get off the ground.
At the end of the 1980s, Isover was more profitable than
ever. Whether through its subsidiaries or its licensees, the
company was producing and selling insulating products
throughout the developed world. Australia joined the family
of licensees, with the license granted in 1987 to Bradford
Insulation, a subsidiary of CSR, whose brand new Ingleburn
factory started up in 1989. Isover had become the world
leader in insulation, ahead of OCF.What then remained to be
explored? Where were the new markets to be found? The
Eastern European countries were entrenched behind the Iron
Curtain and China, while showing some signs of interest, was
taking a long time to open up. Moreover, as the demand for
insulation obviously depends on climatic conditions, as well
as the country's level of development,Africa and the poor part
of Asia were excluded. Compared with this, only the emerging
southeast Asian countries, those that were called the
129128
Acquiring the licenseesSaint-Gobain was healthy once more, and at the same time,
a certain number of licensees were for sale. There were so
many opportunities to be seized… The Insulation Branch
reaped the fruits of the licensing policy it had operated since
the 1950s. So began a round of acquisitions which was to last
for two decades and continues to this day.This began in 1985
with the full acquisition of the Swedish company, Gullfiber, in
which Saint-Gobain already held shares. The Scandinavian
offensive continued with the purchase of Ecophon, a specialist
in acoustic ceilings, in 1987. The following year it was the
turn of Glasuld, a 'historical' Danish licensee, as it had been linked
to Saint-Gobain since the Hager process era; next was Ahlström
in Finland and Vasa in Argentina.At the very beginning of the
1990s, the 'Sodefive licensees club' only had six members
left; all the others had become Saint-Gobain subsidiaries.This
policy continues today, as shown by the takeover of Hankuk
Glass's insulation activity in Korea, in 2004 (see p.130 “The Korean
adventure”) and the purchase of the Turkish licensee Izocam
in 2006.
A Danish house insulated with Glasuld glass wool, 1979.
THE MODEL'S LIMITThe Insulation branch of Saint-Gobain was present in nearly all the open markets on the planet. The only development possibilities:the Asian 'dragons'. In these small niche markets, Isover took on a new type of competition.
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 128
THE KOREAN ADVENTURE
Contrary to preconceived notions,Korea is a rather cold country.Additionally, it has shown strongeconomic development. Two goodreasons behind the development of an insulation market. Also, two goodreasons for Isover's interest in thatmarket. Finally, after setting up inJapan, a Korean licensee would allowthem to keep a close eye on the Asianmarket. A first license agreement wassigned with Kolon Nylon, an artificialtextile specialist, in 1979, but wouldnever become effective. This is why, in 1982, Saint-Gobain begannegotiations with the only Koreanglass producer: Hankuk GlassIndustries. The license agreement was
signed on May 1984. Two years later,the company's purpose-built factory,started up at Inchon, using the TELprocess. Isover supplied all thenecessary technical assistance duringits successive expansions, until asecond electric oven was installed in1994. In January 2003, after theclosing down of the Inchon factory,Haniso, still with Isover's support,launched a factory constructionproject at Dangjin. This unit, whichbrought the company's productioncapacity to 25,000 tons per year,began production in March 2004. Itmanufactures, in particular, sandwichpanels for industrial buildings.
At the beginning of the 2000s,Saint-Gobain took control of the glass producing group, Hanglas,
and therefore its subsidiary, Haniso -a profitable operation in a boomingKorean insulation market. In factfoams, which represented up to 70 percent of insulation sales inKorea, were penalized by the stricternorms in force since 2001, following a series of lethal fires. Glass wool is afireproof material and from then on,regularly won market share. Hanisohoped soon to achieve a third of thecountry's sales. As for the idea of anAsian 'bridgehead', it too began to beconcretized in 2004 with the creationof a common purchasing groupbetween Haniso, Isover China andMAG, Isover's Japanese licensee.
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
1. Opening ceremony of the new factory on 2nd June 2004.
2. Dangjin factory production line in Korea.
3. Dangjin factory.
1 2
3
130 131
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 130
133
Moreover, Isover products are certified by the EUCEB (European
Certification Board for Mineral Wool) showing their con-
formity to the criteria defined by the European Commission
and repeated in all the national regulations, thus exonerating
them from any carcinogenic classification.
Shaken and suffering a growth crisis, the company was soon
helped by an unexpected external event: the fall of the Berlin
Wall.
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
IONANOTHER TEST
From 1987, Isover had to fight on another front. Alarmist articlesin the press were spreading the theory that glass wool and stonewool fibers were carcinogenic. Isover and the other producers put a lot of research, and therefore money, into proving that the use of their products was safe.
Glass wool is a reliable and safe product.From the middle of the 1970s, research into the effects of glass
fibers on health began. EURIMA (European Insulation
Manufacturers' Association) called on recognized experts
in order to create a research body on the subject, the
Joint European Medical Research Board. On its program: epi-
demiological research, with the 'International Agency for
Research on Cancer' (IARC) in Lyon, France; animal testing;
industrial hygiene research. The American producers'
association (NAIMA) launched a similar program.
The professional epidemiological studies carried out on around
45,000 persons by recognized independent organizations,
confirmed that glass wool is not a particular risk to health. For
this reason, and on the basis of more than 1,000 scientific
publications, the International Agency for Research on Cancer
(IARC) reclassified glass and stone wools to the same group
including products used as commonly as tea and coffee.This
decision was exceptional: only five products have been the
subject of a positive re-evaluation in 40 years.
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 132
135134
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
Launching Factories - Countries Companies Current status
date
1956 Kastrup - Denmark Dansk Superfos Closed
1957 France - Rantigny Isover Saint-Gobain Closed
Springs - South Africa Fiberglass South Africa Isover
Soraker - Sweden Gullfiber Closed
1959 Stockerau - Austria Linzer Glasspinnerei Isover Austria
1960 Lucens - Switzerland Fibriver (SG) Isover CH
Bergisch Gladbach - Germany Grunzweig+Hartmann (SG) Isover G+H
Karhulä - Finland Ahlström Closed
Saint Helens - United Kingdom Pilkington Insulation Ltd. Knauf
1961 Askim - Norway A/S Glassvatt
Vidalengo - Italia Balzaretti Modigliani (SG) Isover Italia
Billeshölm - Sweden Gullfiber Isover AB
Etten-Leur - Netherlands Glaceries de Saint-Roch (SG) Isover Benelux
Azuqueca - Spain Fibras Minerales SA (SG) Isover España
1962 Llavallol - Argentina Vasa Isover Argentina
1964 Santo Amaro – Brazil Santa Marina Isover Brasil
1965 Stjordal - Norway A/S Glassvatt
Thane - India Fiberglass Pilkington (FGP) Closed
1966 Ruukki - Finland Ahlström Closed
1967 Inophyta - Greece Monyal Closed
Teheran - Iran Iran Glass Wool Closed
Gebze - Turkey Izocam Roche (SILLAN)
1968 Mountaintop – United States CertainTeed Saint-Gobain
Berlin - United States CertainTeed Saint-Gobain Closed
Tests were conducted on an industrial scale in Switzerland (Lucens, 1953-1955), South Africa (Springs Fiberglass South Africa, 1956-
1957), France (Rantigny, 1956) and Denmark (Kastrup, 1956). The first operational production line started operating in 1956 in
Kastrup at Dansk Superfos.
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTOF THE TEL PROCESS
1971 Forssa - Finland Ahlström Isover Oy
1972 Orange - France Isover
1973 Speyer - Germany Grunzweig+Hartmann Isover G+H
1975 Athens - United States CertainTeed Saint-Gobain
Pont-y-Felin - United Kingdom Pilkington Insulation Ltd Knauf
1976 Akeno - Japan Nihon Glass Wool MAG
1978 Kansas City - United States CertainTeed Saint-Gobain
Shiraz - Iran Iran Glass Wool
1979 Chowchilla - United States CertainTeed Saint-Gobain
1980 Shuaiba - Kuwait KIMMCO
1982 Hyvinkää - Finland Ahlström Isover Oy
Vamdrup - Denmark Glasuld Superfos Isover A/S
1984 Chalon-sur-Saône - France Isover
1986 Inchon - Korea Hankuk Closed
Tarsus - Turkey Izocam
Candiac - Canada Fiberglass Canada Closed
1988 Tsuchiura - Japan MAG
1990 Ingleburn - Australia Bradford
1996 Zhuhai - China CSR Guangdong
1998 Runcorn - United Kingdom British Gypsum Isover Isover UK
Sunagawa - Japan MAG
Ardfinnan - Ireland Moy Isover
1999 Gliwice - Poland Gullfiber Polska (SG) Isover Polska
Lübz - Germany Isover G+H
2003 Yegorievsk - Russia Isover Yegorievsk
2004 Dangjing - Korea Hankuk Haniso
2007 Ambernath - India UP Twiga
Ploiesti - Romania Isover Romania
Launching Factories - Countries Companies Current status
date
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 134
136 137
INSULATION ACTIVITY SITES IN THE WORLD (APRIL 2007)
CH
APT
ER 3
- -
A T
IME
OF
TUR
BU
LEN
CE
AN
D A
DA
PTAT
ION
GB 098-137-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:46 Page 136
CHAPTER 4
A world opens up
Pursuit of a customer-based policy
Birth of a worldwide brand
The TEL pushes back its limits again
New frontiers
Answering a planetary problem
RECOVERY AND NEW CHALLENGESThe last decade of the XXth century opened with new challenges:
the frontiers were opening to the East and protection of the environment
became a preoccupation very much in the foreground.The Kyoto Protocol
commitments and the new oil crisis have changed the situation: insulation
is one of the main activities contributing to reducing the consumption of
non-renewable energies, and thus greenhouse gas emissions. This is
Isover’s crusade for the XXIst century.
139
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 138
141140
Saint-Gobain acquired the British Plaster Boardgroup, the world leader in plaster and plasterboard.The two activities (Insulation and Gypsum) comple-ment one another perfectly, as much from a productpoint of view as that of geographic location. Thebiggest world company dedicated to interior fittingshad just been born.
Since 1986, Saint-Gobain’s research had tried to make fibers fromstone or high temperature resistant glass, with the TEL process. Anessential advance for the naval and industrial applications. In 2004,the new glass wool generation, ULTIMATE, was launched. Since then,it has accumulated successes and medals.
Isover launched the ‘Multi-Comfort house’. Thishouse, combining optimal thermal insulation, insu-lating windows, heat recovery and renewable ener-gy sources, is cool in summer, warm in winter, pro-tected from noise all the year round, and does notconsume any more energy than it produces.
After the fall of the Iron Curtain, a world opened andSaint-Gobain’s Insulation branch began to set up inthe Eastern European countries, where insulation needs were huge. First markets concerned:Poland (creation of Gullfiber Polska) and the Balticcountries (opening of sales offices in Latvia,Lithuania and Estonia).
Globalisation was a reality; Isover took note. All theinsulation subsidiaries now carried the same nameand shared the same yellow logo, with its character-istic ‘O’, unveiled at the end of 1999 at the Batimatshow in Paris. Isover became a worldwide brand.
Signature of the Kyoto protocol (Japan) on16th March. The world became aware of climatechange and the scale of its foreseeable conse-quences if nothing is done to decrease the emissionsof greenhouse gases. The insulation of buildings,which allowed millions of barrels of oil to be savedevery year, became a planetary venture.
1993
1998
2000
2004
2005
2006
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 140
143
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
142
On the night of 9th/10th November 1989, residents of Berlin
brought down the 'wall of shame' which had cut their city in
two since 1961.This was the high point of the dismantling of
the Iron Curtain which had separated the two blocs since the
war. The Hungarians had begun this destruction on 2nd May
1989, by attacking the fortified frontier separating them from
Austria. A prelude to the 'velvet revolution' in November -
December.The process thus set in motion ended in December
1991 with the resignation of Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, the last
president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The
Warsaw Pact had lapsed, and the USSR had been partly replaced
by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
For Isover, the collapse of the Wall was a turning point: a world
which had up until then been inaccessible was opening up. It
was a world of cold, developed countries, whose housing stock
was decaying. Insulation needs were huge. Everything had to
be done, firstly to create a culture of comfort and energy-
saving, therefore insulation, in populations used to decaying
accommodation and almost-free energy.There were certainly
insulation manufacturers in some of these countries, but in
general they were using obsolete technology. Some of them
in central Europe were old Hager licensees, separated from Isover
by the war and isolated for years behind the Iron Curtain.
Isover transports.
A WORLD OPENS UP
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a huge market opened up for Isover. Everything had to be created in Eastern Europe:an insulation culture, including the means of distribution andproduction. Poland, the Czech Republic, the Baltic countries,Hungary and Russia in turn came into the Insulation branch'sfield of operations.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 142
4
145
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
1. Polish advertisement, 2005.
2. Gliwice factory in Poland.
3. 4. Saint-Gobain Orsil factory in the Czech Republic.
144
Sodefive studied these potential markets and became ipso
facto a real international development tool.
It fulfilled its duty - while pursuing its mission of supporting
the licensees - until it was wound-up at the end of 1997.
Sodefive decided to bet on the historical links between
Eastern Europe and the major neighboring western European
countries, even though these links had been dormant for
several decades. So a working group formed by Sodefive,
representatives from the German company Isover G+H and
Isover Sweden (ex-Gullfiber) took responsibility for studying
these countries. Gullfiber Polska was created in 1993 and,
three years later, bought a stone wool factory at Gliwice,
near Katowice. With the addition of a new TEL line and the
modernization of the stone wool line, it became the Polish
market leader and exported its products to the Ukraine,
Russia, Lithuania, Byelorussia and the Czech and Slovak
republics. Partition of Czechoslovakia had in fact taken place
on 31st December 1992. In February 1996, G+H (Germany)
bought Orsil, a Czech stone wool producer. After serious
modernization of its factory, this company has now become
an exporter.
For Russia, it was Isover Oy, the old Finnish licensee and
subsidiary since 1994, which served as a base for the conquest
of this huge market, before a factory could be set up there…
but that's for later. In 1991, when the USSR was dissolved, the
Baltic countries decided to join the European Union. Two
years later, Isover Oy opened its sales offices in Latvia,
Lithuania and Estonia. Here again, the first job was to
acquaint the general public with the benefits of insulation
in these very cold countries. For five years, Isover's represen-
tatives traveled to trade shows, met with the authorities
and ran repeated publicity campaigns. This work bore
fruit: today, Saint-Gobain's Insulation activity has a strong
position on these three markets.
1
23
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 144
2
4
3
147
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
146
1
55. Turning Torso Tower, Malmö, Sweden. Architect: Santiago Calatrava Valls.
4. Lecture room, Moscow, Russia. Architect: Konovalov Yurij N.
3. Stadium Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany. Architects: Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron.
2. Agora Group's head office, Warsaw, Poland.
1. Dance center known as 'Fred & Ginger', Prague, Czech Republic.Architects: Vlado Milunic and Franck Gehry.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 146
Maps of Isover services in 1990 and 2005.
149
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
148
Advertising launched in the United Kingdom in 2006:'Since 1665, the customer has always been king'.
The sense of serviceIn 1990, Saint-Gobain Isover committed itself in the area of
logistics and customer service by launching the 'Carte des
Services'. For the dealers, this was the guarantee of system-
atized, reliable service with guaranteed deadlines. It was also
a guarantee of of greater flexibility, as they could choose the
type of service that suited them, at no extra cost. Generally,
Isover depended on palletization and its new distribution
structures to guarantee delivery in 48 hours, then in 24 hours,
from 1998. In fact, the commitment has grown stronger with
time. According to the chart, there is, for example, the
'ser vice chantier' (work site service), which consists of
delivering directly to the end user rather than to the distrib-
utor who has bought the product from Isover. The dealer is
therefore spared the task of delivering to his own customer…
The ultimate in delivery deadlines is the ‘rendezvous
chantier’, (work site appointment), set up in 1998. Pallets
are unloaded using cranes or fork lift trucks which the works
managers hire at an hourly rate. Punctual delivery means
savings for the customer. This service has been pushed to
the limit in Finland, where drivers are linked by telephone to
the delivery site. Traffic problems or last minute changes in
direction: everything can be organized.
PURSUIT OF A CUSTOMER-BASED POLICY
In 1990, Isover launched the 'Carte des Services' in France.It guaranteed even faster, more flexible, more reactive deliveries.The company no longer sells just glass wool but now offers complete 'solutions', from assistance with decision-making,to the insulating system with its accessories.
The time is also long gone when Isover just sold insulation and
left the customer to find out how to use it. From the 1970s, Isover
has developed knowledge of energy saving problems notably
through the idea of the 'cost-effective insulation thickness' or
the launch of the R certification. Since the 1990s, Isover has
offered 'solutions'.The first sales action, moreover, consists of
helping the customer to determine his needs. Whether a
dealer, user, architect or foreman, he will find a suitably
qualified person to speak to. In Germany, for example, there is
a technical telephone help service, Isover Dialog, mainly
consulted by architects and designers.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 148
151150
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
1 2
3
Development of systemsFinally, the products themselves have evolved. After the
restructuring in the 1980s, which was carried out by refocus-
ing on the glass wool business, the commercial strategy
developed from 1990 to 2000. Isover was offering a wide
range of insulation products: mineral wools, foams, hemp
wool… and was developing more and more 'systems', where
the insulating materials were integrated into more or less
complex structures, with their fixing accessories (Optima,
Climaver, Vario systems…). The Technostar partition is an
example. In 1991, Pathé was building one of the first
multiplex cinemas in France. How could they avoid the
viewers of a Buster Keaton silent film having to put up with
the soundtrack of a disaster film next door? The solution
suggested by Isover led to the creation in 1997 of Technostar,
a system which combines a metallic frame, different glass wools
and a plasterboard facing. The Technostar partition was
efficient, quickly erected and could be dismantled; it has
been fitted to dozens of multiplex cinemas. It continued
an international career in Denmark, then in Belgium, the
Netherlands, Brazil, Morocco, Bulgaria and more recently,
in China.
3. The Optima system combines wool insulation, metal studs,accessories and plasterboard.
2. Implementation of an air-conditioning system with self-supporting conduits in Climaver glass wool.
1. The Vario “smart” membrane associated with insulation allows optimization of thermal performance of the walls.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 150
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
Fitting a Technostar partition wall.
Ecophon ceilings for acoustic treatment of offices.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 152
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
154
1
2 3
1. Diagram of acoustic insulation.
2. Estonian advertising, 2003.
3. Concert hall, Vienna musical Association, Austria.Architect: Wilhelm Holzbauer.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 154
157
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
156
COMFORT CONTACT!
Following market demand, andanxious to improve user comfortwhen installing glass wool, theOrange development centerperfected, in a year and a half,a new product called 'Contact'.It just looks like a roll of classic glass wool batting, except that it iscovered with an extremely flexibleand soft polypropylene film. The filmmaterial comes directly from babies'diapers. The user now has no contactwith the glass wool in normal use.This was an immediate success withthe craftsmen, who can now install glass wool without gloves. Contacthas been adapted in numerouscountries (for example, Comfort in Finland and Integra Comfort in Germany).
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 156
158 159
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
The Isover federating logo.
Commercial synergiesAt the end of the 1990s, the marketing teams of the Insulation
branch companies throughout the world acknowledged
globalization, its consequences and opportunities. Working
with different historic brands, they decided from then on to
display the same brand worldwide. After research and
discussions, this was to be… Isover, with a new logo suited to
the period.Thus, beyond the visual identity, the Isover teams
exploited the potential of international synergies and in-
creased the exchanges of good practices.The customer, in first
place, immediately benefited from successful experiences
on the other side of the world and from the size of the group.
The logo first appeared at Batimat Paris, the European
construction show, in November 1999. At a big evening
celebration, the teams and the main clients, who had come
from all over the world, felt the 'world family' spirit. From then
on, all Isover's subsidiaries used the same name and the same
colors, in this case yellow. The new logo was unveiled at this
occasion, with a distinctive 'O'. Certain local nuances were main-
tained, however, so Eurocoustic, in France, Orsil in the Czech
Republic or Haniso in Korea kept their names, but used the yel-
low and the 'O' which linked them to the family.
Nowadays, the Isover world brand is an asset which must
be protected and above all brought to the attention of
the new generations of customers. Significant investments in
communication pushed the launch of the world brand; they
are still going on in numerous countries.
R&D synergies On its own scale, Isover's research has followed the same
path. The three centers at Rantigny (France), Ladenburg
(Germany) and Blue Bell (Pennsylvania, United States), as
well as all the product development centers in the factories,
had been working more closely since January 1999, the launch
date for the '2i' project, '2i' standing for 'Isover International'.
The aim was to define a method of working which would
allow a balance to be found between effective central
coordination and local creativity.A 'matrix' organization was
therefore set up. In more concrete terms in the future, research
would be carried out on projects, and communication tools
were set up so as to form just one virtual center. Thus a
'technical intranet' was created, a support for R&D's project
spaces, for the databases and the models necessary for
factory management. As a real tool, giving structure to the
Insulation branch, this 'Isoline' was extended little by little
to all the company's functions. Common validation methods
were also defined, so as not to launch into projects with no
commercial or industrial outlets.
BIRTH OF A WORLDWIDEBRAND
The same name for all the subsidiaries throughout the world,a single brand for all the products, a new logo. In 1999-2000,Isover underwent a face lift and became a genuine integrated,worldwide group. And research followed the change.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 158
160
The spinner, with the burners and the blowing ring, is the
most important component in the TEL process. It is what
determines, to a large extent, the capacity of the process
and the fiber quality. Therefore the spinner has been the
subject of most of the development efforts. The increase in
production materialized in 1983, with the appearance of
an 800 mm spinner which allowed the production of more
than 30 tons per day per spinner. The TEL was therefore
'unbeatable' for manufacturing glass wool intended for
building insulation. However, an important market was
not being serviced by its products: high temperature
applications, an area "reserved" for stone wool. In 1986, the
technical management of the insulation branch asked the CRIR
if fibers could be produced from stone compositions using
the TEL process. It was essentially a question of finding a
super-alloy, heat-resistant enough to make the spinner.This
was the beginning of the THT project, standing for 'TEL High
Temperature'.
Spinner definition, choice and patenting of the suitable
fireproof glass composition, burner improvement, no stone
was left unturned. Result: products could be obtained which
were more heat-resistant than the glass wool, and as strong
mechanically or stronger than stone wool, but as light as
glass wool. The advantages for insulation of industrial
installations, or protection against fire were obvious.
THE TEL PUSHES BACK ITS LIMITS AGAIN
The engineers had not always given up the idea of producingfibers from materials which could resist very high temperatures.After 10 years of research, the new generation of glass wool, UL-TIMATE, launched in 2004, has been a success perhaps because itwas the TEL, improved once again.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 160
162
The ULTIMATE project was launched. It ended in 2004. The
ULTIMATE glass wool showed excellent performance in high
temperatures, which predisposed it to all fire-resistant
applications. It offered fire-resistance during 30, 60, 120
minutes or even more, and resisted at 1000°C. It was also adapt-
ed to applications for which an operating temperature between
500 and 700°C was required. It was an excellent
thermal and acoustic insulator, flexible, compressible
and above all…half the weight of stone wool. This was an
important 'detail' for one of its chosen markets: ship
insulation, where every ton saved resulted in fuel economies.
Apart from the technical insulation of ships and industrial
installations, ULTIMATE was also suitable for the protection
of buildings against fire. Industrial production started up in
2003 at the German Lübz factory, and ULTIMATE quickly
attracted attention.The product received the ISO 2004 prize
for innovation at the Wiesbaden fair in Germany, in March 2004.
The first major commercial endorsement came in 2006: most
of the fire protection at the Munich Allianz stadium (where
the football world cup was held) was manufactured in
ULTIMATE by Saint-Gobain Isover G+H. Benchmarks in the
marine field started to appear in Germany, such as the
'Norwegian Jewel' in the Meyer Werft shipyard, then in
other European countries. Moreover, pilot production of
ULTIMATE pipe sections began in January 2006 at the Bergisch
Gladbach factory. This was again a market success, immedi-
ately rewarded by the prize for the best ISO 2006 product,
at Wiesbaden. Industrial investment at Bergish was decided
at the beginning of 2007, for production of pipe sections
exclusively in ULTIMATE. In 2007, an ULTIMATE line will start
up at Tarui, in Japan.
Sloping ceiling with wooden framework, insulated with ULTIMATE.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 162
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
164ULTIMATE production line at Lübz, in Germany.
1. 2. Fire-doors and ventilation ducts insulated with ULTIMATE.
3. Insulation of industrial buildings requiring fire resistance.
1
2
3
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 164
On the other side of the world, in the Far East, a country-
continent had finally opened up: China. More than a billion
inhabitants, a harsh climate in a large part of the country, and
immeasurable insulation needs. But did a Chinese market
exist? Accommodation was allocated by the State, which in
addition supplied the heating and electricity free of charge.
Under these conditions, demand for home insulation was
non-existent. However, the country was developing very quick-
ly, and it was important to get a foothold. So Isover created a
joint venture in 1996, with a local partner, Beijing Fiberglass
Reinforced Plastics Factory. Beijing Isover Glasswool Co. Ltd was
aiming above all for the big official or technical buildings and
the railways: each year more than two thousand wagons were
built and insulated with glass wool manufactured in the Beijing
factory. But this factory was condemned by Beijing's town
planning policy for the 2008 Olympic Games. Isover therefore
sold this unit to its old partner and at the beginning of 2004
bought another factory at Guan, about fifty kilometers south
of Beijing. A second factory at YiXing, near Shanghai, was
purchased soon afterwards.With a third site near Hong Kong,
operated in partnership with CSR Bradford Insulation, its
Australian licensee, Isover has set up a modest capacity unit which
can be developed rapidly, when China wakes up to insulation.
With a population comparable to that of China and an equally
fast-growing economy, the other Asian giant is India.To tackle
it, Isover returned to its 'traditional' license policy. The first
agreements were signed with UP Twiga, a glass wool and glass
tissue manufacturer, and Rockwool India, a stone wool manu-
facturer, in July 2005.
As for the territories left by Isover on the world map, correspon-
ding to a few emerging countries, they are conquered little by
little, following the example of South Africa, where Isover is
setting up in 2007, by acquiring its old licensee, which was
bought in 1996 by OCF.
167
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
Beijing international airport, China.
166
In 1999, Peter Dachowski, director of the Insulation branch
between 1996 and 2004, reaffirmed Isover's priority was
development in the United States and Eastern Europe.Ten years
after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Eastern Europe was still a
territory to be conquered. In particular penetration of the Russian
market was to be continued. In the 1990s, Isover was selling
products there which were manufactured elsewhere, in Poland,
Finland,and even in China.But a project appeared which took shape
in 2002: to set up a production factory near Moscow. Isover
Russia therefore bought an old prefabricated concrete factory
in the town of Yegorievsk, and rebuilt it from top to bottom.The
European Reconstruction and Development Bank participated
in the project, conscious of its economic importance for the
whole area.The Yegorievsk factory, which started up in 2003, is
now the second biggest glass wool production unit in Europe.
The other country for expansion to the west: the United States.
Sustained economic growth in the country was boosting
the demand for new housing, and new laws affecting insulation
were contributing to the development of the market. For its
thirtieth anniversary, in 1998, CertainTeed Insulation Group
launched an ambitious development plan. The biggest glass
wool production line in the world was then launched in Kansas
City, with an annual capacity of 90,000 tons! At the time, it
was the biggest industrial investment that Saint-Gobain had
ever made.
NEW FRONTIERS
Isover is always conquering new territories - in Russia, where it is building a factory, in the United States, where the market is expanding rapidly, but above all in the country-continentswhich are finally opening up in Asia: China and India, each ofwhich has more than a billion inhabitants and immeasurableneeds.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 166
169
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
1. Yegorievsk factory in Russia, aerial view.
2. 3. Production lines.
168
1
2 3
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 168
171170
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
On 16th March 1998, the Kyoto Protocol (Japan) was open to
ratification. Most of the developed countries committed
themselves to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions
below their 1990 levels. After ratification by most of the
signatories, with the notable exceptions of the United States
and Australia, the agreement has been in force since 2005.
All the climate specialists agree when they say it is urgent
to do something. Additionally, since spring 2003, there has
been a new upsurge in the price of oil.To take the example of
Europe, the houses alone represents 40 percent of the total
energy consumption and a quarter of the carbon dioxide
emissions! As one can imagine, energy efficiency is the word
of the day... In the last few years, from being an individual
preoccupation, the stakes are now planetary.
The figures are impressive. Energy losses from new buildings
have been divided by four in thirty years, thanks to successive
insulation regulations and standards. However, this only
concerns recent constructions: the major part of the existing
stock was built without insulation, or to out of date standards.
In 2006, EURIMA, the European insulation manufacturers'
association, published a study, according to which bringing
the whole of the European Union's housing stock up to
present standards would save 3.3 million barrels of oil each day.
ANSWERING A PLANETARYPROBLEM
Global warming, a new oil crisis: at the beginning of the 21st
century, the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the planetary consumption of non-renewable energies is becoming urgent. Building insulation is making a major contribution. Isover is involved in a battle which is both commercial and environmental.
The 'Let's insulate the planet against CO2' cooperative campaign:'Badly insulated buildings endanger the planet' Advertising campaign in Scandinavia.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 170
173
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ESLET'S INSULATETHE EARTH
To limit the scale of the globalwarming and respect the Kyotocommitments, Europe must cutcarbon dioxide emission perinhabitant by a factor of four before2050. In 2003, in France, eightconcerned industrialists, includingfour Saint-Gobain's companies -Isover, Ecophon, Eurocoustic andSaint-Gobain Vitrage - launched the ‘Isolons la Terre contre le CO2’(let's insulate the earth against CO2)cooperative, after a very simpleobservation: the current regulations,or those being prepared, will not besufficient to achieve this aim.The cooperative suggested launching
a national plan over forty-five years,providing for a 15 percent reductionin the energy consumption of newbuildings every five years. Fourhundred thousand dwellings wouldhave to be renovated and brought up to standard every year, usingmaterials as effective as those used in new buildings. Another idea: todisplay the energy consumption ofbuildings. All this obviously assumesthere will be financial and taxincentives. France is not the onlycountry concerned; the cooperative'slead has already been followed in Belgium (Isoterra) and theNetherlands (Spaar het Klimaat).
On the technical level, 'Isolons laTerre' has joined forces with localorganizations, technical centers and banks to launch the associationEffinergie. Inspired by similar steps in Switzerland (Minergie) and inAustria-Germany (Passivhaus),the association wants to draw up a national building label and promote low energy consumptionconstruction. The final aim is to reach a 'zero energy' building, whichwill produce as much energy as it consumes, or even a surplus.
172
'Let's insulate the planet against CO2' cooperative advertising campaignabout the necessity of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings.Translation: ‘When a car pollutes, we take it to the garage, but when 30 million buildings pollute, where do we go?’
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:48 Page 172
175
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
By compressing the glass wool, Isover limits storage space requirements,reduces transport movements and the impact on the environment. Thusover a period of 50 years, the energy saved thanks to glass wool can represent more than 100 times that needed for its production.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:49 Page 174
177
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
Glass wool is 100 percent recyclable. It is manufactured from sand and recycled glass (up to 80 percent cullet) and offers a very positive environmental balance sheet. It protects the environment, from the beginning to the end of its life cycle and gives more comfort and savings to the occupants of the buildings it insulates.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:49 Page 176
178 179
products, but thinner, as there is a lack of space. Respect for
the environment also assumes a global view of a product's life,
from the production of raw materials, to its recycling at the
end of its life.
On a world level, the question of building insulation will
become even more crucial as countries like China and India
quite legitimately want to catch up with the level of activity
and comfort in the developed countries. That will inevitably
imply a sharp increase in their energy consumption and
greenhouse gas emissions. Once again, as during the oil crises
in the 1970s, Isover is in phase with a global preoccupation
and lucky enough to be selling a product which genuinely
contributes to a solution. For Isover's teams, helping to fight
global warming has become a real mission.
e et appliquée par les équipes dans tous les domaines de l'entreprise.
2. Swedish advertisement 'It's priceless'.
1. At Isover, safety is an absolute priority, applied by the teams in all areas of the company.
2
1
Insulation can decrease energy consumption and the
accompanying greenhouse gas emissions… while improving
comfort inside the buildings. It is a rare situation, one
where everyone can win.
A co-operative of European industrialists has therefore
launched various actions to develop regulations which are
still too timid (see p.173 “Let's insulate the Earth”).Thus the
European directive on the energy performance of buildings
(2202/91/CE), which was published in December 2002 and
which came into effect in January 2006, to take into account
the Kyoto commitments, only concerns new buildings or the
renovation of buildings of over a thousand square meters.
As one can imagine, almost all private homes and small
industrial and commercial premises are not covered, yet they
represent 90 percent of the possible savings.
Nor was it by chance that the 2005 edition of Batimat chose
as its theme 'sustainable development'. For the occasion,
Saint-Gobain built a stand called 'Aujourd'hui pour demain'
(Today for tomorrow), based on rational use of energy and scarce
resources, and concern for the comfort of everyone inside the
buildings. The environment and all its aspects have given
new themes to the work of the Group's research centers, as
although use of current products can easily exceed the demands
of the regulations, there is still a long way to go. For example,
to find solutions for bringing old housing up to standard,
insulation must be developed which is as effective as current
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:49 Page 178
181
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
180
Measurements show that hot water, household appliances andlighting represent just 25 percent of the average consumption ofbuildings in Europe. Heating alone represents 75 percent.This unbalanced distribution has a cause: poor insulation.Heat escapes to the exterior inwinter, and the building does notremain cool in summer. Result: theenergy needs are always higher. Byimproving the insulating envelope,energy losses can be limited andconsumption therefore reduced.But we can do better and reach areduction of 75 to 90 percent. How? By radically changing our approach to construction methods and usingrenewable energies. This is theconcept of the 'Multi-Comfort House',launched by Isover.This is not about future construction,but existing dwellings which are 'inuse' at this very moment everywherein Europe. Thanks to a choice of very effective 'passive' components -highly insulated windows, heatrecovery systems, optimal thermalinsulation - Saint-Gobain's 'Multi-Comfort House' could almost dowithout any active method ofheating. Its main heat sources are thesun, the inhabitants, the householdappliances, as well as the heatrecovered from the stale air;renewable and inexhaustible energiesfrom natural sources. Result: itsenergy consumption is particularlylow; the 'Multi-Comfort Home' onlyconsumes 1.5 liters of fuel per squaremeter, per year! By comparison, anold construction needs around 20liters of fuel, while a new house, built in the traditional way needs from 6 to 10 liters. Thus a 'Multi-Comfort
House' not only allows a spectacularreduction in household energy bills,but also ensures a greater level ofcomfort. The hermetically sealedenvelope which surrounds the houseprotects the inhabitants against cold,heat and noise, while guaranteeing apleasant interior climate all the yearround. A controlled ventilation systemensures a constant supply of fresh air.The humidity level is stable, whichsolves the eternal humidity problems,and the temperature is homogenousin all rooms.
Saint-Gobain's 'Multi-Comfort House',which can take any imaginablearchitectural shape, is a solution to the two big challenges of the 21st century: protecting the planet by limiting the damage to resources and the atmosphere, while improvingthe inhabitants' living conditions.
THE ISOVER MULTI-COMFORT HOUSE IMPROVES ENERGY EFFICIENCY
An optimal interior climate thanks to an air circulation system. WeberHaus, Rheinau-Linx, Germany.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:49 Page 180
183
CH
APT
ER 4
- -
REC
OV
ERY
AN
D T
HE
NEW
CH
ALL
ENG
ES
182
1. Proyer multi-comfort house, at Steyr, in Austria.
3
2
1
2. Multi-comfort house at Salzkammergut, in Austria.Architects: DI Hermann Haufmann.
3. Gymnasium Albstadt at Tübingen, in Germany.Architect: Prof. Schempp.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:49 Page 182
185
CO
NC
LUSI
ON
184
CONCLUSION
“When I joined the Group, the TEL immediately appeared to me as a major asset for Saint-Gobain.Our strategy concentrated on this exclusive process, and I think it has paid off.” ”
Jean-Louis BeffaChairman and Chief Executive Officerof the Saint-Gobain Group from 1986 to 2007
“ “If we try to define an activity whichcorresponds perfectly to the Group's strategy,we come up with a description of insulation.”
When Saint-Gobain launched itself into glass wool,
just before the Second World War, insulation was a
promising adventure. During the immediate post-war
period, it was still a marginal activity within the
Group, to the point where the glass makers in the tra-
ditional branches, considered to be 'nobler', made fun
of it in a good-humored way. But thirty years after
the war, insulation had become Saint-Gobain's most
profitable business! Today, insulation is definitely
at the heart of Saint-Gobain's strategy, and repre-
sents one of the driving forces behind the growth of
the Construction Products Sector.
In fact, the Insulation activity possesses all the requi-
red criteria for success: a technological lead, being in
line with the new building regulations, and regional
markets. Insulation is not applied in the same way or
in the same constructions in Norway, in the United
States, or in South Korea.The climate, the architec-
tural traditions, the level of economic development
and even culture in the wider sense of the term de-
termine the particular needs of each country, which
must be met by specific products. All the Insulation
activity's establishments pay particular attention
to this. In December 2005, the purchase of British
Plaster Board (BPB), the world's biggest plaster and
plasterboard manufacturer, reinforced the Group's pre-
eminence on the interior products market.
Why has Saint-Gobain become the world leader in
insulation in a few decades, despite having entered
the fray after its main competitors? How can such
progress be explained? All the players agree, the
TEL has been at the center of this development.
Since its launch, half a century ago, this process has
dominated the others. It was well-designed at the out-
set, and has constantly evolved, as its latest
development, ULTIMATE, shows. From the perfect-
ing of the process to the design and distribution of
adapted products, via the technical sales assistance
for licensees, the story of the TEL process is also
that of hundreds of men and women at Isover
throughout the world.This book pays a tribute to them,
by showing how they developed over the decades to
follow the market closely while keeping the same cre-
ative fiber and taste for technological challenge.
With a real technological lead, a constant flow of in-
novative products, establishments all over the world
and a well-defined strategy, Isover has a lot going
for it. But today, circumstances outside the Group
are widening the development prospects of the
Insulation activity. In fact, the successive oil crisis
and the global warming have combined to encour-
age authorities to enact more and more demand-
ing regulations concerning the performance of new
or existing buildings. This is a time for saving ener-
gy and protecting the Earth.Without a doubt, insu-
lation has a very bright future.
GB 138-185-STG-7-05 2/09/08 9:49 Page 184
We would like to thank here all the people who helped with the creation
of this participa tory and collective work.
First of all, Jean Battigelli for his meticulous research and documentation, and his writting
on the TEL and the Insulation activity.
But also:
Saint-Gobain Archives (Catherine Bigot, Didier Bondue, Nathalie Duarte,
Hervé Mahoudeau, Jacky Robinet), Pascale Alix, Jean-Yves Aubé, Georges Bancon,
Lucien Berthon, Bernard Bichot, Stéphane Cousin, Yves Darche, Francis Da Silva,
Jacques Delrieux, Dominique Elineau, Jean-Paul Fauchez, Dr Hans Furtak, René Goutte,
Virginie Gourc, Maurice Hamon, Tsutomu Kadowaki, Sorin Klarsfeld, Catherine Langlais,
Jean-Pierre Leroy, Michel Monserand, Sigurd Natvig, Jean Noziere, Marc Olagne,
Dominique Plantard, Jean-Claude Rias, Mark Sadoff, Daniel Sainte-Foy, Marc Sauvage,
Raymond Villain... for their help, their testimonials and the light they shed on the
TEL adventure.
And of course, all the old and new associates, the retired people, the licensees,
the customers and and the partners who every day create the Insulation
activity story.
186
GB 186-192-STG-4-05 2/09/08 9:50 Page 186
PRINTED IN MAY 2007
BY IMPRIMERIE KAPP IN ÉVREUX (27 - FRANCE)
PHOTOENGRAVING: LA STATION GRAPHIQUE
ISSUE NO.: 566
PRINTED IN FRANCE
Photo credit:
All documents in this book come from Saint-Gobain iconographic
and photographic library, except J.Piffaut (p.66-67).
GB 186-192-STG-4-05 2/09/08 9:50 Page 188
GB 186-192-STG-4-05 2/09/08 9:50 Page 190
