Thermal restructure.

The Gemco-SAS name is to be phased out as part of a restructure of equipment supply operations by the Thermal United Group. The current activities of Gemco-SAS BV in the Netherlands are to be redistributed.

Lehrs for normal glass applications such as bottles, jars and tableware will

Ovens and lehrs for displays, mainly flat glass, will now be developed and supplied by Smit Ovens BV at Son in the Netherlands. Smit Ovens will also handle equipment for special glass applications as well as new developments for LCD glass, solar cells and toughening. The employees of Gemco-SAS BV will mostly move to the offices of Smit Ovens.

It is also the intention to rename the Gemco-SAS companies as SAS. Thermal United is restructuring the business to respond to market changes. The market for traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) glass manufacturing for televisions has slowed severely and Thermal United believes that the synergy between container glass and display glass production equipment is no longer significant to its business.

Efficiency is better served by a single operation in the Netherlands for advanced products, and container glass is better served by a single company that can supply new lehrs as well as provide after sales service and parts.