Greetings!

I am excited to announce that our product development team has worked very hard to deliver a product many of you have asked for: a new Refractory Thickness Sensor (fused cast AZS sensor) designed for measuring through grating (grillage). This sensor, measuring just 23mm x 23mm, will fit many gratings already used at the metal line. This sensor has a very small footprint; however, it still has some limitations on what gratings it can be used. The product is going through internal tests and validation and will be available to select customers in the second half of 2018. We will release it industry-wide in 2019. For details on this upcoming sensor, please reach out to us.

When working with new customers, I always encourage them to validate our solution during their first opportunity so they have peace of mind. We welcome the challenge to put our work to the test and find opportunities for improvement or customization. Our schedule for the first quarter of 2018 has been full with manufacturers validating the SmartMelter® solution during the hot and cold repairs to their furnaces. Some of these customers are new, and some have been using SmartMelter regularly. These trials include tableware, container, float and pharmaceutical glass manufacturers. I am looking forward to sharing the results, which will be published on our website after preparation and the necessary approval stages by our customers.

We are also committed to testing and improving our internal processes. As the demand for SmartMelter® monitoring has grown, the role of our Lead Product Engineer, Michael Tsui, has been essential to help us meet this demand with improved processes for scheduling and tracking hardware. You can learn more about Mike in this month's spotlight article.

Finally, we are working on a new and exciting website with videos and other content that provides real insight into the many ways that our customers have been using SmartMelter®. For example, we never thought our customers would use SmartMelter to decide what products to make on their furnace. However, we find that we are answering questions such as: "Is my furnace healthy enough to make ultra clear glass or flint glass?"

Stay tuned for the new website!