Up: Paper Millville 1987 6 of 10 ·Front Cover ·Page 1 ·Page 2 ·Page 3 ·Page 4 ·Page 5 ·Page 6 ·Page 7 ·Page 8 ·Back Cover

In 1975 Kerr announced a new glass forming process applied in the manufacture of beer and soft drink containers. The Kerr firm was licensed by a German firm to produce bottles under the process termed Kerr-Heye process.     Under the Kerr-Heye press and blow process, glass containers were made with more efficient use of energy and raw materials. Glass containers made through this process weigh less, yet are of comparable strength and are more uniform than their present day counterparts produced by the blow and blow process.     Under Kerr, the Millville Plant was expanded to one of the nations largest glass plants with almost 1,400,000 square feet under roof. Situated on a 150 acre site, the factory, at peak production, employed over 1200 employees, melted in excess of 1100 tons a day of raw materials, consumed enough energy to light a city the size of Salem, N.J. and enough natural gas to supply the city of Millville.     In 1983 the entire glass industry fell upon hard times and the Millville Plant was reduced from five furnaces to three furnaces.     Then on September 18, 1983 history repeated itself once again and the Plant was sold to The National Can Corporation, Foster-Forbes Glass Division.     Under Foster-Forbes, substantial modernizations were completed in the Packaging Department when the palletizing operation was moved to the lower level of the Packing House. This provided not only more room on packing lines but a safer work environment by removing tow tractor and lift truck traffic from an area of high employee density. State of the art inspection and packaging equipment have also improved productivity in this area. Additionally, forming equipment has been updated to improve the Plant's competitive position.