1. Client Background
As a glass flower vase dealer, Mosteb has just teamed up with a home décor brand from Denmark whose style is strongly influenced by Scandinavian principles. With simple yet expressive interior concepts as their selling point, the client was eager to start the new season with the launch of their collection of asymmetrical tinted glass vases characterized by a smooth wave contour and light amber hue. Their ambition was to evoke nature-inspired glamour that could be styled in either sleek or retro-chic interiors. The brand chose Mosteb because of our excellent design translation capability, accurate color control in glass production, and our expertise in the supply of large-scale decorative glassware with consistency and reliability.
2. Challenge
During the development phase, the team faced two major challenges:
- Color Matching Accuracy Across Batches:Even a slight difference in melting temperature or metal oxide ratios during the process of tinting could cause significant changes in the color of the glass, thus leading to a disruption of the visual harmony across retail displays due to the color variation between the pieces.
- Advanced Shape Complexity:The irregular silhouette of the flower vase raised the level of difficulty for mold release and shape retention. Minor distortions could result in irregular edges or a twisted profile due to the plastic nature of the material, hence the aesthetic and structural quality of the piece can be compromised
3. Cause Analysis
After trying various different methods with the technical team, production trials and analysis, they found two main factors:
- The initial pigment distribution in molten glass was already at a stage where it was very difficult to mix without additional mixing time, as in some areas micro-variations in tint saturation were already noticed.
- The irregular shape caused different areas of the glass to be under different cooling stress, this led to small deformations in the demolding phase.
In order to solve these problems, we worked closely not only with the mold engineers but also the client’s design team, who were equally committed to the perfect technical and visual balance.
Cone-Shaped Short Glass Vase
Coloured Flower Vase in Glass
4. Solution
- Advanced Color Calibration System: A digital color inspection method was brought into the production line which permitted the melting and cooling phase to be monitored in real-time and thus could easily be changed to batch consistency within ±1% hue tolerance.
- 3D Mold Redesign: The redesign of the mold incorporated the precision airflow channels which minimized the stress during the release phase from between the mold and thus helped in the holding back the fluid form of each vase.
- Longer Annealing Time: The process of cooling was deliberately lengthened to release the internal tension thus allowing the retention of the shape as well as the surface to become gradually more even.
- Sample Verification Procedure: For each batch of the production color and shape samples were first approved and then shared with the client for their go-ahead before bulk production took place.
5. Result
The last batch production was able to come close to very high levels of uniformity from one vial to the next together with stability of shape. Their Nordic Amber Wave Collection was thus successfully introduced by the brand, quickly becoming very popular concept stores as well as online platforms sales items. Mosteb was able to demonstrate through this project that it is not only a proficient dealer of glass flower vases but also that it can facilitate the aesthetic innovation-technique precision balance.
