What is OEM Auto Glass and How Are Windshields Made?

by | Oct 23, 2018 | Auto Glass News

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Windshield Replacement

What does OEM mean?

For example, when Ford made the 2017 focus model they would use a subcontractor to manufacture the windshield. The specific windshield installed on the 2017 Ford Focus has a part number and that part number tells the operator who the OEM is.

How are windshields made?

A few thousand years ago Egyptians used glass as a by-product of volcanic activity. Over the years, it has been used for vessels, optics, etc… etc..

Sand is heated with other chemicals and that is how we produce glass in modern times. Thin layers of this glass are treated with heat to mold the windshield and then frozen with jets of cold air in order to harden the material.

Then a thing piece of hard plastic, or lamination, is pressed in between two pieces of glass and then tinted with an ultraviolet light or filter.

Plastic moldings are then added to the windshield and this is then installed into the metal frame of the vehicle.