History
DK Prototyping for Automotive Glass started as a window reparation company in 1990. After two years Bart Driehuis took over the company from his stepfather T. Kreek and continued the family business. He started manufacturing flat glass in addition to repairing windows because of the growing competition. This proved to be a successful step. The demand for bent windows rose soon afterwards. The first bending oven was bought in 1996.
When an employee of a sun roof producer had the front window of his old-timer reproduced, we were asked whether we could make roof panels. This was a completely different process, because not only did these panels have to be bent, but they also had to be hardened. Bart thought about how to deal with this for a while. A new oven needed to be designed and built to this end. Bart agreed with the sun roof producer that DK would execute four projects in order to finance the investments that were necessary to start this.
DK started hardening 3D bent windows in 1998. The first project was such a big success that the same roof panel client asked us to produce the remaining side and back windows of the car as well in 2001. This marked the introduction of DK as a supplier in the automotive industry.
In the years that followed, the automotive industry’s demands continued to increase. DK had to keep investing in the design of new machines and working methods. For example, in 2009 it became possible to make the full 3D shape of a window within the applicable tolerances of series production. Since 2010, we have been able to incorporate wires in PVB that have an antenna and a heating function. A revolutions-bend system method was developed in 2012. This method ensures that the quality of layered glass is so high that a combination with head-up display is possible. We altered some of our ovens in 2013, allowing us to bend IR reflecting glass as well. We are currently perfecting the production process of coated glass with soft coating, so that we can process it and remove the coating from the spots chosen by the customer. Our production capacity will also be expanded further.
We also see this development reflected in our workforce. We have grown from 4 people in 2008 to a medium-sized organization at this time.