SWARCO Reopens Modernised Glass Bead Factory in Texas 

Last November, SWARCO’s U.S. affiliate, SWARCO REFLEX, welcomed numerous guests to the festive reopening of the new and improved MEGALUX-BEADS production facility in Mexia/TX, two hours drive south of Dallas. 

In the presence of SWARCO Supervisory and Executive Boards, U.S. Managing Directors, employees, and local dignitaries, SWARCO REFLEX proudly presented what is now the largest direct melting line of its kind in the Americas. The new line increases production capacity by more than 50 percent, improves efficiency by reducing energy consumption, and provides even better product quality in terms of roundness and surface finish. 

“We created the skyline of Mexia,” General Manager David Beshirs said during the event, referring to the roof height that doubled from 30 to 65 feet. SWARCO REFLEX makes and sells reflective glass beads for road markings and blasting beads for surface finishing applications for customers throughout the U.S., Mexico and Latin America. MEGALUX-BEADS are precision large reflective glass beads with diameters up to 1.5 mm that achieve optimal retroreflection readings for all road marking materials, especially in wet-night conditions.

In 1994, SWARCO America took over a small glass bead plant in Mexia, “which has grown to become a SWARCO flagship production plant, servicing the U.S. traffic and industrial bead markets”, said Jon Sproul, Vice President of Region America. The company then invested in the MEGALUX-BEADS facility in 1999. “Twenty-three years later, after a multi-million dollar investment, we are celebrating the reopening of the largest big bead facility in North and South America,” Sproul said, thanking the staff for the extra-efforts during the entire project phase.  

The modernised production facility not only has more space, but also a significant degree of automation to better guarantee product consistency and quality in line with the various customer specifications. Every hour, 39 billion glass beads are produced at SWARCO in Texas.