Methods to control thermal variation during tube consumption in glass tube converting

A system for producing a plurality of articles from a glass tube, the system comprising:

• a converter including a plurality of processing stations comprising at least one heating station, at least one forming station, and a separating station, wherein the converter is operable to move the glass tube through the plurality of processing stations;
• and
• a system controller communicatively coupled to the converter, the system controller comprising a processor and a storage medium containing computer readable and executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the system controller to automatically:
• determine an article number at a working end of the glass tube, wherein the article number comprises an integer corresponding to a serial segment of an initial length of the glass tube, each serial segment corresponding to one article;
• and
• increase or decrease an amount of heating of the glass tube in the at least one heating station based on the article number at the working end of the glass tube.