Launched Stateside
The Georgian Bar Company has launched a new product, WINtek, in the US through extrusion and distribution partner US Polymers.
“WINtek is a new Vinyl SDL Grid system created and patented for the US market,” Philip Dewhurst Jr, commercial director of The Georgian Bar Company, said.
“US windows on the whole don’t have gaskets, so we created a specially designed stainless steel clip that fixes the bars in place. We had to re-engineer the bar clips from 1.1mm thickness used in the UK to a miniscule 0.2mm.”
This new product has passed the American Architectural Manufacturers Association’s stringent tests.
“When they say it needs to be hurricane proof at 50 storeys, they mean it,” Philip said.
The Georgian Bar Company first started going to Glass Build America in 2014 where, Philip said, was immediate interest in the company’s product.
“We could also see that we needed to create a new product to suit windows in the US,” he said. “At subsequent exhibitions we were able to show the prototypes, which meant we were gaining more interest in the products from system companies and large fabricators.”
US Profiles is a custom extruder of vinyl profiles within the US Polymers family of companies. Products range from window shutters to plastic decking and sheds. It boasts being the largest supplier of sheds to Home Depot. One of USP’s subsidiaries Duramax is the official distributor of WINtek to 50 states, based in Montebello, East Los Angeles. The test runs for extrusion using tooling owned by Georgian Bar Company have been completed, and USP is now geared up for mass manufacture.
WINtek will be available in white, clay and beige, the most popular window colours in the US.
“While this is a huge company in the US, it’s also a family business like ours. In fact, my dad Philip Sr. dealt with Harout Ohanesian in Dubai 20 years ago, and I’m dealing with his son Viken in the US. We didn’t have a clue when we first started working together – it came out recently during a meeting. Since finding out, our relationship has become even stronger.
“Initial interest has been phenomenal. We now have 30 window manufacturers from Boston to Beverly Hills trialling the products. Some US fabricators can produce 10,000 to 75,000 windows a day, so switching products doesn’t happen overnight.”
It’s not just America that’s on the hit list for the re-engineered product. During December 2017, at the there was fantastic interest in
WINtek also scooped top prize for the Best New Product at the Canadian WinDoor Show in Toronto in 2017.
The next exhibition is Glass Build America 2018 in Las Vegas.
“It will be the first exhibition where the new products will be offered fully to the US market,” Philip said. “It already looks like it will be a superb show for us, and we are talking to a lot of companies interested in seeing the product for themselves.”
Philip also said that, true to Georgian Bar’s style, time will be set aside to celebrate with a glass or two of Champagne with companies that have already switched to WINtek.