Invest to be the best

I interviewed Rehau’s CEO, Martin Hitchin, recently, a man who has over 30 years’ experience in the industry.

Martin, who actually started his career at Rehau as an engineer in the late 1980s, recalled the pace of change when the industry was still adopting PVC products, and the sheer number of fabricators that were coming on board each week to learn how to manufacture these new systems.

A lot of things have changed since then of course, but as Martin explains, many of those original companies are still Rehau customers – some of which he has been visiting recently as they enjoy their long-term supply partnership celebrations.

Apart from the benefits of Rehau’s systems, Martin made a key point in that the success of many of the fabricators who continue to thrive over the years, is owed in no small part to the fact that they are prepared to invest, whether that’s in new machinery, product, capacity or service.

You can look out for the full interview in an upcoming edition of Glass Times magazine, but in the meantime, Martin’s comments resonate with a number of major investments in this week’s newsletter, starting with Emplas, which has announced a £1.5m spend on its manufacturing facility for the remainder of 2023 and into 2024.

Bespoke Aluminium Manufacturing has also revealed a major investment in machinery with five new Kombimatec machines now up and running at its Winchester factory, while Hurst Doors has launched a new composite door offer – plus a range of tools to help customers take full advantage of it.

That follows significant investment by Hurst in its composite door range in the summer, with the addition of a new beam saw and two-edge banders to its manufacturing facility.