Always keep reinvesting
Located in Denton, Manchester, the brothers Allan and Mike Brown run the company System 3. They founded the company in 1984 with their father, and their relationship with Lisec began in 1988. By Lisec
The Lisec sealing robot VFL-1D at System 3 has already sealed four million IG units. The robot operates in two shifts and was installed in 1999. Now, after 19 years, the owners are thinking of replacing it for a brand-new line – again from Lisec.
In 1984 the company produced basic double glass units, mainly for domestic windows, in an area of 600m². Today it employs 257 people, has an area of 13,000m² and produces double glazed units, structural toggle units, toughened laminated glass, and much more. And System 3 has big plans for the future.
“There are no detailed plans yet but we are planning to double the size of our factory,” Allan Brown, owner of System 3, said.
“We bought our automatic saw from Lisec in 1988. We were the first company using an automatic saw in our area. Everyone else worked manually, so we were much faster. The saw was our center – all following machines were built around it. And, believe it or not, we still have it in operation.”
1990 System 3 bought a pre-owned 2m x 3.5m Lisec IG-line, and two new lines were added later.
“Our Lisec IG lines just won’t stop running, so why should we replace them? We rely on them,” Allan said.
During the last two years the company bought two KSR edge grinding machines, one of them replaced a KSL which had been in operation since 1995, and it already has plans for new investments.
“We have big future plans and Lisec will play an essential role in them – they offer every kind of solution needed in the glass industry,” Allan said. “We want to invest in production lines and processing machines, either to expand our machinery park with new machines, or to replace less satisfying machines from other suppliers. That is our key to success: Reinvestment – always keep reinvesting.
“Service is king. If there is a breakdown we have to react immediately. Our customers don’t want to wait, and neither do we. Lisec offers us the 24 hours non-stop service we need and we always have the support from the Austrian headquarters.
“Moreover, Lisec listens to our needs; we can discuss them frankly and in detail and they respond with suitable solutions.”
Colin Bickley, managing director at Lisec UK, said: “When it comes to our relationship with System 3, it was most important to invest in service. We’ve improved our service quality and responding time significantly in the last few years – this was an important factor to continue our cooperation with System 3.”
In the last few years System 3 has restructured its business. In 2008 the allocation was 95% domestic and 5% commercial, now it is 60% commercial and 40% domestic.
Moreover, the demand for laminated glass is increasing, which is traced back to the new UK regulation that all glass units in buildings above the first floor have to be laminated. For safety glass and insulating glass units System 3 has got the BSI Kitemark certificate.
