Artisan manufacture in the 21st Century

HWL is in the final stages of the rollout of its bar code tracking capability as part of a wider digital offer, something which Phil Gray, operations director, argues will drive a step change in service.

HWL is an ‘artisan’ business. It took the decision to step away from volume manufacture last year, redirecting its offer to flush and higher end products. Where it is unique is that it’s accompanying this focus of craftmanship and quality, with a very progressive approach to service.

“Traceability allows you to be better at what you do and to deliver a better service to your customers,” explains Phil Gray, operations director, HWL Windows.

HWL has an established track record for innovation. It pioneered the development a non-glass-bonded 90° jointed R9 window using a ground-breaking application of Timberweld manufacturing technologies, to replicate a traditional 90° mechanical joint without glass-bonding it.

Reducing weight in handling and delivering significant installation efficiencies and cost savings, this has won a growing installer following.

Also offering R7 in a Timberwelded format, plus an R9 Timberweld open-in door, it added the new 70mm Kömmerling Flush casement to its range at the end of last year. This focus on Timberwelded products, was accompanied by a decision to step out of volume manufacture.

“We’ve made lots of changes in the factory, in the layout of our lines. We’ve also planted a lot of new scanning stations which gives us increased visibility of product but which also allows us to give a better service to our customers by making ordering digital.”

This is built around its investment in a full suite of cloud-based customer service and business management systems, including 24/7 ordering, using Window Designer from First Degree Systems.

HWL’s customers can take advantage of the latest Fengo2 system to price and process orders for the specialist fabricator’s complete range of products, including its portfolio of market leading heritage windows and doors.

In addition to the ability to generate and process quotes remotely, from any device, customers can also check on the status of orders and delivery times, as well as access and download any related documents.

“There’s the visibility that it gives our customers of where orders are and it makes ordering simpler but it also delivers another level of quality control into our production processes.

“We can see where things fail and at what stage and immediately calculate the additional cost of quality, quarantining the problem, understanding it and addressing it,” explains Phil.

“What it also does is it allows us to drive increased efficiency. We’re running two very efficient flush window lines but the more we can understand and break down that process, the more we can control quality, which the investment we’re making in bar-coding allows us to do.”

This, he argues, gives HWL more flexibility to recruit from a bigger talent pool, rather than operating with a team of very specialised, but hard to recruit workers. The constituent parts of the process contributing to a higher quality and higher margin product, without being reliant on artisan-labour to deliver it, controlling cost but also bringing increased stability to its operations.

“Instead of trawling round the marketplace trying to find industry specific personnel you can look for a very different skill set because what was a specialist job at one point has been dumbed down to a position where as long as you train in the procedure, the outcome is still the same,” Phil says.

As part of this strategy, HWL will also invest in new CNC equipment later this year, part of a two-year investment programme, which in addition to investment in new software platforms and bar-code technologies, has seen it add a 4,000ft² warehouse to its operation.

HWL’s has also added Sheerline to its offer. Supplied PAS24 as standard, this includes Sheerline’s Prestige window range in a choice of two opening sash styles, both of which are available in either a standard outframe or as a flush option, achieving u-values as low as 0.9 W/m2k, plus its next generation bi-fold door, which features a pre-gasketed glazing bead.

“The other thing that the shift to a digitally-based system gives us is that it’s helping us as we work towards being paperless. That also makes traceability within our business better,” Phil says.

“With a specialism in flush products, a lot of what we supply goes into the heritage market. The approach that we’re bringing to its manufacture is, however, progressive and we’ll continue to evolve that as we move forward.”