Even wider range for 2018
By Stuga’s Steve Haines.
With fabricators updating machinery to help keep them at the leading edge of production technology it was important for Stuga to continue to update its range of automatic sawing and machining centres.
As market leader in sawing and machining Stuga is always targeted by competitors as ‘the one to beat’ in the UK. With most competition coming from Europe, and some from Turkey and China, Stuga has a lot to stay ahead of.
One factor that appears clear is that much of the PVCU window and door industry is consolidating, with large organisations being created out of takeovers and amalgamations. This is particularly so for fabrication, and 2017 saw the continuation of this trend.
This moves away from the old idea of ‘super fabricators’ that clearly has not worked historically. These regional fabrication facilities need good and fast technology to maximise output from the space available and, at present, many seem to be prepared to invest in capital equipment.
The instinct for smaller fabricators considering investment is often to hold off buying equipment due to uncertainties in the media, but on the other hand PVCU fabrication is surely into the survival of the fittest, meaning investing is vital for those that haven’t done enough to keep their production facilities up with the times.
In fact, quite a lot of investment that is happening or needed is to replace obsolescent or worn out equipment, which is slowly dragging efficiency down for some fabricators that need to be able to fight to keep their market share.
In the last two to three years it has been noticed that successful Stuga fabricators are choosing top of the range machines where they have the volumes to justify them. The fabricators purchasing these new machines have clearly had the vison to reinvest and been planning considerable capital investment on an ongoing basis, which is why they are at the top of their game.
To stay in the front line of sawing and machining supply Stuga has had to invest in developing its range, and the company now has the largest range of PVCU sawing and machining centres offered by any machinery company.
Stuga finds it necessary to constantly update customers regarding the latest developments, so they are aware the company has been continuously improving machines with the latest leading edge technology ensuring a fabricator isn’t comparing old Stuga technology with a competitor’s latest technology.
As an example, the latest Stuga ZX5 sawing and machining centre can produce around double the output of the original ‘Flowline’ model sold in the early 2000s thanks to technology creating the need for R&D investment within Stuga.
The Stuga range now starts with the AutoFlow-2 compact centre where space is at a premium but all sawing and machining functions are required without compromise, and then moves through the medium output ZX3 to the high output ZX4, and then to the top of the range ZX5, which is not only high output but can have other options like upgraded tooling and more advanced extraction.
The ZX5 is even significantly quicker than ZX4 models sold only a year ago. Accuracy and reliability are also improved and new features added to further enhance the experience such as profile width measuring and a new ‘Y’ notch system.
All models come with internet-enabled diagnostics and on-board cameras but importantly there are many technicians at Stuga that are trained and have the skills to use these facilities throughout each and every working day.
