Posted On - 30/05/2018
Nigel Leivers, director at Derby-based Frame Fast UK, talks about the importance of keeping up to date with the latest trends in manufacturing. Derby is the home of UK manufacturing. Situated in the centre of England, this fast-growing city is home to Rolls Royce, Bombardier and Toyota, or, as the locals say: planes, trains and automobiles. We have a bigger...
Posted On - 30/05/2018
From augmented reality to increased manufacturing efficiency, Roberto Canassa, director of IT at Emplas, argues that regardless of the platform, technology must deliver better customer experience. The window industry is very fragmented. We still rely on volume – frames per week – as a measure of success, when what we should be measuring is our ability to not just meet...
Posted On - 30/05/2018
As Customade Group steers towards becoming a £200 million business, it will be investing in additional IT and factory processes to optimise efficiency and deliver greater benefits for customers. Glass Times talks to IT director Julian Starling and chief operating officer Mark Scaife about how the group will marry lean manufacturing principles with the latest software solutions to unite all...
Posted On - 22/03/2018
By Ben Brocklesby, director at Origin. The start of 2018 saw a slight slowdown in the UK’s manufacturing industry, with rising raw material costs denting factory resurgence, moving output to a seven-month low. We at Origin are, however, fortunate to be bucking this trend, and are experiencing a hugely promising start to the year. Not only have we moved headquarters,...
Posted On - 22/03/2018
Sierra Windows’ sales director Paul Tranter discusses the new Optima system from Profile 22. The window industry is full of products claiming to be the first of their kind, the most innovative on the market, and the simplest to install – but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen technological advancements that live up to the hype. In fact,...
Posted On - 22/03/2018
Bob Wallis of Window Tech Trade explains how he has turned his back on the manufacture of a standard product, and is instead winning business on a highly focused offer. People were saying a few years ago that super-fabricators were going to take over the industry and it didn’t happen – but I think we’re now at that point; I...
Posted On - 16/03/2018
With an expanding aluminium offer, Sliders UK has aligned itself to growth markets, according to sales director Steve Mines. Aluminium is perhaps the industry’s single biggest growth area; we’ve been manufacturing the Aluk bifold for approaching a decade and introduced a second aluminium bifold, the Ultimate Evolution, in 2016. Demand for those products has snowballed in the last 24 months....
Posted On - 20/02/2018
Listers new CEO Roy Frost and marketing manager Daniel Shaw discuss their marketing plans to expand Listers’ reach. Stoke-on-Trent-based Listers Central has been a popular regional fabricator for more than four decades, which attracted new owner Roy Frost to the business; fresh from his acquisition of south-east fabricator GJB, Roy bought the Stoke-based firm and began scaling up the business...
Posted On - 20/02/2018
2017 saw a record number of homeowners and commercial clients investing in dual-coloured bifolds and, in the new year, this number is only set to increase further, according to Terry Richardson, managing director and founder of north east-based TWR Bifolds. Aluminium has a great reputation for being strong, secure and highly resistant to corrosion and this has made it a...
Posted On - 14/02/2018
Combining time-honoured craftsmanship with cutting-edge manufacturing technology, Cumbria’s West Port Windows and Doors offers something unique in UK glazing, according to managing director Sean Parnaby. It’s a balance of the best aspects of large and small-scale fabrication that’s allowed us to thrive over the last 20 years – not just becoming one of the UK’s biggest and most respected timber...
Posted On - 14/02/2018
As Emplas marks its 40th year in business, managing director Ryan Johnson argues 2018 represents a turning-point in fabrication. ‘Race to the bottom’ is a term applied regularly to the window and door industry, frequently accompanied by the charge that someone is giving away product rather than upselling innovation. ‘Race to the top’? That’s a different proposition all together. As...
Posted On - 14/02/2018
Marketing is a fast-moving sector with new ways of communicating constantly evolving. Over the last year, our industry has found new routes to connect with people – and this year it will be all about harnessing these techniques to communicate, both engagingly and legitimately, with current and potential customers, says Claire Miller, group marketing director at Customade Group. With further...
Posted On - 09/02/2018
By Ben Brocklesby, director at Origin. At Origin, we are always looking for new ways of showing our partners how much they mean to us, and that they really are part of the Origin family. In order to help them grow their businesses, we innovate new products, offer unrivalled marketing, technical and aftersales support, and create bespoke systems to make...
Posted On - 09/02/2018
Glazerite UK group director Jason Thompson says installers are right to target the more prestigious jobs. It isn’t surprising that more and more installers are being tempted to tender for commercial work. The scale of each contract is attraction enough but when you add in other factors such as consistency of demand, repetition in manufacturing and the likelihood of getting...
Posted On - 09/02/2018
As Emplas marks its 40th year in business, managing director Ryan Johnson argues 2018 represents a turning-point in fabrication. ‘Race to the bottom’ is a term applied regularly to the window and door industry, frequently accompanied by the charge that someone is giving away product rather than upselling innovation. ‘Race to the top’? That’s a different proposition all together. As...
Posted On - 16/01/2018
Behind Roseview’s sash windows are committed, hard-working professionals united by the desire to see the company become the “best sash window fabricator in the world”. Glass Times meets a few of them. Roseview’s sales director Richard Burrells believes that outstanding products and outstanding service are the two key elements a business needs to thrive. “It’s our amazing factory team that...
Posted On - 09/01/2018
By Wolfgang Gorner, sales director, Allan Brothers. There’s been a huge amount talked about the trend towards higher value products in the window and door market. Aluminium, composites and foiled PVCU are obviously all surging ahead, with demand being driven by affluent consumers choosing to improve rather than move. Up until now, timber products have been rather left behind by...
Posted On - 09/01/2018
By Ben Brocklesby, director at Origin. The start of a new year brings with it fresh optimism and the promise of new opportunities. It is a time to re-evaluate the current ways of working, start making plans for the year ahead and streamline processes to make sure that the organisation and employees are as effective and efficient as possible. At...
Posted On - 09/01/2018
Glazerite UK group director Jason Thompson says installers are right to target the more prestigious jobs. It isn’t surprising that more and more installers are being tempted to tender for commercial work. The scale of each contract is attraction enough but when you add in other factors such as consistency of demand, repetition in manufacturing and the likelihood of getting...
Posted On - 09/01/2018
The internet and social media have revolutionised the customer journey in many areas of retail. Swish’s marketing manager Gerald Allen looks at how this is changing when it comes to the window industry. Who could have imagined how much the web and social media would change the way we live our lives? Today, many of us don’t think twice about...
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