Window and Door Machinery
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By Stuga’s Steve Haines. Nearly 20 years ago Danny Williams from Pioneer Trading purchased a Stuga Flowline sawing and machining centre. The Flowline revolutionised production at the Pioneer factory, and was so successful that a second one was purchased a couple of years later. These faithful servants have stood the test of time ever since but nearly 20 years is...
Few things in business are as frustrating as seeing potential business slip out of your grasp. It’s especially disappointing when the reasons are nothing to do with your competence, quality or pricing, says Elumatec’s MD Neil Parton. A couple of years ago, we were approached by a business that, on the face of it, had everything going for it; a...
By Neil Parton, Elumatec MD. Imagine you could make an eight-fold improvement in the time it takes you to get your products where they need to be. Imagine you could reduce your delivery costs and make huge savings through getting production right first time, every time. That’s not a fantasy. It’s the reality for one of our customers – a...
By Wayne Hunter, operations manager at Emmegi (UK). I’ve just seen the fairly chastening statistic from Building Our Skills of more than 1,100 installer vacancies being advertised on UK job sites at the end of the first week in May. The problem of not attracting enough newcomers into the industry has obviously been compounded by the fact that a good...
The government has introduced an unprecedented £25 billion business tax cut to help kick start economic recovery. Joe Hague, managing director at Promac, explains why that makes it the perfect time to invest in new equipment. Many businesses will be looking to keep a tight control over spending as we face a potentially uncertain few years in the aftermath of...
Sternfenster is delivering an industry leading service on aluminium thanks to significant investment in machinery over the last 12 months, including five-day lead times on its Alifold bifold and Alitherm 300 window. We report. “We are experiencing ongoing, strong demand for our aluminium offering,” Mike Parczuk, managing director of Sternfenster said. “We were exceptionally busy throughout 2020 and that’s carried...
By Emmegi. Just a few months after the installation of the first Emmegi 4m Comet R4I five-axis CNC machine in the UK, Emmegi (UK) has now completed the installation of the first, larger Comet R6I version. That machine has gone into Charles Henshaw and Sons, the Edinburgh-based facade specialists, which manufactures both aluminium and steel curtain walling and integrated facades....
By Ian Latimer, managing director of Emmegi (UK). Towards the end of 2020 and already in 2021, Emmegi (UK) is seeing a real increase in enquiries from manufacturers of steel windows and doors. The numbers are relatively small of course because this is such a niche sector of the market, but there is a growing trend for investment in our...
By Elumatec’s managing director Neil Parton. Keeping your production assets in prime operating condition has huge benefits in terms of overall performance and economy. However, there’s a distinct difference between a machine where everything is working and one where everything is working well. The aim should be smooth running where every component is working at the optimum level. Compare it...
Colin Crow, managing director of digital transformation specialist Sigma Dynamics. Now, more than ever, manufacturers who have harnessed the power of cutting-edge maintenance technology will be reaping the benefits. This certainly applies in the UK's glass manufacturing industry, where record demand coming as a result of the lockdown-induced home improvement boom has put pressure on supply chains and production lines....
By Neil Parton, managing director of Elumatec. One of the lessons of this year is that adaptability is essential: we have all experienced a sudden need to revise our plans. We’ve learned to think differently and adopt new ways of working. We’ve seen priorities change as people and businesses have made the very best of a challenging situation. While much...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell talks to Stuga’s Steve Haines about how window machinery is evolving to meet post-Covid demands. Steve Haines, sales director and co-owner of Stuga, always takes market fluctuations with a pinch of salt. Arguably window machinery’s most experienced man – having worked for (and owned) a number of companies before spending the last 22 years at...
Wayne Hunter, service and operations manager, Emmegi (UK), explains how using third-party service agents can end up costing you more. When budgets are tight, it’s understandable to want to reduce costs and save money. But saving money by turning to unauthorised third-party service agents, rather than sticking with the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), can actually end up costing fabricators more,...
By Ian Latimer, managing director of Emmegi (UK). Compare the Emmegi product line up with most of the competition and you’ll see it’s considerably more extensive; where our competitors might have one model in each category, we will almost invariably have two, three, or even four. I think that’s because Emmegi in Italy is fundamentally a company run by engineers,...
By Neil Parton, managing director of Elumatec. In a year that’s had us reeling, it’s a timely moment to reflect on how we got here and understand whether we can rely solely on what we produce, or is there more to it? It doesn’t take much soul-searching to realise we wouldn’t be where we are without wrapping our service in...
By Elumatec. There’s no denying that 2020 has shaken up the industry. Many of us have been working from home and numerous businesses accustomed to a more traditional approach have been forced to embrace a somewhat daunting virtual world, but as a collective, the industry has shown that we can adapt and remain productive. As we see production pick up...
Stuga’s Steve Haines reflects on a busy time for the industry. “I don’t know what is going on. Our world has gone crazy.” These were the words of a major fabricator and Stuga customer who has several PVCU factories, all of which are flat out and have been since the end of lockdown. This fabricator is struggling to get hardware,...
With the window industry facing a post-lockdown boom, fabricators have been faced with the challenge of increasing their productivity and output while protecting their workforce. Dave Thomas, managing director of Haffner Murat, looks at the challenges this presents and why machine automation has never been so important. It’s fair to say that the fenestration industry has come back with a...
By Elumatec’s managing director Neil Parton. It’s hard to overstate the importance of delivering great service, whatever business you’re in and whatever it is you sell. It also goes without saying that quality is a critical factor in a purchasing decision. In our industry, for example, the wise buyer understands the long-term benefits of exceptional, adaptable engineering. But the magic...
By Neil Parton, Elumatec’s managing director. Hollywood has produced more than enough superhero movies; the real heroes walk amongst us every day, and often their brilliance does not receive the recognition it deserves. At the start of the Covid-19 lockdown, there was a groundswell of support for those who work in the NHS. Other key workers were applauded for keeping...