Low risk high returns
Emmegi’s success in the UK over the last decade has largely mirrored the success of the aluminium sector as a whole. Surging demand for our machines has reflected the growth in demand for the material and, in particular, the trend amongst PU fabricators to add aluminium products to their portfolios.
What has made it particularly attractive for those fabricators has been the fact that the cost of entry into aluminium can be fairly low. Very basic, manual machinery might only set you back £10K-£15K so it’s a fairly low risk investment for a company that might want to start by just manufacturing aluminium bifolds. And, for any fabricator that is experienced in PVCU, these saws are relatively simple to operate, with only minimal additional training.
We have seen lots of customers who have started with an entry level machinery though and have progressed quickly to more advanced cutting centres and eventually machining centres as well, as they seen increasing returns from aluminium.
It’s easy to argue that Emmegi and the whole of the machinery sector has had an important role to play in making aluminium so accessible. We have long had demonstration machine set ups at various systems houses, for example, enabling customers to see before they buy and get any training they might need.
And, only last year, Emmegi equipped the whole of the new Aluk Academy in Chepstow with a complete range of saws, crimpers, cutting centres and handling equipment for training and development
There is also the fact that our machines are flexible enough to work either with the EmmegiSoft software, which we supply as standard, or with the external alternatives like LogiKal, V6 etc, which make it easy to switch between different aluminium systems as required. This allows fabricators to easily integrate new machines into their operation as they expand and start generating returns very quickly.
Obviously, the growth in aluminium has not just come from diversification by PVCU manufacturers. It is the experienced, high volume aluminium specialists who have spearheaded expansion into the commercial, trade and retail markets, and machinery suppliers like Emmegi have certainly been on hand to support them with UK based sales, installation and service teams as well as a constant stream of new product innovations.
At this year’s Fensterbau, for example, Emmegi launched several new machines, including new versions of our popular Comet and Phantomatic machining centres and Precision saw. We are specialists in aluminium and experts at what we do, and I think the industry benefits from that expertise and from our ongoing commitment to the aluminium sector.
By Ian Latimer, Managing Director of Emmegi (UK)
