Promoting value for money

Esquire Glass’s general manager Andrew Stephens explains why customer service, waste reduction, production efficiency and environmental benefits were just four of the reasons why the company invested in Intermac’s products.

Esquire’s core business is in the production of processed glass panels for the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom industry. However, since 2002 substantial investment in a second factory and state-of-the-art glass processing plant led to our accelerated growth into new markets.

We believe in delivering excellent customer service, so when the business grew and customers needed guaranteed deliveries, we decided to invest with a company that mirrored its own values.

Our first investment with Intermac was a Busetti double edger. Our old machine had seen better days and started to affect customer service and confidence. The cost of repairs to keep it going, plus the overtime required to ‘catch up’, equalled the cost of financing a new machine from Intermac.

What we were acutely aware of is that we were letting our customers down, so we needed assurance that we could maintain manufacturing output.

Intermac’s Total Care five-year warranty and service package was one of the compelling reasons to go with them. Intermac has an excellent reputation for quality and service, so we mirror that service to our customers, promoting value for money for the products we are supplying and charging them for.

Since buying the Busetti F10, our material yield has improved by 50% on the polishing cycle. The accuracy of the F10 means we can cut the glass to 1mm per side (rather than 2mm as on the previous machine). This not only improved our running speed but also reduced the waste product (glass slurry), which not only saves money but is also more environmentally friendly. The clean down, removal of waste water and filtration system has saved an inordinate amount of time, compared to our old machine.

The flexibility has also been a benefit, as we can now polish everything on either the double or straight line edgers. The Busetti F10 certainly delivers consistency and quality.

We purchased the cutting line to complement the benefits provided by the Busetti double edger. We now cut glass to within 1mm per side, which reduces waste, increases throughput as well as delivering environmental benefits.

However, the machine itself provides tangible benefits in its own right. The Genius CT-A is fully automated, so we can cut much faster, but also we can now recycle offcuts much more easily.

The machine’s software has a library, stores the information, and tells us which size offcut to use. We even took the option of the lifting arm so we can process larger offcuts. Our material yield has definitely improved as we are cutting much more efficiently.

Intermac’s service and support has been fantastic. Both machines were delivered and installed on time and with minimum fuss. Intermac’s delivery partner, Flegg Transport was amazing at offloading and siting the machines, especially as space was at a premium.

Total Care was a huge deciding factor in our decision process. With Intermac’s five-year warranty and service plan, all we need to do is concentrate on manufacturing our products.