TFM invests £100,000 in Kombimatec

Narberth based fabricator, TradeFrame Manufacturers, has invested the best part of £100,000 in a Kombimatec DGS450E electronic double mitre saw, and an AMC328 automatic sawing centre.

The purchase has enabled TFM to effectively double production in its existing fabrication unit, enabling it to guarantee continued high levels of service to its customer base while it searches for new premises as part of its long term growth strategy.

An important element of the purchasing decision was the fact that Kombimatec has always given that personal touch when it came to providing service excellence. Having worked with the machinery supplier in the past, TFM managing director, Russ Evans, always experienced high levels of after sales care – something that is not always a guarantee with other suppliers.

“When you have an issue impacting production the last thing you want is to be waiting weeks for it to be resolved, which has happened to us in the past.

Kombimatec’s managing director, David Parsons, can often solve a technical problem for us, straight away, over the phone,” said Russ. “Equally, when sourcing a machinery supplier, we recommend that you check if they have any universal shut downs. When this happened to us, we were unable to get any solution for the best part of a month, which significantly affected our own production schedules.”

Prior to buying both machines, Russ had done his due diligence in looking for alternatives and comparing and contrasting on the basis of cost alongside performance and service. And while many imported machines matched Kombimatec’s offerings in terms of alleged production improvements and efficiencies, there was no guarantee in terms of providing convenient and accessible aftersales.

“The more I did my research, the stronger I believed buying Kombimatec made not just overall production sense, but sound commercial sense too,” continued Russ. “We have a strong trajectory for growth over the next few years, and the decision to invest in machinery had to fit in with our long term strategic plans.

“It came as no surprise then that we returned to Kombimatec – and it is important to us that we share this due diligence with other window companies across the UK, in view of the current turmoil within the economic climate.”

David Parsons continued: “Our full range of machinery products includes both British and overseas manufactured products, but ultimately Kombimatec is founded on its customer support, rapid response and comprehensive training, no matter what the provenance of the product itself. Any disruption to manufacturing cycles is money down the drain, so our focus is always to minimise downtime and ensure our machines keep running – we are perfectly positioned to achieve that aim.”

The Kombimatec AMC328 automatic machining centre incorporates a centrally located tool change cabinet that helps to optimise machine cycle times. The distance to collect or park a tool is half the machine width, rather than having to travel the full length.

A total of five axes provide accurate and robust positioning of the tooling, profile and clamps as it is processed through the centre, eliminating human interference, for consistent, repeatable quality.

The Kombimatec DGS450E positions automatically to the size required, with saw heads rotating from 45 to 90 degrees, and a further option to extend to 22.5 degrees.  Optimised cutting lists can be downloaded via USB for further automation.