Offering efficiency gains of more than 240% compared to traditional prepping and routing of bar length profiles, Promac Group said the FOM Adir can pay for itself within only a few months of installation.

The Adir C was launched by FOM in 2016 but has, according to Promac’s Paul Yeo, come of age, as more fabricators move into aluminium from PVCU.

“The FOM Adir C gives you a high degree of flexibility”, he said. “As a starting point it’s suitable for machining aluminium and PVCU, which should appeal to fabricators running both systems.

“But it’s in aluminium that it delivers some very impressive efficiency gains and does so at a very low cost. It’s really a ‘mini’ aluminium cutting and machining centre, which we can finance for as little as £330/month and a total price point of only £38K for the ‘high end’ aluminium systems machining version

“Compared to traditional separate routing machines, the Adir C gives you far greater efficiency and far better product quality but still at a very low price point.

“That’s a really important point because there are a lot of smaller aluminium fabricators who feel that they’re being left behind. The Adir C allows them to compete.”

The Fom Adir C features: a pneumatic three axes worktable with -90°, 0° and +90° positioning; four pneumatic vices, profile reference stops on the right and the left of the worktable; automatic tool changing; intermediate angle machining; and can handle profile machining up to 6,500mm.

According to the Palmer, aluminium saw 24% growth at last count, including 26% growth in volume terms and installed value by 28% in sales of aluminium windows. Forecasts suggest it will remain one of the key drivers of growth for the UK window and door industry. It’s dominance in the bifold door market – accounting for 59% of market share – is also tipped for continuing growth.

“Aluminium is a growth area but it remains highly competitive,” Paul said. “You need to be efficient. That’s true if you’re there now or moving into the sector.”