HWL Windows has revealed that processing all of its product designs – regardless of system and profile material – with Window Designer from First Degree Systems is key to efficiency within the business.

“Using a single piece of design processing software across multiple systems and profile types is an important part of running our business efficiently,” said HWL director, Graham Howatson.

“When we first started manufacturing aluminium products, we ran other forms of software to process those designs, because some of the systems companies had their own software, or their material list was only available on a specific software.

“But you end up having different processes on your aluminium products than you do on the other products running through your factory, and that doesn’t make sense.”

Subscription model

HWL has been in operation for 20 years, and has used Window Designer to process its designs for all of that time. In the last five years, the company has switched its purchase agreement to a subscription model, which has given the fabricator access to more functions within the Window Designer suite of software, such as Stock Assistant and Barcode Tracking.

“In the last five years, we’ve changed our approach to software,” Graham said. “We recognise that it is a necessary requirement in the business, and it’s becoming even more important.”

Graham pointed out that handling the design processing element is just one piece in a complex manufacturing jigsaw, and that using your software to create efficiencies elsewhere in the production process saves money on additional resources. This makes fabricators more profitable, and Graham said that processing the Sheerline aluminium designs with Window Designer was a logical decision to make.

“As a result of running our high-end Residence Collection PVC-U products through the Window Designer suite of software, we knew it worked,” he said. “For example, we experienced the accuracy of having all the components available for manufacture thanks to Stock Assistant; we successfully managed all our orders and customer relations thanks to the Zandi CRM software; and the design processing is fast and efficient. We’ve got confidence in it because we know it works.

“In fact, a pre-requisite for us is that before we would look at any system, we would check that the material file was available on First Degree Systems.

“If you used different pieces of software for different materials, all you are going to do is add labour in your admin team and other functions. So, 100%, one of the biggest benefits is that our operation runs on one piece of software – Window Designer.”