Glass processor scales up

Mackenzie Glass has invested in a new Bottero 515LAMe laminated glass cutting table, shortening turn-around times on cut-to-size laminates.

Delivered in July with an accompanying loading table, its new laminate cutting table also gives Mackenzie Glass the capacity to handle super-sized 4.5m x 3.2m laminated sheets.

Mark Herbert, joint managing director, said that the investment has already allowed Mackenzie Glass to cut delivery times to as little as three days with ambitions to reduce turnaround times to 48 hours or less.

Mark said: “Our pre-existing Boterro cutting table takes around eight minutes to heat thicker laminate glass to splitting temperature, compared to just 90 seconds on the new platform. That allows us to process laminates far more quickly, significantly reducing lead times. It also gives us scale. This allows us to better align our offer to the market and the demand being placed on our customers for the supply of larger IGUs. It also supports our focus on the supply of higher value products such as Pilkington Optiview, MirrorView and thicker Optilam options.”

The new kit will cut sheets of 4.5m x 3.2m, compared to a standard cutting table, which will normally be around 3.2m x 2.5m.

Mackenzie Glass was formed at the end of last year as stand-alone business and vehicle for the acquisition of Pilkington Bristol from NSG. Supplying more than one million square metres of flat glass a year with a turnover in excess of £5 million, the deal saw assets and employees transferred, with Mackenzie Glass also assuming new status as the first Pilkington regional partner.