New laminating showroom

Specialist Laminates recently put the finishing touches to its new laminating showroom, with machines provided by sister company Unilam Machinery to showcase EVA laminating and provide test facilities for customer samples.

The Leeds-based specialists in EVA laminating film and ancillary laminated products have installed a fully working line at its facility to give customers the opportunity to see and work on the machines before committing to purchase.

Initially, a fully working laminate oven from the Sagertec range has been commissioned, with full preparation/layup stations, to demonstrate the process and allow customers to see exactly what laminating entails.

More machines will be installed via Unilam Machinery in the coming months to further demonstrate EVA laminating and associated products.

Specialist Laminates also increased warehousing space in a bid to combat any potential supply issues with the slow delivery of Brexit.

“The continued upward rise in demand year on year for our Unilam EVA and Sagertec laminating systems has allowed us to make great strides in assuring continuity of supply and furthering our product testing to retain our position and standing in the market,” Unilam’s Nolan Millard said.

“There are other EVA films in the market now, and performance can vary markedly depending on the quality of the base materials. Unfortunately, some QC issues can take months if not longer to manifest, leading customers trying new materials to believe unwittingly that a new EVA film is OK to use without full knowledge of its long term performance.

“Our EVA comprises raw materials from DuPont in Japan, giving the highest levels of clarity with superior technical properties and strength characteristics. We have supplied the same EVA for over eight years and our testing is completed by TUV, and we have the highest classification level for EN12600.”

Unilam said EVA laminating fits with the modern trend for companies to handle more of the glass processing functions in house, rather than buying in from a third-party supplier, offering benefits such as full quality control and reasonable set-up costs.

“As glass processors become more technologically advanced, it is likely that the demand for EVA and indeed more laminate ovens will become more commonplace,” the company said.