Pro Installer January 2017 - Issue 46 | Page 24

24

PRO NEWS

JANUARY 2017 PRO INSTALLER
www . proinstaller . co . uk

ALL OPERATIONS UNDER ONE ROOF

Mark Schlotel , marketing director at Victorian Sliders , reveals how the company achieves best quality and lowest cost production , time after time . “ Victorian Sliders is Europe ’ s largest specialist manufacturer of PVCu vertical sliding sash windows , extruding and fabricating made to measure ECOSlide windows in a purpose-built 100,000 square foot production facility based in Carmarthenshire , South Wales . We are proud to be manufacturing in Wales and have never received any grant aid or government funding support . Building works have been taking place at the Capel Hendre headquarters to double the size of our ECOSlide production facility to 230,000 square feet . Every aspect of product design and fabrication is carried out in house by our team under strict quality control procedures , from the specification of specially formulated raw materials , to the extrusion of highly engineered PVCu window profiles , woodgrain foil or colour spray surface finishing of the window frame components , toughened , sealed double glass unit production and final assembly of complete CE Marked sash windows .
Using our own fleet of transport vehicles , we distribute finished windows to regional depots in readiness for local delivery to professional trade installers , who in turn supply and fit ECOSlide windows for their retail customers . Our mission is to fully process every sash window order within five working days , from placement of order to delivery completion . Under the leadership of business owner and chief executive , Scot Starkey , we are continually investing to improve production accuracy , speed and efficiency , using robotics where possible to minimise handling in our factory environment with 120 skilled and experienced staff championing product quality to create sash windows that are second to none .
PVCU PROFILE EXTRUSION We have been extruding our own purpose-designed profiles from a 100 % virgin , lead-free compound since 2009 , so to be totally accurate we are in fact a specialist sash window system ‘ designer-extruder-fabricator ’. Four new high-speed extrusion lines and 18 new extruded profile tools were added in 2015 , so we now have seven PVCu extrusion lines in operation at Capel Hendre to meet demand .
PRECISION FABRICATION We use Schirmer cutting and machining centres and Urban quad-welding and corner cleaning lines to ensure high precision fabrication . Our purpose-built plant has capacity for production of 6,500 sash windows per week , which will increase when the current building works are completed .
PROFILE BENDING We have a dedicated production area with profile bending equipment , which caters for special fabrication of architectural True Arch , Gothic Arch and Swept Head sash windows , exactly to specification .
FOIL & SPRAYED FINISHING Woodgrain foil finishing or bespoke sprayed colour finishing of ECOSlide PVCu sash window profiles is undertaken at the Capel Hendre site , under our own quality control . The aim is to provide customer choice , so we offer four popular two ‘ inside and out ’ foil finishes ( crystal white , cream , golden oak and Irish oak ) and seven ‘ dual colour ’ foil finishes featuring an external colour and internal solid white PVCu . Beyond that selection , our onsite paint shop enables ECOSlide windows to be optionally spray painted to match virtually any RAL code or colour for a truly personalised product solution .
IGU MANUFACTURING All our insulated glass units are manufactured in-house and ECOSlide vertical sliding windows feature toughened glass in both top and bottom sashes . A-rated WER is the standard product offering and Argon gas-filling of sealed IGUs is an optional specification , depending on the WER required .
PACKAGING & DESPATCH Complete CE Marked glazed window units are carefully packaged , ready for despatch by Victorian Sliders lorry to our regional logistics distribution depots or customer delivery addresses . Bay windows are fully assembled in the factory to check every dimensional detail , prior to bubble wrapping and loading onto our delivery vehicles . An extensive network of professional trade installers regularly buys ECOSlide windows and these retailing companies provide surveying , quotation , sash window supply and installation services on behalf of UK homeowners . Our strategy is simple – we are totally focussed on one product category : vertical sliding windows . We extrude , fabricate and deliver but do not install , so we never compete with our professional trade installer customers .”
www . victoriansliders . co . uk