Emplas has placed an order for a £1million plus state-of-the-art Forel Vertical IGU-line, significantly increasing its capacity but also driving an uptick in IGU quality.
Scheduled for delivery in the autumn, the investment will deliver a 45% uplift in capacity on its current 10,000 IGU a week capability.
Ryan Johnson, Managing Director, Emplas said:
“It’s a big investment but we can see the return that it will deliver for us and our customers, not only this year but a long way into the future, through faster manufacture, better quality and greater control of cost.
“I don’t think this year will be quite as volatile as those that we have just been through but stability of IGU supply, the availability of glass and the control of cost, continue to exert a significant influence on the market.”
“Our acquisition of Padiham and the investments that we have made to date give us far greater control over each of those factors.”
Emplas new IGU line will feature a Vertical Washer and Forel’s Art AS Flexible Spacer Applicator. The applicator automatically applies spacer bars to the edge of the glass sheet with an ultra-high level of accuracy, delivering an instant and far better bond than traditional spacer systems, maximizing thermal performance.
The Forel coupling press then simultaneously couples IGU’s while filling them with gas ahead of automatic sealing, delivering a highly accurate final seal on units and significantly reducing the likelihood of failure.
This is preceded by the six-figure investment already undertaken by Emplas in Padiham since its acquisition in 2018. This included new software integrations, a new sealing robot, as well as new handling equipment.
“We remain investment-led as a Group”, continued Ryan. “The market is going to continue to see change and we are making sure that we’re ready for it by investing in our capability across our businesses”, he concluded.
You can listen to what Ryan has to say yourself in the video below.
For a Forel hosted video of the new line capability click here.
