Bending Standards
Posted By: Robin in Industry News | Universal Arches
Leon Day is the managing director of Universal Arches, the UK’s leading specialist angle, gable and bending fabricator. Over the last 5 years he’s seen considerable improvements in the sector in several areas. It’s no longer a cottage industry, but a highly professional and disciplined one.
Markets have all sorts of different life cycles and even the standard PVCu window life cycle is extending thanks to new regulations, WERs and now the emergence of triple glazing. Generally markets and products have an uncanny way of extending their shelf life, which for the purposes of the glazing industry is good news for us all.
The bending sector has improved immeasurably over recent years from what was once perceived as a bit of a cottage industry, where installers would only order odd shapes products if they really had to, to a far more professional market sector. There are now companies that actively looking to replace odd shapes as they feel there are unique opportunities in this niche sector. The conservatory market has also contributed heavily to the sector with both gable and raked frames popular in design.
As the bending sector has grown, the players within it have had to invest in capital equipment, new processes and operational procedures. At Universal Arches we’ve invested over £100,00 in the last year alone, including 5 single head welders, 2 double head welders, 2 double headed chop saws, new IT equipment and the pioneering Universal LIVE system.
The use of pioneering 3D computer modelling software has been one of the major developments in the sector. The traditional manufacturing process required manual calculations and the drawing out by hand of an individual template for each manufactured shaped frame. This process was both labour intensive and prone to errors.
Now the 3D computer modelling system accounts for over 70% of all orders at Universal Arches and is a technological first for the sector. It also provides DXF glass templates at the point of order, in a sector where unglazed shape frames are the norm. However, for customers it would be far easier for a complete shaped and glazed frame to be delivered and this is now possible within 7 days. Given that Universal Arches manufactures around 350 complex window and door shapes each week, this is a major development for the company and the bending industry.
Standard delivery schedules are now 5-7 working days, surprisingly the same as the industry norm for standardised windows and doors for the bending sector. This has come down from 10-14 days which was once the standard.
Keeping pace with the standardised PVCu window fabrication market has also required companies within the bending sector to look at colours. Laminated profiles can be cut and shaped into various designs with no problem, but now companies such as ours are capable of offering bespoke colour services, where products can be sprayed to any RAL colour and delivered within 7 days.
The standards laid down by the fabricators of standard windows and doors have had to be followed by the bending industry. As an installer, it’s no point ordering the coloured windows, doors and conservatory roof for delivery in 7 days, if the coloured gable frame cannot be delivered within the same time frame.
Similarly, the large nationwide fabricators are able to deliver on their own transport which removes much of the need for multiple handling and allows for greater flexibility for the customer. Due to the very nature of angled and shaped frames to date, it’s not been economically or operationally viable for bending companies to offer direct deliveries to most of the UK on own transport until now.
Universal Arches has increased its delivery fleet and is now able to deliver direct to the main areas of the UK, with the more remote regions being serviced by a specialist haulage contractor, based just 100 metres from the manufacturing facility. Each area has a set delivery and collection date, so that profile can be collected one week and a fully fabricated and glazed window and door delivered the next. Customer feedback has been overwhelming.
The bending sector has also been quick to develop impressive content based websites which allow for online ordering and in the case of our own Live facility, a unique 2-way HD video facility. There are several companies in the sector offering online ordering, though few have been able to offer the facility for bespoke order thus far. Finally, companies within our small market segment have quickly adopted Twitter as a means to communicate to the industry and the world at large. We’ve even embarrassed a few systems companies by leaping on the bandwagon before them!
In all, the bending sector has come a long way in terms of customer service, investment and the use of technology. However this is cannot be a short-term fix but one of a longer-term development for the market for angles, gables and shapes and the specialist companies that operate within it.
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