Huddersfield-based glass manufacturer, Specialist Glass Products (SGP), claims to have drastically improved productivity with the installation of state-of-the-art machinery in a new purpose-built factory space.
A new CNC milling machine, delivered in January 2020, alongside new cutting line and automatic glass loading and retrieval equipment installed last year, allows SGP to process, cut, toughen and laminate glass up to 6,000m x 3,210mm. According to SGP, the previous average output for processing panels was two per hour but this has now been improved to at least four per hour due to increased processing speeds and set-up times.
The previous cutting line has also increased from six loading stations to 44 stations and is able to hold 88 different products at any one time, therefore eliminating the need for manual loading of products.
SGP reports that the investment in new machinery and subsequent increase in productivity and efficiency has opened up new markets as it has doubled potential cutting output and size of panels able to be processed.
Andrew Taylor, managing director at Specialist Glass Products, commented: “When looking at improved outputs and productivity, it is like going from a hot air balloon to a Concorde. We are now able to fulfil orders that we could only dream of two years ago and new global markets are now open to us. We are looking forward to seeing the business growth in the next 12 months and beyond thanks to the investment.”
