Howarth Windows and Doors has invested £183,000 to help meet demand for more factory-finished and tailored products – and a further £100,000 spend is on the way .
Managing director Nicholas Howarth said the need to adapt and be flexible to customer demand led the company to examine its operations.
“We are responding to changes in demand and positioning ourselves to meet that demand,” he said.
“The main changes in the market are two-fold – the move towards factory finished frames and a move towards flexibility of production so we can make non-standard frames more easily.”
Mr Howarth says a large part of the timber window market is at the higher end of the housing market. He explained: “If people want something cheap and standard they tend to go for PVCu but they go for timber if they want more kerb side appeal.”
Because the company is dealing with more glass it has invested some £33,000 in a Combilift front and side loader. A further £47,000 has been spent on a Stegher notcher to produce tailor-made decorative bars and specialised spiral cutters.
Around £100,000 has also been invested in new tooling. Mr Howarth said: “The main reason for that is because we are producing fully finished frames where we spray paint on, but that is only as good as the machine finish of the timber you are spraying on to. As we are increasingly factory spraying our output we have had to focus on increasing quality.”
The new tooling includes a CAD/CAM Weinig profile grinder, which enables more consistent checking of profiles, and a double end tenoniser.
And, says Mr Howarth, the company is about to embark on a further £100,000 investment in the introduction of an integrated computer system that will benefit both the company and its clients,
