Clearview National September 2019 - Issue 214 | Page 73

MACHINERY
STATE OF THE ART FACTORY TAKING SHAPE
» » NEW ALUMINIUM
systems company Garnalex
(Garner Aluminium Extrusions
Ltd) has completed the
installation of its state-of-the-art
aluminium press. Following a
£9 million investment to date
in its manufacturing facility in
Derbyshire, Garnalex, Roger
Hartshorn’s new venture
will begin trade extrusion in
September.
Weighing over 170 tonnes,
the press was manufactured
in Germany and delivered by
convoy with police escorts to the
Garnalex Nether Heage factory in
March. To help visualise what 170
tonnes means, it’s about the same
weight as a Blue Whale and nearly
as much as three British Army
Challenger 2 tanks.
Once commissioned, the
vast press, an SMS HYBREX
delivering 35 MN of force using
9-inch aluminium billets, will
produce 4 tonnes of extruded
aluminium an hour.
CEO Roger Hartshorn says:
“Over 15 working days in June,
44 full trucks then delivered
the rest of the machinery and
equipment for our custom-
made aluminium press and
factory. Unlike most aluminium
extruders, we’ve built our
state-of-the-art factory from the
ground up, and it’s taking shape
nicely. Everything is the best it
can be, so we’ll start off with a
built-in advantage for customers
in productivity, efficiency and
quality. Trade extrusion will begin
in September, and we’re launching
our innovative new aluminium
window system at the end of Q1
2020.
“Like a lot of the industry, I’ve
fallen in love with aluminium,”
Roger explains. “But unlike
PVC-U and timber, aluminium
has seen very little development
or innovation over the past 30
years. Service in the aluminium
sector has also lagged behind the
big improvements fabricators
and installers have got used to
in PVC-U. So, we’re building
in to the Garnalex window and
its delivery, all the innovations
and improvements that you
would have expected to have seen
over the last 30 years. In fact,
Garnalex aims to reinvent the
way aluminium windows and
doors are fabricated, installed and
sold, transforming the customer
experience end to end.
“We see ourselves as being on a
journey to transform fabricators’
and installers’ experience of
buying aluminium systems and
aluminium windows, by making
it easier and better to fabricate,
install and sell aluminium. We’re
also designing what we think will
be a very beautiful window.”
Garnalex will be running
a series of workshops from
September 2019.
www.garnalex.co.uk
IRISH IGU SPECIALIST ‘EDGES’ AHEAD WITH NEW KIT
» » LEADING INDEPENDENT IRISH IGU
specialist and glass processor, Greaney Glass
products, has invested in a new Forel Art EM
Vertical Edger and Art VW Vertical Washing
Machine, as it gears up for growth in the
commercial sector.
Managing Director, Ronnie Greaney, said:
“The demand that’s being generated in and
around Dublin and increasingly regionally
by the commercial sector is phenomenal.
Processed glass is increasingly important to us
alongside larger and specialist IGUs. Quality is
key for both.”
With ‘phenomenal’ demand for larger and
added-value IGU’s from Irelands booming
commercial developers, plus corresponding
demand for processed glass products, the two
cutting edge platforms form a key element in
the Galway glass building products specialist’s
own growth strategy.
“The vertical edger is there to give us
increased capacity, but also better quality
across IGU and processed glass lines, and
particularly to meet increasing demand
for laminates”, explained Kevin Greaney,
Operations Director, Greaney Glass
“We’re seeing growing demand for laminate
from domestic but particularly commercial
sectors. The Vertical Edger allows us to do a
lot of things more effectively but specifically
to meet that demand”, he added.
Supplied and installed by Promac
Group, the Art EM Vertical Edger has been
developed by Forel as a highly affordable and
infinitely flexible platform for edge processing
of float and laminate glass including edge
arrissing, rough edge grinding and edge
polishing.
This makes it suitable for use with IGU,
toughening or grinding and processing lines.
Forel’s trademark vertical alignment of the Art
EM making the process cleaner compared to
horizontally aligned platforms.
The use of a patented carriageway and suction
cups with the capacity to handle weights of up to
200kg/m reduces manual handling and the risk
of roller damage and scratches to the glass.
Self-learning using on-board editor and
CAD files the Art EM also automatically
checks glass for the correct alignment
constantly monitoring and automatically
adjusting the speed of the grinding tool to
process product to ultra-fine tolerances.
The Forel Art EW washing machine also
offers a high degree of flexibility and is suitable
for use with all glass types and coatings.
Automatically measuring and adjusting for
glass thickness and coating type it guarantees
the perfect contact between up to eight
brushes and the glass. This includes automatic
detection of soft-coats.
www.promac.co.uk
C L E A RV I E W-U K . C O M » S EP 2019 » 73