Pro Installer June 2020 - Issue 87 | Page 6

6 | JUNE 2020 News Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk YALE PUTS ITS CAPABILITIES TO THE TEST WITH A NEW LARGE SCALE TESTING RIG Bigger and better than ever before, Yale’s all new commercial test rig opens the way for superior capabilities, smarter testing and greater opportunities. In an age of increasing fenestration scale, where glazing products are becoming bigger and developments and renovations are getting larger and more unique with architect flare, the industry must keep up with the ever changing demands of window and door hardware. Using its new super scale testing rig, Yale is able to ensure customers of the durability, capability and compliance of its products. When used in endurance testing, Yale can now monitor the load with each and every cycle – allowing the team to measure the operating force of products during testing. With improved testing capabilities, comes better opportunities – and now with the ability to conduct mockup tests with an adjustable vent and frame mechanism for unique window designs, Yale is undertaking a higher volume of larger-scale projects. The test rig enables indicative testing on project specific opening vents, with the ability to tip the rig into any inclined position between vertical and +/- 20 degrees, and tailor the test to represent a particular building or project, no matter how obscure. Enquiries are already coming in from Europe, China and the Americas, as Yale invite its worldwide customer base to test the performance of their windows and hardware. Testing for almost all international certifications and standards, the rig ensures products are compliant to British Standard BS6375, America’s AAMA and China’s JG/T 433 certifications. Grant Stratford, Technical Director at Yale, comments: “We are so pleased to be able to expand our testing facilities to meet the ever-growing needs of our customers. The capabilities of the new rig mean we can test all sorts of weird and wonderful window designs. For example, we are endurance testing a triangular mock-up vent at the moment, which is being carried out to the customer’s unique requirements. “Here at Yale, we aim to provide the best possible product and service for our customers. The capabilities of our new commercial test rig allow us to become more flexible and provide even better customer service than before, therefore giving customers peace of mind that products have been tried and tested with the upmost accuracy and credibility – specific to a certain project or application.” www.yaledws.co.uk CUSTOMADE GROUP BEGINS PHASED RETURN TO WORK Customade Group has announced a phased re-opening of the business following the temporary closure of sites in response to Covid-19. The group opened most of its sites on 4 May for order intakes and will phase in manufacturing over the next few weeks. It is the first step in a stringent strategy, which has been developed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all the group’s staff and customers during the pandemic. The initial re-opening will operate with a selected workforce to support customers’ immediate requirements and the group will steadily increase capacity in line with order volume. The business will begin manufacturing existing orders for Duraflex, REAL Aluminium, Virtuoso Doors, and Atlas Roofs from 11 May and will commence manufacturing new orders from 18 May. It will manufacture existing orders for Rehau products from 18 May and new orders from 25 May. Existing orders for Eurocell, Halo and VEKA products will be manufactured from 25 May and new orders will be manufactured from 1 June. The group has implemented strict safety and social distancing measures throughout all sites to ensure the health and welfare of employees and customers. All employees who can work effectively from home will continue to do so. David Leng, Customade Group’s chief executive officer, said: “We’ve spent the last few weeks developing robust plans to re-start the business in line with government guidelines. The health and wellbeing of our employees, customers and suppliers is our priority and we have implemented a series of strict safety protocols throughout the business to enable a safe and phased return to work. Existing orders will be managed first with production increasing steadily over the coming weeks to satisfy demand. “There is no doubt that this pandemic has affected lives and businesses in a way we’ve never seen before and we will be doing everything we can to support our valued staff, customers and suppliers during this challenging time. I’d like to thank everyone at Customade for making our re-start possible and all of our customers and suppliers for their patience and understanding.” The group has also developed a fully managed business support package that enables customers to promote their business, generate and nurture leads and even price and measure windows remotely during the Covid-19 outbreak. To find out more about Customade Group and its support package, call 01453 707272 or visit www.customade.co.uk