Like every IGU ( insulating glass unit ), integral blind units are made to order to suit the sizes of a property ’ s doors and windows . But the process for manufacturing an IGU containing an integral blind , does involve many more components , skills and quality control procedures , so it is natural to expect to wait longer for delivery compared to a regular double or triple glazed unit .

But in an age when , as consumers , we have come to expect products to be with us quickly , how long is too long to wait for most homeowners and commercial building owners ? We know that our installer customers could lose their customer ’ s interest in having integral blinds within

their windows and doors if they feel that the wait is excessive , and this means a long lead time for a product is a definite barrier to sales .

That ’ s why when we took the decision to start manufacturing integral blinds here in the UK in 2004 , we had to shake up the market . Back then , integral blinds were capturing the imagination of homeowners but the lead times were often into the months , and this alone was enough to stifle sales . The fact that early generations of integral blinds were often poor quality , very expensive and unsupported from a technical perspective by their suppliers , did not make them a particularly attractive proposition either !

We knew the way to change this was to partner with a European-based

supplier of integral blind systems in order to keep transport time to a minimum , and one that was focused on creating the highest quality products . That led us to Pellini S . p . A ., the Italian company behind the ScreenLine ® brand , which to this day represents the pinnacle of quality for integral blinds globally , and we have partnered with them ever since .

The ordering and manufacturing process we have developed has been continuously refined and improved over 20 years , and today that enables us to turn around customer orders routinely within 10-12 working days when ordered by 10am on Thursdays . This is our weekly cut-off time to send all our orders to Pellini so they can manufacture the blind

units , do all the necessary quality control checks and dispatch – all in the space of five working days .

All the ScreenLine ® integral blinds we order are transported direct door-to-door by road , which usually means we receive products within 48 hours . Once at our factory near Leeds , we incorporate them within IGUs – the glass for which is supplied reliably by Glassolutions Saint-Gobain from their factory in Dudley – to create our Uni-Blinds ® branded integral blinds , and these are then ready to send out to installers across the UK in as little as 8 days , depending on the area and delivery schedule .

We have a fleet of 32 Morley Glass and Uni-Blinds ® branded vans to deliver customer orders .

We do not make any additional charge for delivery and , because we operate our own fleet , we have greater control over transportation to avoid the issues which can be experienced when using third party couriers .

All this means we deliver 96 % of customer orders within 10-12 working days . The reason it is not 100 % is largely due to international public holidays and circumstances beyond our control , such as industrial action or extreme weather events .

Could we do things any faster ? We don ’ t believe so . Aside from ScreenLine ® integral blinds , the majority are made in China – and there is no UK supplier capable of meeting the volumes , quality and technical standards our customers demand .

As we know from other components and products supplied to the UK window and door industry from the other side of the world , we have to expect long waits for delivery because most items are transported by sea over many weeks or months . This works well for standard products which you can order continuously to keep the supply flowing , but it is not really feasible for bespoke products unless everyone is prepared to accept significantly higher costs for airfreighting .

www . morleyglass . co . uk