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KEEPING A HIGH PROFILE:
DR TRACY WAKEFIELD
PLUSTEC PTY LTD IS A RAPIDLY EXPANDING COMPANY THAT DESIGNS AND
MANUFACTURES UPVC WINDOWS AND IS NOW SUPPLYING WINDOW PROFILES
SPECIFICALLY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN MARKET. DR TRACY WAKEFIELD, PLUSTEC
MANAGING DIRECTOR , DISCUSSES HER COMPANY’S ROLE AT THE FOREFRONT OF
WINDOW TECHNOLOGY.
L
ocated in New South Wales’ Emu
Plains, Plustec supplies windows to
New South Wales and the Australian
Capital Territory, along with a small quantity
to Queensland, Korea and Western Australia
in the form of house kits. The company will
be supplying window/door profiles nationally,
and to New Zealand after becoming fully
established in Australia.
“We established Plustec Pty Ltd in 2010,
after years of watching uPVC struggle to
obtain acceptance,” Dr Wakefield explains.
“While uPVC windows now boast over 50
per cent market share worldwide, the market
is negligible in Australia.”
Plustec began small. “We started off as
three partners and were trained by the
Germans, who are renowned window
manufacturers,” says Dr Wakefield. Plustec
imported profiles from its German partner
company, Plustec GmbH, which ceased
operations in 2011. “Our profiles were mainly
extruded in Europe, but we also purchased
those extruded in the UAE, using Plustec
design and their ‘hot climate mix’ suited to
Australia’s high UV levels,” Dr Wakefield
explains.
“Plustec GMBH’s chemical engineers were
using environmentally friendly calcium–zinc
stabilisers,” Dr Wakefield says. “Our decision
to partner with them was due to their sound
environmental stand and their hot climate
mix developed for the UAE.”
Plustec developed extensive links with
industry. “We started off working with the
AWA, the Vinyl Council, Australian Vinyls
and Chemson,” says Dr Wakefield. “We also
tested our windows at Azuma. Forming these
partnerships assisted us in developing a
uPVC blend for Australian climates.”
18 Australian Window Association
Today, Plustec maintains active links with
prominent Australian industry bodies. “We
are a member of the Vinyl Council, and were
part of the working group which developed
the Industry Code of Practice (ICP) for
uPVC window profiles,” says Dr Wakefield.
“This requires all profiles to perform to
Australian conditions. The Australian
Window Association was involved in the
ICP, and provided excellent advice during
development.”1
Energy efficiency is a primary consideration.
“Switching to double-glazed uPVC from
single-glazed aluminium results in up to an 85
per cent improvement,” Dr Wakefield notes.
Despite these advantages, uPVC technology
has taken some time to be adopted in
Australia. “The uPVC originally imported to
Australia failed to account for high UV levels,
so some uPVC products failed prematurely,”
says Dr Wakefield. “Australia has a warm
climate, and many believe double glazing is
only for cold climates, ignoring the fact they
can keep the heat out and the cold in just
as well. However, with growing awareness of
energy efficiency, demand is accelerating.”
uPVC windows now have three to four
per cent of the overall window market,
and rising. “People are really starting to
appreciate its combination of excellent
insulation properties and low cost relative to
performance,” Dr Wakefield comments.
While most of Plustec’s current customers
are residential, Dr Wakefield aims to expand
further. “While uPVC is not common in
commercial use, we recently replaced
windows in a dairy processing plant, as
they are resistant to the corrosive cleaning
products.”
Plustec has purchased a profile laminating
line to apply decorative films as an
alternative to painting window profiles. This
offers a way of improving colour choices,
growing uPVC market share, reducing
stock holdings and improving supply times.
“Renolit’s Exofol FX foil is ideal for Australia’s
high UV levels, with a 15 year warranty,” says
Dr Wakefield. “The foils are permanently
bonded to the uPVC profiles, requiring
minimal cleaning and maintenance.”
“Importing custom foiled profiles is
cumbersome with long lead times,” says Dr
Wakefield. “It can take 12 weeks to import
profiles. Customers demand a large colour
selection, and keeping a range of foiled
profiles in stock significantly raises costs.”
To cater for this demand, Plustec is about
to begin laminating onsite. “This equipment
enables us to offer foiled profiles with very
short lead times,” says Dr Wakefield. “Stock
is much easier to manage and special orders
are easily and quickly imported as rolls of
laminate rather than 6 m profiles. Laminating
in Australia will enable customers to orde r
any stock colour with a two-day lead time,
and any non-stock colour with a two-week
lead time.”
Dr Wakefield’s educational training has stood
her in good stead for a career of constant
innovation. “I arrived in Australia in 1986,
brought here by Comalco Aluminium as
a research metallurgical engineer before
moving into building and then to uPVC
windows,” she says.
Her first Australian venture was Appalachian,
the country’s premier supplier of timber
homes, which is adjacent to Plustec. “We
provide kit homes (using uPVC timber-look
windows) in engineered and handcrafted log
as well as timber framing using traditional