Located in Derbyshire, Swadlincote Windows has been in operation since 1998 and has a well-earned reputation for delivering high quality, bespoke projects for property owners throughout the East Midlands and beyond.
John Birch, Swadlincote’s Managing Director, comments, “Our fabrication operation has been working with the same machinery for over a decade, and we knew that we needed to upgrade to something more efficient. We’d considered buying a machining centre before, but in our experience, the ‘blame game’ between machinery companies and systems houses when anything goes wrong, put us off making a purchase,” explains John.
Everything changed
In 2019, Liniar launched the UK’s first double-rebated flush sash PVCu window, Resurgence – and after recently signing up with the systems company, Swadlincote Windows wanted to be one of the first companies to offer this high-end product to its discerning customers.
It was during the initial tooling up process for the main Liniar suite that the fabricator was able to see the relationship between Avantek Machinery and Liniar, and this partnership changed his initial perceptions.
During the process, John had the chance to discuss Avantek’s cutting and machining centre, the Supercut, with Sales Director Jamie Munday. And once he’d experienced the collaboration between the two companies, he knew purchasing a Supercut was in Swadlincote’s future.
Getting the ball rolling
With the decision to purchase a Supercut made, Swadlincote Windows needed to get things in order before Avantek was able to deliver and install the machinery.
“There were things we needed to take care of before we could proceed with the installation,” comments John. “Avantek even allowed us to borrow a copy router as a stop-gap measure to help us cope until our Supercut was delivered. This exceptional customer service is what we’ve come to expect as standard from both Liniar and Avantek,”
Finally, in mid-October 2020, the Avantek team arrived with Swadlincote Windows’ Supercut 5 and the install was completed within two weeks.
Finished product
We asked John how the installation went, if there were any issues and how the Supercut has changed the processes at his facility.
“First, let me start by saying that Swadlincote Windows isn’t your average fabricator. Whilst the Supercut does allow fabricators to produce more frames per week with consistent quality; we’re not concerned about the number of frames we are fabricating – as long as they reach our high standards of quality.
“For example, last year, white was one of the least ordered colours of frames by our customers. Our bespoke projects typically are coloured, foiled frames now, instead of white. This means lower frame counts for each job instead of doing ‘en masse’ white production.
“What the Supercut has done for us has been to increase efficiency – the job it now undertakes was previously covered by several machines and a number of employees. The Supercut has allowed us to free up those team members for more value-added tasks such as quality control,” says John.
“Since the installation of the Supercut we’ve had no issues whatsoever with the machinery and if we had any questions or concerns, we know that with one call to the Avantek team, it would be sorted.
“2020 has not been an average year by any means and despite the issues with lockdowns, Force Majeures and problems at the ports, I have to say that Liniar and Avantek have been nothing but professional – we’re delighted with everything, even in light of the current situation.
“Both companies do everything they can to make sure customers are aware of any changes, and there haven’t been any surprises!”
Visit www.swadlincotewindows.com to see the fabricator’s full portfolio of projects and learn how they can help turn your project into reality.