April 2022

News Roundup
ENCOURAGING THE NEXT
GENERATION
The Business Manager of a Birmingham
window and door manufacturer provided
local sixth form students with a snapshot
of the glazing industry.
Howard Trotter of Shelforce was invited to
give a half-hour inspirational talk to students
at Highclare School in Erdington about
Shelforce’s journey and the industry.
Highclare students welcomed a number of
inspirational speakers from all walks of life
to deliver talks over enrichment fortnight,
and there is no more inspirational story than
Shelforce.
The company, which specialises in providing
high-quality PVCu and aluminium products
to local authority building projects including
Birmingham City Council, employs some of
the city’s most vulnerable people with 75%
of its workforce disabled.
Howard said: “I was honoured to be asked
to speak to sixth form students at Highclare
School, particularly as we are a proud
Erdington company, as these young people
are the future.
“At Shelforce we have always encouraged
young people and provided regular work
experience placements for students from
nearby schools and with a skills shortage
challenge in our industry, it was a fantastic
opportunity to tell them about what we do.”
Other talks during enrichment fortnight
included financial support talks from Aston
University; how to cope at university work
ethics, and medical careers.
A spokesperson for Highclare School
said:“We’d like to thank Howard and
Shelforce for taking the time out to get
involved; it was great to hear about such an
inspirational company that’s on our doorstep
and learn more about what is a huge
industry.”
www.shelforce.com
DIGITAL INVESTMENT PAYS DIVIDENDS
Investing in a major digital transformation
programme has helped a UK fabricator
of windows, doors, home extensions and
conservatory products to bounce back from
global supply chain disruption and rising energy
prices.
Wakefield-based Conservatory Outlet, which
supplies a 27-strong network of home
improvement retailers across England and
Scotland, says it is now back at 98.5% on time in
full (OTIF) for the last four weeks, and is aiming to
build on this even further over the next six months.
The company has had to manage increased lead
times for materials and unprecedented demand
from customers, who have been benefiting from the
massive surge in spending on homes and domestic
office spaces.
At the heart of the approach has been a £250,000
investment in creating a live tracking system in the
factory, meaning that everyone in the business has
real-time information on where a product is in the
manufacturing process, starting from initial order
right through to dispatch.
Led by Group Head of IT Craig Schmidt, the
Glass processors are under
increased pressure to reduce
overheads and optimise
their use of glass as
margins are being eroded
at an alarming rate due
to rising energy and raw
material prices, according
to Dave Broxton, MD of Bohle.
He says a perfect storm of excessive
demand, logistical problems associated with
Covid, and rising energy prices has put a huge
amount of pressure on the glass industry, with
increased prices being pushed through the
supply chain.
Dave (pictured) says as an indication of what is
to come, the energy surcharge on one lorry load
of glass from one manufacturer went from £350
digital transformation has also provided critical
information on improved order planning, material
utilisation and predictive maintenance on
machines, reducing downtime in the process.
“The whole team has worked tirelessly over the
last six months to get production back to what we
saw prior to Covid-19 with a stable supply chain
and full control of the factory,” commented Michael
Giscombe, Managing Director of Conservatory
Outlet.
“This has basically translated into lead times being
brought back into what customers would normally
expect, despite volumes increasing by 20% since
March 2019.”
www.conservatoryoutlet.co.uk
GLASS PRICES EXPECTED TO INCREASE
to £6,500 during March.
“I think it's inevitable that
there will be significant price
increases in the price of glass
over the coming months,”
explained Dave. “And the
problem with that for the glass
processor, whether they're a large
sealed unit manufacturer or a small
glass processor, is that they really can't afford to
waste glass anymore.
“They need to optimise their production through
software, but they also need to ensure that they
have a limited amount of wastage, and they can
do that by improving the way in which they cut
and process glass.”
www.bohle.com
6 TI APRIL 2022 PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST