Unique gears up for Warmcore with the Graf SL4FF

Fabricating more than 1,000 windows per week, the Leicester-based trade and commercial fabricator has seen exponential growth committing to significant investment in its state-of-the-art manufacturing capability.

This has included the purchase of a new Graf Synergy SL4FF seamless corner welder, supplied by the Promac Group at the end of last year.

Atul Patel, Director of Unique Window Systems said: “We’re a volume business. We’re doing 1,000 PVC-U windows and doors a week – you can’t do that and sustain quality, without a high level of automation.

“The investment we have made in machinery has allowed us to keep down costs but more importantly, it allows us to guarantee consistent quality”.

Supplied exclusively in the UK by the Promac Group, having pre-cleaned to exacting tolerances, the SL4FF, zip welds the corner joint whilst controlling the flow of sprue, delivering a seamless but incredibly strong corner joint.

Atul said: “We fabricate Modus and as a flush system, the SL4FF gives us a very high quality weld, which allows us to pitch it against other premium R9-type flush systems.

“The real reason why we have got it is because we’re also fabricating Synseal’s Warmcore. It’s a key product for us and we see a lot of potential in areas traditionally dominated by aluminium systems”, he continued.

“The SL4FF gives us Warmcore at volume – but also just as importantly, the high quality finish that we need with it.”

The SL4FF employs an on-board control system and CAD Scan software, which maps the profile chamber configuration directly from a standard photocopier scanner. 

This allows the operator to work with actual dimensions rather than profile related drawings bringing a new level of accuracy and finish perfection.

This has been employed by Unique to provide an ultra-strong weld of Warmcore’s underlying PVC-U profile and perfect alignment of its aluminium ‘skin’.  

“We ran it for a couple of months before we started production because we wanted it to be completely optimised before we took on any contracts. The quality we have got on the joints is just incredible”, said Atul.

According to Promac, the SL4FF not only delivers a better quality product but can also deliver a twofold increase in productivity compared to other traditional manufacturing processes.

This is in part because the SL4 FF eliminates any requirement for cooling tables and corner cleaning, also giving it a space-saving footprint of just 25 sq metres.

The machinery platform is self-contained with installed extraction and automatic heater plate cleaning, reducing downtime for any manual intervention.

For maintenance and service the SL4 FF is also equipped with on board self-diagnostic software and can be accessed via remote support.