Specialist Glass Products increases productivity by 137%

Huddersfield-based glass manufacturer Specialist Glass Products has drastically improved productivity with the installation of new state-of-the-art machinery in its new purpose-built factory space.
A new CNC milling machine, delivered in January 2020, alongside a new cutting line and automatic glass loading and retrieval equipment installed last year allows Specialist Glass Products to process, cut, toughen and laminate glass up to 6000m x 3210mm. Previously the average output for processing panels was two per hour but this can now be improved to at least four per hour due to increased processing speeds and set-up times.
The previous cutting line has also increased from 6 loading stations to 44 stations and able to hold 88 different products at any one time and therefore eliminating the need for manual loading of bespoke products, of which SGP specialise in.
The investment in new machinery and an increase in productivity and efficiency has opened up new markets previously unavailable to Specialist Glass Products as it has doubled potential cutting output and size of panels able to be processed.
A new factory layout based on the Kaizen system has also improved productivity, with production line principles evidenced in state-of-the-art factories globally being applied on the SGP shop floor.
Andrew Taylor, Managing Director at Specialist Glass Products, commented “When looking at improved outputs and productivity, it is like going from a hot air balloon to a Concorde. We are now able to fulfil orders that we could only dream off two years ago and new global markets are now open to us. We are looking forward to seeing the business growth in the next 12 months and beyond thanks to the investment.”