The UK“s Duraflex Ltd., a window profile extruder, has launched a major investment project to consolidate its operations at a single site. Currently, the firm has its headquarters in Cheltenham (sout…
The UK“s Duraflex Ltd., a window profile extruder, has launched a major investment project to consolidate its operations at a single site. Currently, the firm has its headquarters in Cheltenham (south west England), with manufacturing at a second location (Toddington, between Cheltenham and Evesham) and distribution at Quedgley, 25 miles away from the factory. Now the firm is consolidating its three operations into a new site in nearby Tewkesbury. Construction has already begun on the 24,155 square meter Tewkesbury headquarters and is to be completed by end June 2004. The move will be gradual, with products being stockpiled before manufacturing is transferred to the new plant, said sales and marketing director Neil Roberts. Duraflex is owned by Masco Corp. of Taylor, Michigan. Since Masco took over in June 2002, Duraflex has added four extrusion lines, giving it 27. The expansion will give the company room for 45 lines, Roberts said. He did not reveal the amount the company is investing. “The market has expanded rapidly over the last four to five years, and we just can“t keep pace with demand,““ he said. “Masco brought us the ability to plan long term, five to 10 years. Our facilities were not adequate for the growth we expect to see.““ Duraflex, which employs 210, has annual sales of more than GBP 30 million (USD 54 million). The company supplies vinyl windows through a network of fabricators and installers. Over the past three years, Duraflex has invested about USD 7 million in capital expenditures, including new tooling for high-capacity/high-output extrusion machinery. The firm is the UK“s third-ranked PVC window profile extruder, behind Heywood Williams Group plc and Rehau GmbH, Roberts said.