Reduced Manufacturing Times Make Aluplast Lift-And-Slide A Showstopper At This Year’s FIT

Offering significantly reduced manufacturing times, Passive Haus equivalent standard thermal efficiency and modular aluskin aluminium external cladding options, aluplast’s new Lift-and-Slide was at the forefront of a new generation of PVC-U products on show at FIT 2017.

Reporting high levels of interest throughout the show, aluplast unveiled its highly innovative and ultra-thermally efficient new Lift-and-Slide Patio door, at this year’s industry expo.

Capable of spanning openings of 6.5m X 2.8m, the modular 85mm system can accommodate glazing units of up to 51mm to deliver u-values as low as 0.65 W/m²K, meeting Passive Haus standards – a first for the product type.

Also, delivering manufacturing time efficiencies of up to 40% over comparable systems, Ian Cocken, Director of Sales and Marketing, aluplast, said, the new aluplast Lift-and-Slide door, combined a strong architectural aesthetic and advance performance.

“The lift-and-slide mechanism, the u-values that this door can deliver, the flush threshold, it’s weather performance, combined with an exceptional aesthetic, including the aluskin aluminium option, gives the Lift-and-Slide incredible reach”, he said.

“There has been a definite shift within the market to premium products. The Lift-and-Slide can be manufactured highly efficiently. As a modular system, stock holding is kept to a minimum, while it can also be sold as either a standard or with a foiled or aluminium external finish.

“This gives the aluplast Lift-and-Slide huge market potential, something which I believe anyone who came to our standard during the show recognised immediately.”

aluskin is is aluplast’s proven external aluminium facing technology.  It uses an innovative ‘click-and-fix’ system to allow PVC-U fabricators to manufacture an aluminium-clad PVC-U casement window without the requirement for specialist equipment – opening-up access to new market sectors.

In addition to the aluplast Lift-and-Slide door, aluskin is also available on aluplast’s new Ideal 4000 casement window, which also showcased for the first time at this year’s expo.

The leading-edge 70mm PVC-U system is defined by a contemporary ‘SquareLine’ profile and the flexibility that it delivers, as a fully integrated product offering including the aluskin aluminium external finishing option.

Part Q approved, and achieving a WER A rating in either its’ standard PVC-U, foiled or aluskin forms, Cocken said that Ideal 4000 had extensive reach across residential and commercial markets.

He said: “The growing volume of foiled product installed in the UK is indicative of a shift to premium product offerings. Our new Ideal 4000 system is a high-performance PVC-U casement in its own-right, delivering a strong contemporary and urban aesthetic.

“But like the Lift-and-Slide, the Ideal 4000 also delivers scope to build on this core offering, through foils and through aluskin to meet the growing value the end user is placing on design and aesthetics.”,

Ideal 4000 is launched in addition to aluplast’s core offer – the Ideal 70 system. With a choice of 24mm to 40mm glazing options, the slim line ovolo profile, easily accommodates triple-glazed systems, with triple-glazed options achieving a low U-Value with standard components. This allows it to comfortably achieve a WERs A⁺⁺ rating.

With a substantial stand at this year’s show and with continuing investment in its UK distribution centre, customer service and technical support teams, aluplast continues to grow its presence in the UK.

Cocken said: “What the FIT Show has been about for us, has been showing UK fabricators and installers how much we’re investing in new product innovation and what that’s bringing to the UK fabrication and retail sector.

“Our customers can access global leading innovation at what is a very competitive price point. Again, that wasn’t lost on visitors to the stand this year. This is something which provides us with a real springboard for our continuing growth and increasing market share this year.”

For more information please call 01684 273401 email info@aluplast.co.uk  or visit www.aluplast.co.uk.

With the first successful FIT Show at the NEC starting to become a distant memory, Apeer shows no signs of slowing down as they begin preparing for the other eight exhibitions left in their calendar. The Apeer schedule is a particularly hectic one this year thanks to a total of 13 different shows, of which the FIT Show is now another that can be checked off the team’s list.

“We so enjoy exhibiting at the FIT Show and this one definitely didn’t disappoint. Once again it gave us a great platform for our new and existing customers to really engage with our products and provided the team with some fantastic networking opportunities,” said Linda Tomb, Marketing Manager.

“One of our main goals this year was to raise Lumi’s profile as a credible choice for refurbishment projects, as well as being equally suitable for new build applications. We made sure demonstrations of our reglazeable window were available on the stand too to help visitors better visualise the process,” Linda added.

Striking new additions to the award winning Lumi range were also launched at stand K30 including a frameless Lumi French door and a colourful new Lumi front door. Showcasing the unique aesthetics and high quality finish that have become Lumi’s calling card, both additions sat in prime position on the stand alongside the beautiful three pane triple track Lumi Lift & Slide door as it was offered up to Apeer trade customers for the first time.

However, Lumi was not the only brand vying for visitors’ attention as Apeer had also brought a selection from their popular range of composite doors to showcase at the event.

“The stable door has been one of the most well received doors in the collection,” explained Linda. “It offers that popular country chic look that so many homeowners aspire to, but we have developed ours to be double rebated so that it has all the charm of the traditional style but with none of the loss in performance.

“Like all of our doors it has a warp resistant fibreglass and high density polyurethane foam core design, which can then be finished with one of the versatile spray and foil colour combinations that we offer in-house at our Ballymena factory.”

In addition to providing a wealth of colours and finishes under one roof, the Apeer team were also keen to show customers what else they can offer from the in-house team of glass designers, as Director Asa McGillian explained:

“We’re lucky to have a really talented team that produce all of our bespoke glass designs and for the show we wanted to create something special that pushed us to challenge ourselves. Inspired by one of our factory team who moonlights as an extra on the show, we came up with the Game of Thrones design which was great fun and a fantastic talking point for us on the stand.”

Alongside all of the new product developments and intricate glass designs Apeer also had customer support improvements in mind in the lead up to the event. Two glossy new brochures, one each for Lumi and Apeer, plus two fresh new websites were launched to include all of the latest products for both brands and to reaffirm the company’s online presence.

One of the key developments was the overhaul of Apeer’s online Doorbuilder tool which was demonstrated on the stand throughout the show to help customers get to grips with its benefits. Refreshed to incorporate the complete list of Apeer products, including the most recent additions to the Lumi window and door range, the pricing and ordering tool was just one of the ways Apeer have adapted to better help their trade partners succeed.

Asa concluded: “Our trade partner network is still growing so there’s plenty to do and no time for us to relax just yet. We’re already gearing up to see lots more faces at the Surrey Homebuilding and Renovating Show on 1^st and 2^nd July, so for anyone that might have missed us at the NEC, we hope to see you there.”