Rapierstar’s specialist fastener guidance, coupled with practical assistance with on-site testing, has supported window and door manufacturer Taylor Manufacturing to successfully develop a purpose-designed range for the holiday and leisure home sector.
A division of Solar Fabrications Holdings, Huthwaite-based Taylor Manufacturing consulted Rapierstar as part of a project to expand its offer and give caravan and holiday home manufacturers a range of products to effectively meet the highest levels of thermal performance and security, as well as achieving superb aesthetics and optimised assembly.
Already established as a major manufacturer of PVC-U windows and doors for the UK domestic sector, the company’s diversification into the holiday and leisure home market supports its long term growth plan. However, the move required a slightly different approach to the fasteners required for fabrication and assembly.
It was important that Taylor Manufacturing could provide its customers with best practice for the installation of the windows and doors into the mainly timber substrates used to build the structures of lightweight holiday and leisure homes.
Rapierstar’s technical team advised on all these aspects of fabrication and installation, helping to create a specification that would ensure the right screws are always used for the right applications. This included assistance in testing at Taylor Manufacturing’s technical centre where tests were conducted to arrive at the optimum fastener specification taking into account factors such as the fastener diameter, head style, material and length.
Gareth Jones, managing director Solar Fabrications commented: “Although from the outside the specification of screws would seem fairly straightforward the reality is very much different. Ensuring the right product is critical not just for the correct fixing of the window but also to enable fitting teams on the production line to work efficiently. Without the support of Rapierstar we would not have achieved this.”
Mark Calpin, technical consultant at Rapierstar, who led the team’s support for this project, added: “We’re delighted to have been asked to support Taylor Manufacturing’s technical team on this exciting project to expand into the holiday and leisure homes market. By being invited to provide fastener guidance at an early stage, we were able to help the technical team to streamline the product development process, ultimately saving time and resources, whilst also achieving their superior performance targets for the finished window and door units.”
