Prima Systems Builds its Empire on Elumatec Quality

Aluminium fabricator, Prima Systems (South East) Ltd, is full of praise for the quality of service it has received since becoming an Elumatec customer back in 2003, and it is still going strong continuing to build its empire using Elumatec machinery.

Based in Nonington, Kent, the company specialises in fabricating aluminium windows, doors and curtain walling. Prima was seeking quality machines for the next stage of its development. ‘At that point we didn't know a lot about Elumatec,’ explained Ross Halfpenny, Production Director, Prima Systems. ‘But we'd looked into many other machine suppliers and decided that Elumatec seemed to have the most experience in aluminium profile machining.’ In April 2003, Prima bought a DG142 Cutting Saw and TS 161 Bead Saw, which were added to in the following year with a SBZ122 CNC machine, TS161 Bead Saw and EP124 Crimper.

The resurgence of aluminium meant that Prima had to think about another investment if it were to both keep pace and improve its already high reputation for quality. In April this year the decision was taken to purchase a SBZ130 CNC machine, partly to enable Prima to have a greater throughput but also to process longer lengths of aluminium profile.
‘The key point of our last purchase was the time factor,’ said Ross. ‘We had a very high workload booked for the next three months which was going to be almost impossible to achieve without making a quick decision to increase on our CNC machinery.’ However, time really was of the essence and Elumatec was set the target of delivering a SBZ130 within three weeks; a task that usually is completed four to six months. ‘Elumatec's area rep, Bryan Dando, was at our offices within three days and we were signing the order with a delivery date for three weeks' time,’ said Ross. ‘This enabled us to undertake the large workload that we had booked and ensured that we were still efficient and upholding our quality level.’

Prima is convinced it has seen many benefits with each purchase in terms of output, consistent quality and efficiency. It has also just integrated the machines with its processing software, enabling a smoother and more efficient process for the machine workers as the job is sent via PC network from the office (or anywhere in the world) to the factory machines. Each aluminium profile starts at the DG142 cutting saw and all the cut profile has a bar code put on it, which prints from the saw. This enables the profile to be scanned and put on either the SBZ122 or SBZ130 CNC machines and have any prepping/milling work carried out.

‘This has been a long but always exciting project for us and we would have felt very alone without the aid of Elumatec,’ admitted Ross Halfpenny. ‘To us it is not just a company that wants to sell machines but one that wants to also see the machines working at their best by helping with the machine links and advising the customer along the way. Over this whole period the amount of help that Elumatec gave to us was fantastic and has been very much appreciated.’

‘Prima is just one example of what we always want to achieve with a customer,’ stated Phil Heavey, Managing Director, Elumatec UK. ‘We're willing to pull out all the stops to get the desired result which, in this case, we did and with Prima's complete satisfaction.’

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