100,000 pressed door skins per annum

Corus Colorsteels is supplying over 100,000 pressed door skins per annum from its Crosskeys service centre in South Wales to Evergreen Door.

Corus Colorsteels is supplying over 100,000 pressed door skins per annum from its Crosskeys service centre in South Wales to Evergreen Door - one of Europe's largest manufacturers of steel composite doors.

The contract win follows an investment of GBP 300,000 last year by Corus Colorsteels (part of international metals company Corus) in the UK's first dedicated coil-fed door press line.

Evergreen had been sourcing pressed door skins from Canada but agreed to switch to a UK-based supplier when Colorsteels demonstrated they could improve the specification, quality and service provided.

Richard Kirman, general manager for Evergreen Door, explains: "We wanted to bring lead times down, have better communications and closer relationships with our key supplier, and better control of the supply chain - so logistically it has delivered immediate business benefits".

""From order to delivery used to take five weeks, but now it takes five days, and that's with all the benefits of less stock holding and less capital tied up as well.

Delivery reliability has increased dramatically and this in turn has enabled us to provide much better customer service to our end users.

"We trialled the tool extensively beforehand, while Colorsteels planning was excellent and the contingency stock held was always spot on.

Adam Smith, business development manager for Corus Colorsteels, adds: "Working so closely together has provided us with a solid platform for innovation and future developments - and both parties are now looking at a number of other initiatives.

Evergreen supplies most of the major housebuilders with steel doors, while some go to the end user via fabricating companies and others are earmarked for the social housing sector.

Advantages over timber/UPVC equivalents include superior fire ratings, consistency of product and end fit, a highly secure and robust product, plus resuced installation time and costs.

Colorsteel's coil-fed line comprises a 1,500 tonne capacity mechanical press and a state-of-the-art leveller to ensure maximum accuracy and quality.

They also have the capacity to coat the door skins on a unique powder coating line and thereby supply pre-painted door panels.

Similarly, Colorsteels is looking at pressing the skins from wood grain effect pre-coated steel for external door applications.

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