Duraseal boosts capacity for Phoenix Door Panels

Phoenix Door Panels switch from a hot melt process for IG production to Tremco illbruck's Duraseal warm edge spacer system.

As a result the company has achieved EN 1279 for Insulated Glass Units.

Phoenix Door Panels was set up at Somersham, Cambridgeshire by Neil Peck in 1993 and supplies window and door manufacturers across the country with its PVC skinned decorative panels and composite doors which can feature a diverse selection of double glazed, decorative sealed units.

The first contact between Phoenix and Tremco illbruck was during last year's Glassex exhibition and led to the glazing sealant specialist advising the company on the specification and purchase of an entire new glass line.

This is aimed at increasing productivity and helping to guarantee accuracy as well as offering end users better thermal efficiency.

The National Sales Manager for Phoenix, Haydon Statham, reflects on the switch saying: "As a company we produce composite doors and we are a key dealer for K2 conservatory roofs, but 85 per cent of our turnover is in door panels and now employing the Duraseal system we are making in excess of one and a half thousand panels a week - making us one of the largest privately owned UPVC panel companies in the UK.

"We supply bespoke door panels on a four to five working day delivery, but we cannot begin production until the corresponding sealed units are made to be pressed into the vac' formed skins.

We therefore have our own glass toughening line as well as IG production so that we can control our own destiny.

We were using hot melt and aluminium spacer bars, so the great thing for us with Duraseal is speed and capacity.

There is also a greater consistency in the thickness of the units which is also important".

The new line consists of a flat bed washer and an air flotation table as well a special application table for the Duraseal system, and a press.

Phoenix has signed a three year trading agreement with Tremco illbruck and is anticipating steady growth in its business as a result of the changeover.

By utilising a combined spacer, sealant and desiccant, the manufacturer is replacing five separate operations with a single component application, controlling costs and designing out potential problems.

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