Dual Seal is primarily a sealed unit manufacturer, doing a large portion of its business for commercial projects. The company is ISO9002 and BS5713 accredited, and has already achieved EN1279 Part 2, with Part 3 pending. Nigel Meredith is Managing Director; his father David founded the company eight years ago.
Office blocks, schools, fast food restaurants and football clubs are just some of the diverse projects Dual Seal has supplied, often as a result of forging partnerships with key contractors. While the local KFC was glazed by Dual Seal, the company has also supplied glass for projects as far afield as China, Ukraine and Sierra Leone. The ongoing supply of glazed units for Portakabins is another very worthwhile contract. Most of Dual Seal's commercial work is delivered to site on stillages, and the company operates a fleet of four vehicles.
New premises
Dual Seal outgrew its previous site in a residential area last year, and opened for business at the new premises in January. Overhead craneage and a dedicated electricity substation were deciding factors in choosing the site, although the former steel fabrication plant required extensive modernisation. Floorspace at the new site is 35,000ft2 compared to 13,500ft2 before, and capacity has effectively doubled – Dual Seal is able to produce almost 1/2 million i.g. units per annum.
In-house capability
Glass tempering, particularly of soft coats, was the capability Dual Seal most wanted to bring in-house. Nearly £1 million was spent on sourcing toughened glass last year, and the company particularly wanted to toughen Saint-Gobain Planitherm on the premises. A Tamglass HTF Super furnace has now been fully commissioned. Toughening Manager Peter Carney oversees the new operation.
Other new machinery includes a Hegla cutting table with edge deletion and an Ashton horizontal glass washer. Dual Seal also has a Lisec laminate cutting table, and manufactures domestic-sized sealed units on a Simec automated line. All units are made with a secondary seal, hence the company's name. This is done with Rheinhardt direct gunning, applying LJF polyurethane.
High specs find appeal
Dual Seal can now routinely supply i.g. units to the highest specifications available. Whilst these are primarily going into the commercial market, at least one domestic retailer is already exploiting the marketing advantages of the superior insulation.
Soft coat products do require careful handling but the resultant high performance amply justifies the effort.
Dual Seal Seal also manufactures laminated units and there is a growing tendency in the commercial sector for toughened units to be made with one leaf laminated and one leaf soft coat.
Welcome to the club
New investment and practices in place at Dual Seal place it among an elite group of sealed unit manufacturers. It remains to be seen how many companies will make the jump across.
Source
Glass Age
Postscript
Dual Seal, tel. 01484 420030
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