Procter Cast Stone invests in excess of £700,000 to reduce lead time and enhance the quality
Procter Cast Stone is investing £715,000 at its factory in Garforth, West Yorkshire, which will benefit customers directly by reducing lead time for bespoke cast stone products, raising customer service and quality standards, and increasing stocks of standard cast stone products. In addition, the company has produced a video to showcase the improved facilities.
A substantial investment has been made in the factory, which effectively makes it a brand new facility. Even though it is built on the same site, the new factory is almost twice as large at 1400sqm, and the mould – making section is now housed in the same building so that the joiners – who are responsible for the process-critical mould-making function now being immediately adjacent to the production process. Furthermore, new joinery machinery has been purchased, and the company has installed computer-controlled batching plant and a climate-controlled curing chamber.
Two more members of staff are joining Procter Cast Stone to support the expanding business. Rasa Aleksandraviciene is an architectural engineer and she is strengthening the technical team, providing detailed advice to customers, preparing CAD drawings and producing complex quotations. Charlotte France is the second new member of staff, focusing on sales and customer service. Between them, these additions to the Procter Cast Stone team will help to ensure the company remains a market leader in terms of attention to detail and customer support, particularly for high-quality bespoke cast stone.
While the investment in personnel is enhancing customer service, the new facilities and equipment mean that turnaround times are reduced, partly because capacity has been increased and partly because the curing chamber cuts the curing time. Procter Cast Stone is already renowned for the high quality of its products, and the new computer-controlled batching plant takes part-to-part and batch-to-batch consistency to an even higher level. Furthermore, the batching and curing enhancements result in a higher-strength product, far exceeding the requirements of BS 1217 and the UK Cast Stone Association (UKCSA) Specification for Cast Stone.
Having reorganised its site at Garforth, Procter Cast Stone now has more space available for safe storage of standard and bespoke cast stone units; consequently the standard range of stocked items can be increased to incorporate new products as well as new colours to suit demand from different geographical regions. Customers are welcome to visit the storage yard to view the variety of cast stone products that can be manufactured and to assess the high quality.
Director of Procter Cast Stone, comments: “With this investment, we will be doubling our capacity by 2017, which will allow us to continue our current annual growth rate of around 15 per cent. We have already received some very positive feedback, so the investment is being appreciated by the people who matter most, namely our customers.”
For those who are unable to visit and tour the new facilities for themselves, Procter Cast Stone has released a video. This shows the design office, joinery workshop, batching plant, cast stone production, hand finishing, curing chamber, storage yard, delivery and installation.
For more information about high-quality bespoke and standard cast stone products contact Procter Cast Stone to discuss specific projects by means of the online chat facility on the website, email info@proctercaststone.co.uk or telephone us.