The ‘Rolls Royce’ of punch tools for Alunet aluminium window fabricators

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex… it takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.”

Ernst Schumacher’s infamous stance on human scale economics (or in other words – keeping things simple) perfectly illustrates the success of an ongoing collaboration between Jade, the industry’s tooling and machinery expert, and Alunet Systems, the newest aluminium profile player on the block who is disrupting the existing ponderous aluminium supply chain with a fresh new approach.

Punch tools for aluminium fabricators

In short, the collaboration consists of the steady supply of punch tool machines to Alunet’s growing network of aluminium window and doors fabricators across the UK. A simple enough request but one which Chris Armes, Alunet’s product development director knew could be unnecessarily challenging and painful if he stuck to established European tool suppliers.

“The philosophy behind Alunet is to strip away the layers of complexity and look at aluminium system supply to the industry with fresh new eyes,” said Chris Armes. “It is no secret that Alunet is rapidly positioning itself as one of the fastest growing aluminium systems houses, and that is because we have created an approach which embraces simplicity, flexibility, agility – in complete contrast to the established cumbersomeness of the sector”.

With 20 years of working in the uPVC sector, Chris had successfully gone through a number of projects with Jade, and enjoyed the positive, confident approach directors Adam Jones and Sean Mackey took with every project. The introduction of a new line of punch tools to complement Alunet’s leading edge Aluna+ system was critical, and he instinctively knew that Jade would bring that same attitude of optimism and ‘can do.’

“When we first approached Jade we gave them a definitive time scale – four weeks for the initial design process, and a further six weeks to produce a prototype,” continued Chris. “The Jade team rose to the challenge, achieving the first goalpost with a design which looked and felt exactly as specified. Despite supply chain delays along the way which were out of Alunet and  Jade’s control, leading to even tighter deadlines – Adam and Sean were still able to pull the prototype out of the bag on time and bang on quality.”

Jade director Adam Jones added: “When Chris came to us with his requirements, we had no doubt at all that we could accommodate what he wanted. I would go so far as to say we already had in our minds exactly what he was looking for, we were simply looking for the right opportunity to implement it ourselves. The tight parameters suited us – they focused the mind and allowed us to unleash that industry engineering creativity that responds to the needs of the user, rather than fitting in with the existing boundaries of the supply chain.”

The project initially consisted of the design and supply of 25 punch tools to be rolled out to Alunet’s growing fabricator network. Chris was looking for elements that reflected the company’s own values – a lean, minimalist design, easy and quick to maintain, simple functionality, low stock holding but easily accessible (both in terms of new machines and replacement parts).

New punch tool machines ready and available

“We have created a classic on-shoring supply and maintenance partnership which illustrates the best in terms of British engineering and service,” said Jade’s Sean Mackey proudly. “Reliance on European products significantly slows down responsiveness to production issues. If you need to order a new part, it immediately gets trapped in logistics, with replacements sitting on a pallet 1000s of kilometres away waiting for the next shipment. The knock-on effect on manufacturing efficiencies can end up costing a fabricator a chunk of its bottom line. At Jade, not only are we keeping a healthy consignment of new punch tool machines ready and available for the next company to start fabricating the Alunet profile – we also have the ready supply of replacement punches that can be popped into an envelope and with the fabricator within 24 hours.”

Of course, brilliant service is not the only plus point with working with Jade – the quality and the performance of the machines also plays a significant part.

“I would say that Jade’s engineering produces the Rolls Royce of punch tools,” commented Chris Armes. “It looks good, it has been designed with safety and ongoing ease of maintenance in mind. It evokes that classic Jade quality which instils a sense of confidence with our customers.”

Replacing one of the unit’s punches couldn’t be simpler or quicker – the machine does not need dismantling. The operator just pops off the lid and changes the old tool for a new one, and away it goes again.

“We knew that Jade has that ‘touch of genius’ that would strip away supply chain complexities, and it’s working really well for us both,” said Chris.

From Jade’s point of view, this collaboration is indicative of the trust and loyalty that is endemic in the industry, with personal relationships transferring across company lines as connections grown and evolve in the industry.

Improving the window industry’s aluminium supply chain

“Having worked with Chris on and off over the years, there is an instinctiveness to the working relationship where we each understand the other’s nuances and expectations,” concluded Adam Jones. “Alunet’s disruptive approach to the aluminium supply chain sits well with our own desire to simplify processes and bring them under better control. This partnership is indicative of what can be achieved, and sets a blueprint up for future collaborations.”