Marginal Gains Help Make Euroglaze Greener & More Efficient

10th October 2018

Just a few months after announcing that they have started fabricating in Rehau’s Total70 co-extruded profile, leading trade fabricators Euroglaze have turned their attention to reducing their environmental footprint in other areas as well. The Barnsley based company has introduced a truly paperless ordering option for all customers, who can now place orders online and receive their order confirmation, invoice, delivery note and statement via email or via the cloud.

Marginal Gains Help Make Euroglaze Greener & More Efficient

They have also switched to paperless purchasing wherever possible – encouraging all those suppliers who are still sending paper acknowledgements and invoices to join their mission to reduce waste and increase efficiency. Internally, it is focusing on achieving a paperless factory and office environment, with electronic production scheduling replacing paper T-cards and bar code scanning being used to monitor frames around the factory.

Martin Nettleton, Managing Director of Euroglaze, explained the difference that this is making: “Whilst our mission is to become greener, the whole process is making us more efficient as well. Where once every order and every frame had pieces of paper associated with them, many of which carried vital information, now this is all done using electronic processes that leave nothing to chance. Important notes and details can be confirmed as having been read and we can trace and maintain accountability in almost every process within the company. We can ensure that our product is right first time, every time.

As we chop down fewer trees and waste less toner, we also improve training and traceability at every stage of production. This fits perfectly with our philosophy of continuous improvement. Our quality circles can see accurate information on where we need to get better and can come up with ideas to make it so.”

Marginal Gains Help Make Euroglaze Greener & More Efficient

For Euroglaze customers, the paperless initiatives are delivering a simpler and more streamlined buying experience and also a faster reaction to queries. With video imaging in place across much of the factory, Euroglaze can check instantly if mistakes have been made at ordering or fabrication stage and deliver a quick and efficient response.

Martin added: “As a keen cyclist, I’m a real advocate of the great coach Dave Brailsford’s mantra of ‘marginal gains’. Every aspect of the business is continually being scrutinised to identify areas where we could increase efficiency, consistency and accountability, while also reducing our costs and environmental impact. After all, the greener and more efficient we become, the better the service we can deliver to customers.”