Premier DGU, UK

“At Premier DGU, we wanted to produce triple-glazed units with different cavity widths and depths on a fully automated basis. We see automation as key to our group’s future success by bringing us higher efficiency and quality. That is what this new Glaston IGU line allows us to do,” says Mark Harrison, CEO of United Glass Group.

United Glass Group is a group of four businesses operating in the UK architectural glass market. Premier DGU, based in Exeter, is the group’s most recent acquisition and the only company in the group that volume produces insulating glass units (IGUs). The other companies – Brownhills Glass and Tufwell Glass are flat glass processors, and London Architectural Glass is a specialist in structural units and fire-rated products.

“When we acquired the 40-person business in Exeter, we wanted to grow the business, building on the excellent work of Premier DGU’s founder, Barry Clarke. To do that, we needed additional capacity to improve output on a more automated basis,” says Harrison.

Moving forward quickly

Once the acquisition of Premier DGU was finalized in September 2024, Harrison jumped on a plane with Barry and Ross Worrall, Glaston’s UK representative, to see one of Glaston’s IGU lines in operation near the Czech border. Although United Glass Group has multiple Glaston furnaces running across the group, this is the first time they had purchased an IGU line.

United Glass Group placed an order later that month for a Glaston VARIO FLEX triple-glaze line. The line automates the production of gas-filled and sealed insulating glass units and incorporates flexible warm edge and rigid spacers.

Keeping strict timelines

The Glaston VARIO FLEX line, the first of its type and size in the UK, arrived in Exeter over Easter weekend in April and was installed over the next four weeks. An old line needed to be removed to make space for the new Glaston one.

“We faced a huge risk of disturbing the business, going from two lines to one while the new one was being installed,” he says. “That risk was successfully managed by Glaston strictly adhering to their timelines, and installation was smooth. In addition, Glaston was able to condense everything to fit into a relatively small footprint, without compromising cycle times.”

Line operating well with quality results

Training was comprehensive, and Premier DGU was happy with the engineering team that handled the project on site. The line met all its performance criteria very quickly in the testing phase.

Today, the fully automated line manufactures complete IG units in just over 60 seconds, producing both double- and triple-glazed sealed units with exceptional precision.

We see automation as key to our group’s future success by bringing us higher efficiency and quality. That is what this new Glaston IGU line allows us to do.