Armour Sealed Units Ltd., UK

Those who believe that insulating glass (IG) manufacturers are always located on industrial estates on the outskirts of towns are very much mistaken. The route to Armour Sealed Units passes through the centre of a quiet residential area in Bristol and ends in a cul-de-sac. An older building, measuring almost 250 square metres with the white-red company logo can be found at the end of this cul-de-sac. Company founder and owner Peter Crowley explains how his desire for an insulating glass line in the small factory was fulfilled thanks to Bystronic glass and tells of the challenges that had to be overcome.

Peter Crowley founded Armour Sealed Units Ltd. in 1983 and, since then, has been able to acquire numerous regular customers from the surrounding area for his insulating glass. Two years later, the family company – his son is the head of production and his wife takes care of the office work – moved to the current location. Initially, the insulating glass production was largely performed on a manual basis. Later, it was only the sealing that was performed manually. “For a long time, I could not imagine that a complete insulating glass line including a sealing robot would fit in our small factory”, explains Peter. However, the entrepreneur was fully aware that he needed to invest in his production facility and modernise the old machinery in order to remain competitive and continue to be able to produce premium products that meet the current legal requirements.

“Bystronic glass was the only provider that was able to offer me a fully-equipped insulating glass line for my factory that only measures about 20 metres in length.What most impressed me was the fact that they did not want to force a standard solution full of compromises upon us, they fully recognised our production needs and the on-site conditions.”