This July saw VEKA fabricator Stevenswood relocate from its home of 17 years as it completed a move to a new, purpose-built facility in Grange Road, Livingston.

Established in 1997, the Scottish fabricator quickly outgrew its original 8,000 square feet premises, eventually occupying six units totalling 28,000 square feet on the Houstoun Trading Estate in Livingston, near Edinburgh.

Stevenswood has always been an advocate of lean and efficient manufacturing – a principle embraced in its new 55,000 square foot factory, which allows all processes to take place under one roof.

Now, a month since production started, MD, Ron Hepburn outlines the progress Stevenswood has made and the manufacturing capacity the new factory presents:

“After a great move, we’re now comfortably making in excess of 900 frames a week. With the move, we added a new URBAN four-head CNC corner cleaner, a third Stuga and a new four-head horizontal welder, complementing the existing URBAN six-head and eight-head CNC welders, and moving us to a weekly capacity of around 1,500 by early September.”

“The next phase is to introduce five, ten-hour shifts a week, effectively increasing our weekly production time from 38.25 to 50 hours. That’ll see us hitting a target of around 2,000 frames a week, making us Scotland’s number one trade fabricator and one of the top 10 in the UK!”

Stevenswood distributes through its own chain of six trade counters across Scotland, with offers made on further units in Inverness and Carlisle. It has also just ordered two twelve and one eight-ton Mercedes-Benz trucks to supplement the existing fleet.

Buoyed by the support of VEKA, the industry’s leading PVC-U systems supplier, Stevenswood has promised a range of pioneering new features, made possible by its investment in state-of-the-art machinery. Ron continues:

“All-in-all we’ve spent over £1.7 million in the factory and equipment, but we’re confident that the long-term benefits will justify the outlay. I’m happy to say the move took place without disruption to our customers, and our standards of service will now surpass their already impeccable levels.”

“It’s beyond doubt that having the VEKA name behind us has been a massive help in reaching this milestone. Other fabricators looking to emulate our success would be wise to consider working with such a trusted brand.”