Shelforce boosts manufacturing efficiency and quality assurance with Rapierstar

Fastener specialist Rapierstar is providing extensive support to window and door manufacturer Shelforce to streamline fastener usage and ensure its workforce is fully supported to achieve the highest quality finished products.The Birmingham-based manufacturer, which specialises in the supply of windows and doors to the social housing, new build and schools sectors, is already benefiting from a 25% reduction in the number of different types of fasteners it uses following a Rapierstar fastener ‘Health Check’. This identified instances where a single fastener type and size could be used for multiple purposes throughout the assembly, a move that has reduced fastener stockholding, made ordering easier and simplified manufacture.Given the unique nature of Shelforce in its provision of employment for people living with a wide range of disabilities, its production lines are configured in a way that enables operatives to clearly identify which fasteners to use for each part of the window or door’s construction. Here, Rapierstar has helped by not only reducing the number of different types of fasteners being used – and thus the scope for selecting the wrong one – but also by producing colour-coded charts for every workstation so fabricators have a quick and easy-to-use fastener reference guide in front of them at all times.Rapierstar is supplying Shelforce with an all-austenitic stainless steel suite of fasteners for the manufacture of PVCu windows and doors using Eurocell systems. By correctly applying these premium quality fasteners, which are designed to offer the highest level of resistance to corrosion, Shelforce has established a market-leading proposition, complete with a clear audit trail to give customers complete traceability and peace of mind.Howard Trotter, Business Manager at Shelforce said: “The process changes that Rapierstar havehelped us to implement have enabled us to further improve manufacturing efficiency and optimise quality, while at the same time multi-skilling workers so they are able to work on any part of the production line as required. This ensures we remain competitive in the market with a range of windows and doors that offer significant quality benefits, supported by technical documentation and test data that satisfies client audit requirements, which our loyal and growing customer base really values.”Mark Calpin, Technical Sales Consultant at Rapierstar added: “We’re delighted that Shelforce have chosen Rapierstar as their supply chain partner for fasteners and we look forward to supporting them wherever we can as they develop and grow. Bringing fresh insights to their fastener usage, our technical support is designed to help Shelforce maintain its reputation for consistently high quality finished products, whilst at the same time delivering important productivity benefits.”As the window and door sector’s specialist fastener supplier, Rapierstar is uniquely positioned to support manufacturers like Shelforce to implement a fastener strategy that ticks all the boxes. In addition to the corrosion resistance benefits that austenitic stainless steel fasteners offer, the products used by Shelforce are also all CE marked and every batch is tested against numerous performance criteria at Rapierstar’s in-house test centre to maintain quality consistency. Rapierstar is also supporting Shelforce’s development of its aluminium window and door range, including a bi-fold door option.Operating from its 100,000 sq. ft. warehouse and distribution centre near Macclesfield, Rapierstar works with customers across the UK and Ireland to provide a complete product range, competitively priced and delivered next day. The Rapierstar service is backed by industry-leading technical support team with a collective experience in the fastener market of more than 150 years, helping hardware and systems manufacturers and fabricators to deliver safe, secure, high performing finished products.To find out more visit www.rapierstar.com or call 01260 223311.