Bathroom furniture manufacturer Utopia is expanding its business following installation of two Friz membrane presses.
The Wolverhampton firm, which has an £11m turnover, invested about £750,000 in the machines, which were supplied by Homag UK.
Utopia laminates its profiled doors, faces and back panels on the presses.
The first press was ordered following careful research and a visit to the Friz factory in Germany. Utopia was impressed with its engineering, performance, aftersales and back-up engineers in the UK.
It subsequently bought a second machine.
The four-bed press works two shifts and the two-bed a single shift, pressing a combined total of up to 2,000 panels per day.
The four-bed is a Profiline machine designed to deliver the volumes and quality required by Utopia, while the two-bed is Optimat format offering a fixed-execution design.
Factory manager Ray Hollyhead said a major advantage was the machinery’s ability to cope with demanding and intricate designs.
He said their reliability and flexibility were important because of the variety of bathroom furniture styles and ranges.
Utopia is now starting phase two of its factory expansion. It is adding 55,000ft² to its current 120,000ft² in order to bring some operations in-house.
Previously out-sourced solid surface work and pottery ranges will be completed by Utopia when the extension is finished in December.
New equipment will include a new Euro 2000 Router and a Schelling beam saw.
