Pictured above: (l-r) Graham and Jason Danks (both IRSP)
with Martin McKeever (MAS-WM)
A Brierley Hill company that supplies a major port in the Middle
East and the Shakhtar Donetsk football stadium is celebrating its
latest innovation with the launch of a new 'eco' range.
Insulated Roller Shutter Products (IRSP) is tapping into support
from the Manufacturing Advisory Service-West Midlands (MAS-WM) to
market the groundbreaking 'Euroflex' shutter door that promises to
reduce customer energy costs by nearly £2000 per year.
The company, which employs 15 people at its Old Bush Street
factory, is now planning to demonstrate its green credentials by
developing a downloadable 'app' that will calculate the
performance of the product.
Available for the Iphone and the Blackberry, the technology will
use a formula developed by Technical Director Jason Danks and
quantified by environmental specialists ProEnviro - this will
hopefully lead to sales of more than £1m over the next twelve
months.
Graham Danks, Managing Director, picked up the story:
"We are always looking do things differently and the 'Euroflex'
range is an industry leader in terms of aesthetics, speed and,
importantly, its environmental credentials.
"The shutter has been designed in one section as opposed to two
and features the EcoTech polyurethane foam infill that makes it
lighter and improves thermal performance to minimise energy
wastage."
He continued: "In order to get across the benefits, we
decided to access support from ProEnviro to build an 'app' that
uses a formula to calculate exactly how much carbon is being saved
and the financial advantages to the customer."
IRSP's commitment to the environment will also see it work
towards ISO14001, with the company using MAS support to fine tune
its existing systems and establish new processes.
It is expected to be in a position to secure the 'green'
accreditation by March next year, which will reinforce its
relationship with existing customers and potentially open up new
markets.
"We've received a lot of support from the Manufacturing Advisory
Service since 2007, including lean manufacturing help and a
strategic change project that resulted in a 50% improvement in
productivity and a 20% reduction in waste," explained Jason Danks,
Commercial and Technical Director.
"The latest assistance will ensure we back up what we're saying
in the low carbon agenda and being able to bring in external
specialists to develop the 'app' was extremely beneficial - we
wouldn't have known where to start with the technology without
them."
IRSP offers the most comprehensive selection of roller shutter
products in the world, ranging from the 'green' Euroflex' to
'Secureflex' and 'Eurospeed' - the latter is the fastest closing
door in the sector taking just 9 seconds to open.
The company, which is about to launch its new website
(www.irsp.co.uk), exports to more than 25 countries across the
globe and is seeing particularly strong growth in the Middle East
where the demand for British quality and innovation is at an all
time high.
This has led to an order to supply 600 shutters to a major port
after a local Sheikh was impressed with the quality of the shutters
used at Zayed University.
MAS-WM's Martin McKeever commented: "IRSP are a perfect role
model for other UK businesses in how to use core strengths of
design and manufacturing to take on and beat international
rivals.
"It is continually looking at ways of improving the business and
innovation in this latest 'app' is just the latest in a long line
of breakthroughs that the company has introduced."
Insulated Roller Shutter Products is recording sales of
£2.2m for 2011 and, with the launch of new products over the
next twelve months, will now be looking to take turnover to between
£2.8 and £3m for the first time in its 23-year
history.
MAS-WM, which is part-funded by the European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF), has assisted over 6000 companies to
improve their products, productivity, process and people, adding
over £250m to the turnovers of those firms.