Superglass, the UK’s leading independent manufacturer of glass fibre insulation solutions, has announced that it will commence a £6.5m capital expenditure programme at its Stirling manufacturing plant in March this year with completion scheduled for March 2013.
The investment will substantially improve the operating efficiency of the plant and increase production capacity. It involves phased upgrades and modifications to existing machinery in seven different process areas and, once fully implemented, has the potential to deliver aggregate annual operating cost savings of up to £3.6 million. The expenditure will also improve product quality, increase production capacity and increase product compression.
The funding for the capital investment programme was obtained following the completion last week of an £8m equity fundraising and a capital restructuring which reduced bank debt to £5.1m. Scottish Enterprise also awarded Superglass a Regional Selective Assistance grant of up to £2 million.
Superglass Chief Executive Officer Alex McLeod, said,
“The capital expenditure programme is much needed and will substantially improve the manufacturing capability and competitiveness of our plant. We have identified a number of areas where we can upgrade our processes and equipment to deliver real operating efficiency gains and combine that with improved product quality for our customers.
“Our plant is currently operating at near to full capacity on some product lines and this investment will provide us with the ability to increase output by a further 10 per cent once completed.”
