Promac Group has reported that it delivered near record installation activity throughout last year, as fabricators and glass processors invested in new machinery.
Reporting sustained market confidence, Promac said it completed an average of more than a dozen machinery installations each month, throughout 2016.
Joe Hague, managing director, Promac Group said he expected Q1 2017 to deliver continuing high levels of activity as companies took advantage of not only low interest rates – but also the availability of finance.
He said: “LIBOR, the rate of interest at which banks lend to each other, remains at an historically low level, which means business borrowing is also very low.
“At the same time, the controls introduced since the 2008 financial crisis and credit crunch mean that there is also not only a high level of liquidity within the banking sector but also banks are incentivized to lend it.
“These factors combined, plus some of the highly innovative new machinery available in the market, makes it a great time to invest and it seems that fabricators and glass processors are taking advantage of it.”
Joe continued: “There are also several additional drivers, which may make investment in machinery now prudent. The first is efficiency. The industry has seen a series of price increases since the Brexit vote. The efficiency that comes with increased automation, is a way of mitigating the impact of those increased costs at fabrication and processing levels, by reducing labour costs.
“The second is increased focus on quality. Increasing the automation of lines is an important element in achieving this by reducing handling.
“And finally but by no means least, if you’re chasing higher margin sales, either in aluminium of high-end PVC-U fabrication, you have to have the capacity to manufacture the right products and do so at volume.
“The coming year is hard to call because of Brexit but regardless of it, these are long term trends and that puts a pressure on fabricators and glass processors to keep pace but also generates new opportunities for those who do.”
