There is a popular misconception in the market about our products that we would like to correct. Of course it’s publicised by one of our competitors and while we don’t normally rise to the bait, we do now feel we owe it to the marketplace to provide the facts so they can make an informed decision. On Kathryn’s (Swisspacer) point, “Anything that makes life more difficult, more complicated, time consuming or expensive for fabricators and installers will deter companies from benefiting from WERs. Why buy complicated or expensive machinery for the application of certain types of spacer bars when you don’t have to?” I couldn’t agree more. Obviously, what Kathryn is trying to spin is that competitive products to her spacer are not as cost effective. This assertion is quite simply wrong and woefully inaccurate.

FACT: Savvy sealed unit manufacturers and fabricators understand the various ways of doing cost comparisons when it comes to IG production – short, mid and long term – but let’s take the three most obvious contributors for a factual comparison:
1) Consumable cost
2) Machinery investment
3) Labour cost
With Kathryn’s product, as with any other warm edge tubular bar that cannot be bent on existing equipment without either modification or indeed complete replacement of the bar bender, there are huge associated incremental costs in terms of labour and consumable prices meaning on these measurements, Swisspacer V costs extra over both aluminium and Super Spacer.

FACT: Kathryn argues that ‘you don’t need to invest to use Swiss Spacer’. That’s fine, but if you don’t invest, you don’t enjoy any tangible productivity benefits of using her product compared to aluminium, and it will actually end up costing you a lot of money,
Example One – manual manufacturing
On manufacture of 1000 units per week with a usage of 3 meters of spacer per unit, not to invest in prototype bending automation to run her product – i.e. revert to cutting and keying the spacer – will cost an additional &pound92,000 per year over aluminium in consumable terms with Swisspacer V.

To Summarise : Swisspacer V:
Based on a usage of 200 units per day with an average of 3 meters of spacer per unit the figures are as follows:

Additional Costs:
– Consumable price based on 1000 units per week = approximate additional cost &pound0.50 per meter x 3 meters = &pound1.50 per unit.
– Additional dessicant (required with HMB backing) = &pound0.10 per unit
– 4 expensive corner keys = &pound0.24 per unit
Savings:
– Labour saving = &pound0.00
– Productivity increase = 0

Total additional cost over aluminium = &pound1.84 per unit x 1000 per week = &pound1840 per week x 50 weeks = &pound92,000 per annum.
And don’t forget the additional labour costs – at least one additional person to manually cut and key the spacer at a cost of &pound18,632 per year based on &pound8.00 per hour, 40 hours per week plus National insurance. The financial summary of this is an increase of in excess of &pound110,000 per year to switch from aluminium to Swisspacer V.
In comparison with Super Spacer there is still an “on” cost to aluminium, but a major saving over Swisspacer and any other warm edge tubular bar. The cost of Super Spacer is similar to other spacer systems, but there are no expensive keys, no PIB or desiccant filling required, thanks to Super Spacer’s pre-desiccated design, unique reverse dual seal acrylic and requirement for less sealant, equating to a 17% saving in sealant costs. Finally, when productivity gains and labour savings are taken into account due to the reduction in manufacturing processes, Super Spacer is by far the most cost competitive warm edge technology on the market.

Additional Costs:
– Spacer price based on 1000 units per week = approximate additional cost &pound0.50 per meter x 3 meters = &pound1.50 per unit.
Savings:
– Labour saving = 1 man x &pound18632 per annum = &pound18632 or &pound0.37 per unit
– HMB saving = approximately &pound0.10 per unit
– Desiccant saving = &pound0.18 per unit
– PIB saving = &pound0.09 per unit
– Corner key saving = &pound0.08 per unit
Total additional cost over aluminium = &pound0.68 per unit x 1000 per week = &pound680 per week x 50 weeks = &pound34,000 per annum.

In total, the additional cost over aluminium is approximately &pound34,000 per year, but this is still a major saving of &pound76,000 over Swisspacer V. The machinery cost which Kathryn bandies around in her scaremongering is a grand total of &pound7200! Or a payback of just over one month – not a bad return by any investment standard. And in fact, many companies who commit 100% to Super Spacer and offer a volume in excess of 500 units per week, actually pay nothing for their machinery subject to joining our Super Spacer Dealership.
Example two – automated production

Fact: For those who do choose to invest to use Kathryn’s product on a large scale, they would need to buy a prototype bar bender, only one of which has been sold anywhere in the world. The cost for this prototype is somewhere in the region &pound250,000 which is pretty much the same cost as a fully automated Super Spacer applicator. And in return for your bar bending investment, you get zero saving in existing labour or processes, and indeed a reduction in productivity. In contrast, with the Super Spacer Applicator, you can potentially reduce your labour by 3 men. According to one machinery manufacturer, the prototype bar bender will bend a unit every 48 seconds with Swisspacer, compared with a unit every 30 seconds with a Super Spacer fully automated applicator. This equates to the difference in output of 600 units per shift with Swisspacer, versus 960 units per shift with Super Spacer.
To summarise: Swisspacer V
Based on a usage of 600 units per day with an average of 3 meters of spacer per unit the figures are as follows:

Additional Costs:
– Consumable price based on 3000 units per week = approximate additional cost &pound0.40 per meter x 3 meters = &pound1.20 per unit.
– Additional dessicant (required with HMB backing) = &pound0.10 per unit
Savings:
– Labour saving = &pound0.00
– Productivity increase = 0

Total additional cost over aluminium = &pound1.30 per unit x 3000 per week = &pound3900 per week x 50 weeks = &pound195,000 per annum.
In comparison with Super Spacer

Additional Costs:
– Spacer price based on 3000 units per week = approximate additional cost &pound0.40 per meter x 3 meters = &pound1.20 per unit.
Savings:
– Labour saving = 3 men x &pound18632 per annum = &pound55896 or &pound0.37 per unit
– HMB saving = approximately &pound0.10 per unit
– Dessicant saving = &pound0.18 per unit
– PIB saving = &pound0.09 per unit
– Connecting key saving = &pound0.06 per unit
– Productivity increase = 360 units per day but for comparison we will count this as equal to Swisspacer V.

– Total additional cost over aluminium = &pound0.40 per unit x 3000 per week = &pound1200 per week x 50 weeks = &pound60000 per annum.

This equates to a saving of &pound135,000 per annum over Swiss Spacer V even if you don’t include the additional productivity gains with Super Spacer.

FACT: It doesn’t take a genius to understand that the only sustainable way to remove cost from manufacturing is to remove process. Swisspacer V at best has the same amount of process as aluminium spacer if you are prepared to spend a quarter of a million pounds to achieve this. At worst, it adds process and therefore labour which inevitably add cost. Super Spacer is still the only mainstream warm edge technology manufactured in the UK that achieves the process savings at whatever level of manufacturing. Kathryn, maybe it’s time you had a look at the hard facts rather than playing with smoke and mirrors and giving information to market which is at best confusing, and at worst downright misleading.

Andy Jones
MD Edgetech UK and Europe