Crystal Units is gearing up for future business, and has recently installed LiSEC software tools with this in mind.
“We aim to have a healthy and reasonable production capacity, and try to focus on the type of products that are difficult and are most likely to cause a headache at the start of the project,“ says General Manager Pankaj Gorsia, who runs the company together with his brother in law, Vijay Halai. “We are good at offering solutions to architects who need to realize unique projects“, the young entrepreneur said. What makes Crystal Units unique in the market is the opportunity it offers to get everything from one single source with the advantages of a flat hierarchy: quick decisions, smart teams that pick up business as fast as they can and an innate hands-on mentality.
When his father founded the company, it started with pre-owned LiSEC equipment. Since then the company has been loyal to the brand and today nearly all machines and lines carry the LiSEC logo. “The reason for this is simple: we invest in LiSEC equipment because we understand the technology and the LiSEC way of engineering. Over the years we have built confidence. We know what we get when we buy LiSEC: great technology supported by great people“.
Last year Crystal Units decided to install LiSEC software tools. Until then, it had relied on a software package from a local supplier, which did not offer an intelligent system in the order entry process. Thanks to the LiSEC capacity planning tool, the orders are now structured and the system tells which days are possible to deliver and which are not. Deliveries are ready three days in advance – and the team can take in more orders. LiSEC software enabled Crystal Units to increase capacity by nearly 15% and to fundamentally change the way they work. Because of easier batching, Crystal Units has reduced the time spent on toughening and have also 10-12% less waste now. Gorsia said “In the past, everything was urgent and we were chasing our tails“.
The new way of planning capacity also had an impact on the organisation of the teams. Before the LiSEC capacity planning was installed, shifts at the IG lines took 12 hours, now they last 8 hours with the same workload. Today, Crystal Units have room for capacity at the same site without having to invest in further machines. “Which is important, since we are very tight on space here. The tracking system has hugely helped us to get more room in production and to locate glass much more efficiently”, Gorsia said.
Crystal Units is gearing up for tomorrow’s business, believing that the next 10 years will be crucial. On the one hand they consider the possibilities of setting up new plants – create satellite production sites. They may even consider starting with a smaller site, then grow it. “For this to happen, we need to ensure we have perfect processes in place which we can then replicate into new ventures. On the other hand Crystal Units is also looking at opportunities via partnerships in other countries.
Crystal Units focuses the importance of partnerships: We do business but what we really like to work on are partnerships – like with LiSEC and Crystal Units: LiSEC gives us highly valuable input as to how to do the business and provides us with robust training, having only one goal in mind: they want us to be successful as a company,” said Gorsia.
Crystal Units Ltd is located in Hendon, North West London. The company was founded in 1994 and today employs over 90 staff, and had a turnover in 2014 of thirteen million pounds.