Some people think that starting a double-glazed window business doesn’t require much. It is quite enough to purchase wood and fittings and equip the room. It is possible, as some believe, to purchase inexpensive equipment for the production of wooden euro-windows. But this is not entirely true: in order to have a stable income, it is necessary not only to ensure high quality products, but also to work according to a certain technological process.
Equipment
The technology for the production of wooden euro-windows involves their production on milling machines. In some cases, a corner window center is also used. The first option is more economical. Equipment for the production of wooden euro-windows can be divided into two categories: main and auxiliary.
The first includes drying chambers with a hydraulic press or clamp and planing equipment. The second type of equipment includes equipment used in the creation and processing of wooden blanks. These are the machines:
— calibrating profiles;
— grinding type ShLPS;
— cutters for the production of wooden euro-windows.
The main materials for such windows are ash, pine and oak. Self-production of timber is advisable only when it is possible to purchase cheap raw materials, saw them, as well as dry and press them.
This technological process is considered quite troublesome, so for small volumes of orders it is easier to buy timber. To manufacture window parts, it is necessary to draw up a specification for the blanks, and then run the profiles on a milling machine.
Estimated business plan for an enterprise for the production of wooden windows
It is planned to open a workshop for the production of windows from finished timber with a cross-section of 78*86 mm.
Capital investments – RUB 1,910,000
List of main equipment for the production workshop:
- four-sided machine S 18-4 for beam calibration;
- cross-cutting machine SMA-10 for rough cutting of lamellas;
- window center LGC-1000 for tenoning, profiling sashes and frames of future windows;
- milling machine FSS-15 for profiling parts;
- pneumatic press VPS-100 for assembling blanks into a window frame;
- horizontal drilling and slotting machine SVPG-213 for milling grooves for mounting crossbars;
- painting stand for painting frames;
- surface grinding belt machine SLPS-6M;
The cost of a turnkey line is RUB 1,820,000.
List of additional equipment:
- pneumatic tools for siliconizing (2 pieces);
- guillotine for trimming drainage;
- electric drills for assembling windows and fastening fittings (2 pieces);
- grinders (2 pieces);
- high pressure compressor for applying paint;
- screwdriver for mounting accessories (2 pieces);
- tables for assembly, intermediate sanding, window putty (6 pieces);
- window storage holders.
Salary fund:
- director – 1 person * 30,000 rubles = 30,000 rubles/month;
- sales manager – 2 people* 20,000 rubles = 40,000 rubles/month;
- master – 1 person * 22,000 rubles = 22,000 rubles/month;
- window measurer – 1 person * 14,000 rubles = 14,000 rubles/month;
- technologist/order taker – 1 person * 20,000 rubles = 20,000 rubles/month;
- operator – 2 people * 12,000 rubles = 24,000 rubles/month;
- installer – 2 people * 16,000 rubles = 32,000 rubles/month;
- carpenter – 1 person * 15,000 rubles = 15,000 rubles/month;
- installer of double-glazed windows/accessories – 2 people * 12,000 rubles = 24,000 rubles/month;
- painter – 1 person * 14,000 rubles = 14,000 rubles/month;
- auxiliary workers – 3 people * 7,500 rubles = 22,500 rubles/month.
Total payroll – 257,500 rubles/month
Deductions for social expenses (37.5%) – 96,562.50 rubles/month
Manufacturing facility
For the production of wooden windows, it is planned to rent a production area of 500 m2 (at a price of 160 rubles/m2), of which 50 m2 will be allocated to a warehouse for raw materials and finished products, and equipment will be installed on 450 m2 according to the layout plan.
Planned production volume and profit
Number of windows produced per month – 500 m2
Selling price of 1 m2 of wooden window – 7200 rub.
Planned revenue: 3,600,000 rubles/month.
Calculation of the cost of 1m2 wooden window
Material costs for manufacturing a 1m2 window with two sashes with tilt-and-turn opening mechanisms:
- timber - 672 rubles;
- double-glazed window - 677.20 rubles;
- window fittings – 947.20 rubles;
- silicone - 35.20 rubles;
- seal for double-glazed windows - 22.40 rubles;
- seal (narrow and wide) – 92.80 rubles;
- drain with corners - 262.40 rubles;
- putty – 246.40 rubles;
- sandpaper - 19.20 rubles;
- paint and varnish materials – 249.60 rubles;
- primer – 160 rubles;
- waterproof glue – 78 rubles;
- screws - 35.20 rubles;
- film for packaging the finished product – 16.40 rubles.
Total: 3514 rub.
Total cost of 1m2 wooden window:
- Material costs - 3514 rubles;
- Taxes – 240 rubles;
- Transport costs (3%) – 112.4 rubles;
- Depreciation – 102.40 rubles;
- Salary – 650 rubles;
Total: 4618.80 RUR
Costs for production of 500 m2 of windows/month
- material costs – 4618.80 * 500 m2 = 2,309,400 rubles;
- electricity – 4,315 kW/month * 1.6 rubles = 6,904 rubles;
- salary + taxes – 354,062.50 rubles;
- advertising – 50,000 rubles;
- rent – 80,000 rubles;
Total: RUB 2,800,366.50/month.
Selection of machines
The most common today is domestic equipment for the production of wooden euro-windows. These are FSSH-1A milling machines, although some prefer to use Chinese models such as “Corvette”, “JET” or “Enkor”. When choosing, the main parameters should be weight and power. In this case, it is advisable to buy milling machines with a carriage and a cast bed. In addition, you need to purchase a set of cutters for making windows.
In order to save money, some people opt for a technique that does not have a tenoning group, and therefore assemble parts using a dovetail. But in this case, you need to take into account that at a forty-five degree angle you can only connect workpieces with identical profiles.
Pneumatic or hydraulic presses
After the lamellas are planed, they need to be glued into timber. The lamellas are placed in a package taking into account the multidirectional fibers. This mutual arrangement makes it possible to compensate for the stresses inside the fibers that arise under the influence of changes in relative air humidity and temperature. The lamellas are coated with a special adhesive and placed under a press so that gluing occurs under constant pressure. In the serial and mass production of wooden windows, pneumatic or hydraulic presses are used. In a single production of wooden windows, a manual press with a screw drive is sufficient. The lamellas are held under pressure until the adhesive composition dries completely, after which the laminated veneer lumber is sent to the mechanical processing area.
The lamellas must be glued into timber no later than 24 hours from the moment they are planed. Otherwise, the natural pores of the wood are closed with resins and clogged with dust, which negatively affects the adhesive properties of the adhesive.
For complete polymerization of the glue after pressing, the timber must be kept for 48 hours at an ambient temperature of at least +15°C.
Wood processing machines
If a manufacturer plans to work only on individual requests and exclusive forms, it will be quite enough for him to only have such equipment for the production of wooden euro windows as an angular processing center.
This unit allows, without replacing the working tool, to perform operations on forming tenons and eyes, “cutting” beams along the length, milling longitudinal profiles, regardless of their sizes and configurations. The main requirement for wood is compliance with established standards.
Types of profiles and features of their processing
The most common profile for the production of wooden euro-windows is laminated veneer lumber. Its main advantages are low cost, high strength, and resistance to deformation. At the same time, frames are made from ordinary hardwood or coniferous trees, as well as especially valuable ones - eucalyptus, meranti, etc., mainly at the request of the customer. They are too expensive and difficult to process, so it is usually not profitable for the manufacturer to put these materials on stream.
How to make it yourself?
It is possible to make window frames with your own hands (regular or with ready-made double-glazed windows) if you have the desire, high-quality consumables and special tools.
Profiles can be prepared in advance at the nearest woodworking shop or furniture factory, or you can purchase ready-made beams directly from manufacturers through the website. Manufacturers will produce the generated individual order according to the developed window block diagram.
The work after selecting suitable materials, tools and drawings will consist of the following steps :
Create a box based on measurements (if there is none in place of the window). A board with a section of 15 x 5 (cm) is suitable for this. Prepare 4 parts (elements) of the window system.- Make a groove with a depth of 1.5 (cm), L-shaped, and then connect the parts of the structure using wood glue.
- In the resulting form, holes are drilled to the required depth (usually 3 cm) for inserting pins coated with wood glue, fixed at right angles.
- You can also prepare places for fittings in advance.
- Then they take a 6 x 4 (cm) beam and make the grooves that are needed to insert glass and connect them. Reliable fixation of frames can be achieved using window angles. For a single-chamber double-glazed window you need 2 grooves, for a double-chamber one they need 3 pieces.
- Glass is inserted. Installation can be simplified: glass is placed on the first part of the beam, and then it is fastened along the top.
- Put on the fittings (this can be done before or after installing the glass).
For the finished double-glazed window, the frame and structure are formed according to the diagram, into a base pre-equipped with fasteners and fittings. It is best, of course, to contact specialists who will quickly and professionally carry out the work with their own tools and place the glass in its intended place.
The opening with the finished double-glazed window is checked for a geometric line. If unevenness in levels is visible, they are removed. Double-glazed windows are secured with self-tapping screws. Existing cracks can be sealed with sealant or foam.
The larger the window block, the thicker the lumber it needs.
Production technology
The first stage in production is drying the wood, which first removes capillary moisture. In modern production, this process is controlled by a computer that reads all the features of the species and the thickness of the lumber. After drying, timber production follows. Wooden window profiles are made either from solid wood or using layer gluing technology.
The next stage is the transformation of wooden beams into window profiles with a given cross-section and shape, as well as a selection of grooves. The quality of the processed surface is characterized by minimal roughness. High purity and precise geometry are obtained in the process of milling the rock using high-tech woodworking equipment. It is quite expensive and requires highly qualified personnel.
Special wood processing is considered one of the important conditions for extending the service life of Euro windows. It involves impregnation, then priming and painting.
Autoclaves
Raw wood is not a suitable material from a technological point of view, so it must be dried. Under-dried wood is susceptible to warping; redistribution of mechanical stresses within the fibers often leads to cracks; such wood has low biological resistance.
Wood drying can be natural (atmospheric) or artificial. In the first case, the felled round timber is kept in the open air for six months to several years until excess moisture is released from the wood fibers. In the mass production of windows made of natural wood, natural drying is not very popular, since it requires additional space and takes a lot of time. To shorten the technological process, wood is dried in autoclaves.
An autoclave is a sealed drying chamber. The wood is placed in a chamber on heating plates, the necessary vacuum is created, and excess moisture quickly leaves the fibers. The degree of vacuumization and heating temperature are selected depending on the type of wood. The cycle of such drying, depending on the quality of the source material, is only a few days.
After drying, the residual moisture is controlled by special moisture meters, and the material is transferred to the next technological operation.
Peculiarities
The most common mistake among many beginning manufacturers is their desire to buy an inexpensive machine for the production of wooden euro-windows. This is wrong, since accuracy in determining dimensions and quality requirements for workpieces force us to think differently about this issue.
In any case, those who have been working in this market for a long time believe that they cannot do without specialized processing machines. These are, for example, centers such as LGC-1000, designed to produce up to a thousand square meters of products per month.
What can you save on?
One of the obvious ways to save money for an enterprise is to minimize the initial investment in organizing and opening a business producing wooden windows. This goal can be achieved by reducing start-up investments through the purchase of used production equipment. Although this method of saving is quite effective, it seems undesirable due to the possibility of frequent failures in the operation of production equipment and, as a consequence, a decrease in the volume and quality of products. Thus, as the enterprise grows and develops, it is necessary to abandon used equipment in favor of purchasing high-quality modern equipment and machines for production.
An equally effective way to save initial investment is to purchase proven window production technology from an experienced large manufacturing company. This method allows you to significantly reduce the initial costs of an entrepreneur and recoup the business project in six months.
In no case should you skimp on marketing and advertising activities, since the effectiveness of forming an initial customer base and a stable flow of orders depends on them. Also, you should not save on the employment of qualified employees, since their work has a direct impact on the production process, the quality of the final product, and, as a consequence, production volumes, sales, as well as financial indicators of the revenue side of the enterprise’s budget.
A competent approach to organizing a business, a thorough study of the market and the level of competition in the region, as well as thoughtful ways to save money will allow a novice entrepreneur to open and develop a business based on the production of wooden window structures with maximum efficiency. The use of modern advertising and marketing methods and techniques for promoting your own business in the media and the World Wide Web will not only have a beneficial effect on the reputation of the enterprise, but will also allow you to form a base of regular and satisfied customers. This approach entails a stable flow of orders and an increase in sales volume, which has an equally beneficial effect on the revenue side of the company’s budget.
Price
Complete equipment for the production of wooden euro-windows is estimated at an average of one million rubles. The kit includes two machines - profiling and tenoning.
In addition to them, production requires several more units of additional equipment, starting with a pneumatic guillotine and ending with a window holder.
There are also requirements for the size of the workshop premises, the area of which should not be less than four hundred square meters.
To ensure that a wooden Euro window in the interior looks like real “furniture” and is truly of high quality, it is manufactured using expensive German equipment from M.Weinig AG, which is today a recognized leader in the market.
Sales market
Today, it is not difficult to find a buyer for any product, because territorial restrictions have long been removed thanks to the World Wide Web, and the tendency to buy and order goods via the Internet is already quite widespread. Therefore, it is better to invest in the creation of a good, advanced Internet resource, thanks to which you can advertise services and products, gaining ratings and your own customer base. This approach will help to increase sales volumes several times, and, accordingly, the profit itself.
