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Manufacturer of graded timber roofing battens, John Brash and Co. Ltd, has unveiled its new state-of-the-art scanning line as part of a £500,000 investment that will enable it to treble production of its JB-Red following the introduction of new British Standards.
The Lincolnshire company installed a Goldeneye camera and laser scanner as well as upgraded the handling line ahead of the introduction of BS5534:2014 at the end of February – which is the new code of practice, British Standard: Slating and Tiling for pitched roofs and vertical cladding.
The new Goldeneye scanning system has nearly doubled the operational line speed of the company’s previous system, running at well over 30 times the speed of good visual grading.
John Brash and Co. Ltd’s chairman, Christian Brash, said: “Having the capability to nearly double the speed at which we can grade wood is critical to the growth of our batten business, and having the flexibility to add extra shifts at our facilities means that we can easily treble the production of fully BS5534:2014-compliant roofing battens.
“The investment we have made means that John Brash continues its proud heritage spanning more than 100 years of producing quality products that are trusted by the roofing industry.”
John Brash and Co. Ltd’s managing director, Chris Watson, has hailed the new standard as great news for the roofing industry, as the Goldeneye scanner is a key part in helping roofers to improve their productivity and meet the required standards.
“We have run extensive trails and testing on wooden roof battens using the Goldeneye, and we are absolutely assured of the accuracy of the grading process. We have complete faith that every single piece of JB-Red that leaves our premises meets that BS5534:2014,” he said.
“That means that the roofing industry won’t have to worry about onsite grading for roofing anymore, so they can spend more time doing what they do best: fixing battens to roofs and installing quality roofs.”
In the short space of time since the new standard came in, John Brash and Co. Ltd’s has seen demand for graded battens that are complaint with BS5534:2014 exceed their forecasts.
