Case Study - West Joinery

West Joinery of Harefield spent six years attending the W-series exhibitions before finally specifying the Soukup Crafter CNC Window Machining Centre in 2016 — the machine they had identified as the right fit for their business since their first visit in 2010. Once installed and commissioned in early 2017, the workshop moved from producing 10–15 windows a week by hand to completing at least 20 finished windows in just two days.

As a start-up joinery business manufacturing casement windows, doors, and traditional box sliding sash windows, West Joinery was relying on a manual production process — a push-pull single-end tenoner, a spindle moulder, and a separate mortising operation — that was slow, labour-intensive, and a significant bottleneck to growth. At their best, the team could produce 10 to 15 windows a week. The business needed a smarter, more compact approach to window and door production, but the right machine had to wait until the finances supported the investment.

After first encountering the Soukup Crafter CNC Window Machining Centre at the W10 show at the NEC, Birmingham, West Joinery tracked the machine across three further exhibitions before placing their order at W16 in October 2016. The Crafter, supplied by IWM in partnership with Jaraslav Soukup, is purpose-built for UK-style window and door production and is operated using Soukup's own Wincreator software, which simplifies the programming of complex profiles and jointing sequences. The machine consolidates multiple processes into one compact 2m × 2m footprint — including manufacturing horn sections, boxes for spring balances, traditional pulley and weight housings, trenching the cill and head, moulding the cill section, and producing all beading. The machine was delivered, installed, and commissioned in February 2017, complete with Soukup Zuani Design Tooling.

The step-change in output was immediate. Where West Joinery had previously managed 10 to 15 windows per week across multiple manual operations, the Crafter allowed the workshop to produce at least 20 completed windows within two working days — a significant improvement in both speed and throughput. The consolidation of so many operations onto a single machine also reduced the handling and labour time associated with moving components between separate pieces of equipment. Owner Algis Stasiunas described the machine as a truly unique solution for the UK joinery manufacturer, and confirmed that the business could not be happier with the result.