When running a busy tile store, any device that can save space, time and money is worth its weight in gold. So when teenager Sam Hutchinson of European Heritage, in Fulham, designed and built a machine for measuring and cutting the popular Schlüter®-DITRA, Schlüter®-KERDI and Schlüter®-KERDI-KEBA as part of his A2 product design A-Level, his father and store owner Peter Hutchinson was delighted.
Says Sam, 18, “We were having to take the Schlüter®-DITRA and Schlüter®-KERDI rolls outside in the busy delivery yard, to measure them and then cut them to size without a guide. We were losing up to £17,000 a year from inaccurate cutting, not to mention the disadvantage of valuable staff being taken away from the showroom.”
The ingenious use of the measuring wheel, and the space-saving design, means that rolls of Schlüter®-DITRA, Schlüter®-KERDI and Schlüter®-KERDI-KEBA can be stored, measured, cut and rolled for the customer in a small area of the shop, saving money, and staff time.
Schlüter®-DITRA is the renowned uncoupling and waterproofing membrane, made from 3mm thick polyethylene providing essential protection from differential substrate movement. Schlüter®-KERDI meanwhile is a polyethylene waterproofing membrane, ideal for use in wetrooms or bathrooms, whilst Schlüter®-KERDI-KEBA is a sealing band, ensuring waterproof connections between waterproofing membranes.
The machine was built after several months of research and design, culminating in a side-loading device made from galvanized steel handrails and a modified wheel taken from land surveying equipment. The machine cost approximately £400 in materials, and since its introduction to the store it has become an integral piece of equipment being used daily, recouping its building costs in just two weeks.
Sam has decided to carry on his studies in the engineering field after receiving a much coveted Design and Technology award for his Schlüter®-DITRA machine, in which he got an astonishing 100% for his product design coursework, a distinction award from his school for attaining such a high grade, as well as a remarkable 3 As at A Level, earning himself a place studying Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College.
For more information contact:
Stewart Bint
Telephone: 01530 813396
Fax: 01530 813376
e-mail:
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