Ulster Carpets Case Study

Ulster Carpets are world-renowned for their bespoke, high-quality carpets. Visit any luxury hotel across the world and you would struggle not to see one of Ulster Carpet’s creations gracing the floor.

But no matter where in the world you see an Ulster carpet, they’ve all been manufactured at the company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Portadown, Northern Ireland, where the company manage every part of the production process themselves.

Weighing equipment is used many times throughout the company’s manufacturing process. Starting in the purpose-built dyehouse, an Avery Weigh-Tronix bench scale weighs each reel of yarn before it’s dyed to ensure the correct dye recipe is used to create consistent colours every time.

Further along the process, latex is weighed on an Avery Weigh-Tronix L246 before it’s applied to the back of the freshly woven carpet, with the scale upholding Ulster Carpets’ strict quality control standards by ensuring the exact amount of latex is used.

Finally, the finished carpet rolls are weighed on a specially modified platform scale to ensure the correct weight is given to the freight carrier before they are shipped off to customers around the world.

The uptime of the weighing equipment on site is critical as if something were to break it would have a knock-on effect elsewhere in the manufacturing process. As well as supplying the weighing equipment, the Avery Weigh-Tronix Ireland team have been providing service support including breakdown cover and scale calibrations to Ulster Carpets for the past 54 years!

For Maintenance Manager, Brian Cunningham, who has worked at the site for 37 years, he knows he can rely on Avery Weigh-Tronix if something were to happen; “The length of our relationship is testament to the level of service Avery Weigh-Tronix has provided us with throughout the years. The service we get from the Irish team is great, they are extremely reliable, and if we ever have any problems I know they will be here to help.”

Part of that service includes ensuring the same engineers are always sent to the site, meaning the Avery Weigh-Tronix engineers can quickly carry out their work with little input needed from the Ulster Carpets team.

John McCullough, Commercial Manager of Avery Weigh-Tronix Ireland adds, “It’s great to see a local business having global success, and we’re proud to have supported Ulster Carpets for such a significant amount of time across the company’s history.”