Manufacture

S & I Manufacturing Ltd in Corby manufacture all our shelving, staff points and desking. The company has two separate premises totalling 33,000 sq ft and has invested heavily in the most up to date plant and machinery. Visitors are welcome to come on a tour of the factory.

Opening the Book's relationship with S & I is highly developed – we work jointly on prototyping new products and value-engineering new designs.

We take pride in the quality of our materials and manufacture:

  • All shelves, end and top panels are made out of 18mm MDF board not MFC chipboard. This will take the weight of large books and last for years.
  • The laminates we use are extremely strong (of kitchen worktop quality) and do not chip or scratch easily.
  • Each part is individually machined and quality finished for an engineering fit.
  • All tables, counter tops, IT desks are designed with soft, smoothed chamfered edges which wear better than sharp edges.
  • Corners of all work surfaces are rounded not square.
  • All shelving has hard-wearing laminate kickers.
  • We use high-quality board & PVC edging, designed to take knocks – this prevents simple damage and minimises any sharp edges caused through wear and tear

Sustainable manufacture

  • Wooden shelving is much more environmentally-friendly than metal shelving as timber is a natural product which is renewable and easily recycled.
  • We use environmentally-friendly alternatives to imported hardwoods. Our board manufacturers source timber primarily from renewable UK forests which are managed on a sustainable yield basis.
  • S & I utilises sophisticated manufacturing software which incorporates an additional Materials Requirements Planning package to ensure material usage is maximised and wastage is minimised.
  • S & I qualified for a loan from the Carbon Trust to purchase a combined heating and waste disposal system that heats the factory premises entirely from cut-offs and dust. When Opening the Book fit a library, all waste material is cleared from site and returned to S & I to be processed; non-combustible items such as plastics and metal are recycled where possible, with the amount going into land fill reduced to almost zero.