AMS, a success story Cork can be proud of

AMS, the market leader in the Irish Aluminium industry was established in Cork in January 1990 by Chris Martin, Pat O’Hara and the late Dave Rawlings. The company was founded through the awareness of all three in need for a high quality, customer and service driven supplier of products to the fenestration industry.

Originally offering the O&S PVC products from their warehouse in Site Cast Industrial Estate, Cork, AMS quickly realised that the building industry demanded more. The Directors reacted accordingly and shifted their focus from the PVC industry to the supply of aluminium systems.

Ten years on AMS had built up a large business for their aluminium systems, getting them painted and thermally broken locally. In 2001 AMS decided to purchase a 78,000 sq. ft. building on the water’s edge in Wallingstown, Little Island. Once the home of the Sea-Ray speed boat factory, the space afforded the opportunity to install two state of the art horizontal paint lines and a thermal break line. This allowed the company to take control of their painting and thermal break capabilities and ensure that customer commitments were always met. The positive consequence of this also allowed for the reduction of lead times, which the Irish fenestration industry reacted to in such a positive manner that the company became the leader in the supply of high quality Aluminium systems, a position they have maintained since 2002.

From 2002 to 2006, there was a commitment of innovation and design, where AMS developed its patented thermal break window and door systems. The customer uptake was unprecedented, necessitating the purchase and installation of a vertical paint line in 2008, just to keep up with customer demands.

With the commissioning of the vertical paint line in 2008 and the launch of the TS66 and MU800HI curtain wall System there was so much of an appetite for the AMS collection of profile, that the management of AMS purchased their first aluminium extrusion plant, the 1800 tonne press was commissioned in 2010, and was capable of producing 6,000 tonnes of profile per annum.

Despite the global financial crash of that year, AMS was able to react and diversify having the mechanisms all under one roof and expanded into other markets requiring the use of high-quality aluminium products. The ambition of total service and supply on one site was further bolstered by the addition of a sheet metal department in 2015.

By 2018, the current extrusion capacity of 6,000 tonnes was insufficient to service the demand for the highest quality Aluminium profiles, so AMS invested in an additional 2,500 tonne extrusion press, commissioned in 2019. AMS now has an extrusion capability of 16,000 tonnes per annum, reinforcing its position to market leader in the Aluminium Industry.

AMS has an unyielding approach to investment, innovation and service – which in 30 years has brought it from a local supplier of PVC to a global supplier of Aluminium. AMS is Ireland’s only independently owned manufacturer of extruded aluminium profiles.

SBD National Manager Kenny McHugh said: “I am delighted at the success that AMS have had over the last thirty years and wish them every success over the next thirty. As an SBD member company they buy into our ethos of safety and security, and are working with us to make our communities safer for generations to come.

“I visited AMS last November and was impressed with the huge capacity of the factory. It is amazing how the business is going from strength to strength and continuing to expand. AMS truly is a success story that Cork can be proud of”.

AMS said “Being members of SBD has driven us to design and supply products that will last the test of time. Utilising quality hardware, with good extrusions and continuous testing, helps us to understand the needs of today’s customers, both in the UK and Ireland. It is good to know that by being members of SBD it drives us on to be the best that we can possibly be when it comes to security”.

You can find out more about AMS and their range of SBD accredited products here: https://www.securedbydesign.com/member-companies/sbd-members?view=companydetail&account=0011i00000Jpw6bAAB