Opticore goes from strength to strength

EJOT UK has successfully launched its highly innovative one-step fastening solution for membrane faced composite systems, Opticore.

The new range is the brainchild of our UK R&D team based at the EJOT Applitec centre near Leeds, and the ingenuity of its design has already met with an enthusiastic response from the leading system manufacturers.

EJOT UKs Managing Director Chris Middleton was part of a diverse think-tank created to look at potential improvement niches in all areas of the roofing and cladding industry. He explained how the Opticore range was chosen to herald a new wave of technical innovation from the company:

"We challenged ourselves to bring something totally fresh to the marketplace; something to take user benefits to another level, both practically and environmentally, and achieve it through the highest engineering principles."

Months of research and consultation preceded the development programme, headed by EJOTs Brian Mack:

"Our goal was to deliver a product endorsed by fact and not theory, so we adapted an holistic approach that deliberately challenged every possible angle. We began by talking to system providers and contractors alike, based on a remit of what could be done to improve on current options."

Any move to reduce installation times from traditional jig tool and alignment techniques were a prerequisite, but research indicated that key issues literally revolved round thermal retention and more crucially, the likelihood of compromise and consequential weakening caused by scoring to the integral liner, by current "core drill and fix" solutions.

The simplicity of our solution has been achieved through the use of an engineered moulded nylon head that not only provides the coring action but eliminates the possibility of damage to the liner as the fastener pulls up. Once in place, the plastic to metal relationship of the system provides significantly better thermal retention values.

EJOT''''s capability as a complete range provider meant it was a relatively simple step to provide the fastener and appropriate stitchers in a choice of carbon and stainless steel finishes. But the final accolade goes once more to Opticore''''s engineered nylon head, which has been moulded to provide a dual bi-hex and torx driving system, providing fast and confident installation options into hot rolled, cold rolled and timber substrate applications.