Clearview National March 2019 - Issue 208 | Page 18

INDUSTRYNEWS
From creativity and
complexity, comes Clarity
In history, the Aztecs were known for their creativity and
complexity when it came to problem solving and a pioneering
approach to everyday issues. For a group of people that lived
more than 500 years ago, the technological advancements
they made helped pave the way for modern civilisation, so
much so that even just the name ‘Aztec’ is synonymous with
innovation and inspiration. Now Aztec Glass director Gareth
Eyers, is proud to introduce Clarity Air; the software solution
that could potentially revolutionise the glazing industry’s
approach to electronic ordering, stock control, pricing, and
more, ahead of its official launch at May’s FIT Show…
» » “I PROMISED MY FATHER
I’d never work in the glazing
industry,” begins Gareth, “but
after nine years training to be a
civil engineer, I knew within 18
months that it wasn’t the career
for me. As a student, I had helped
him in the ‘family business’
– of designing, building and
maintaining glass furnaces – so I
had experienced many different
parts of the sector already and
made many contacts. I found
fenestration fascinating, even if I
hadn’t found a role for myself in
it yet.”
It was, in fact, a stint as an
outsourced IT Director at Firman
Glass where Gareth learnt about
the machinery and processes
that are required day in and day
out for a glass company to run
smoothly. Then, after the buy-out
of a software company that many
in the industry will be familiar
with, he set to work streamlining
the whole package; removing
all the unnecessary – and costly
– bolt-ons, to hopefully create
something that would make every
day processes easier, and more
effective, rather than making
any time spent on a computer at
work, another job to add to the
daily list. Most importantly, it was
imperative to Gareth that people
could benefit from all Clarity
Air software has to offer without
costly and cumbersome hardware
that is so often associated with a
new computer system. By hosting
Clarity Air remotely, Clarity Air
requires just 2MB to run, boots
up in seconds, and can be easily
accessed on-site from a “five-year
old laptop” as long as there is a
Wi-Fi connection and a Windows
7 operating system.
“I went into every glass
company that I walked or drove
past, went in and introduced
myself, and asked them how
they work on a day-to-day
basis, to build software that was
a true representation of what
they needed,” continues Gareth.
“Fenestration can be seen as
a very flat industry with flat
thinking. At Aztec, we wanted to
think about things differently and
do things differently. Clarity Air
has already been tried and tested
by lots of different companies,
and its ‘organic’ nature means
that companies can use as much
or as little of it as they need.”
When it comes to products,
for example, the software has
18 » M AR 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
‘The icing on the cake for many
however will be Beat-a-Quote, which
allows the user to instantly reprice any
quotation or work order, while showing
potential profits or projected losses’
been designed specifically so
that rather than a user having
to scroll through endless lists of
sizes and specifications, they will
only have the ones they need
and nothing more. A product is
only added to a company’s own
version of Clarity Air as and when
they need it; your bespoke list
continually evolves with every
order. But that is only one part
of the puzzle. Clarity Air can be
used to order remakes, control
and monitor stock levels, manage
accounts, monitor productivity;
pretty much every ‘cog in the
wheel’ when it comes to the
manufacturing and distribution
of glass.
The icing on the cake for many
however will be Beat-a-Quote,
which allows the user to instantly
reprice any quotation or work
order, while showing potential
profits or projected losses, by
working out the cheapest price
you can sell glass based on cost,
stock, and even how many staff
you have and how busy they are
at any given time.
“It is actually impossible to
fully describe Clarity Air as a
piece of software, as everyone
who uses it will experience it
differently. This is perhaps its
biggest and best USP though; it
really is anything and everything
you’d want it to be. And, if you
come across something that
doesn’t quite work for you, or
you need another aspect to be
added to your platform, the team
can create the code you need to
get the job done. It’s this type of
communication and collaboration
that is – and will continue to be –
the driving force of everything we
do at Aztec.”