16 | AUGUST 2019
News
Installer News is
sponsored by FENSA
ERA’S COMMITMENT TO
CUSTOMER COLLABORATION
‘Collaboration.’ It is a word we hear often in the hardware market. There are any number of companies
talking about how they like to take a ‘collaborative approach’ in their dealings with their customers.
But what does real collaboration actually look like? It is all very well to use the right
vocabulary, but what does this approach mean in reality and on a day to day basis?
ERA, the security expert,
makes collaboration a central tenet
of its customer care approach. The
majority of the company’s raft of
customer care initiatives comes out
of listening carefully to its custom-
ers. Good collaboration means out-
comes that benefit both ERA and
its customers. After all, there is no
point in introducing initiatives that
do not take into account customer
preferences. So what does ‘good
collaboration’ look like?
In a nutshell, ‘good collabora-
tion’ means helping customers to
achieve their business goals while
at the same time providing busi-
ness benefits for ERA too. A key
part of this picture is giving fabri-
cators and installers the tools with
which to differentiate themselves
from their competitors. Customers
with a strong competitive advan-
tage will win more business, which
in turn benefits ERA. It is a classic
win-win situation.
Perhaps nowhere is collab-
oration most directly linked to
competitive advantage than in
product development. ERA is
continually investing in this area
of its business. Much of this is of
course market-led, and from time
to time fabricators and installers
request very specific product de-
velopment collaboration in order
to future-proof their business and,
as has already been mentioned, to
be able to differentiate themselves
effectively from their competitors.
A great example of this type of
collaborative product development
is a project recently completed by
ERA for Solidor, the manufacturer
and supplier of composite doors.
Fitted and installed by a nation-
wide network of approved install-
ers, the extensive Solidor range
of doors is widely admired for its
stunning design and unparalleled
security. So, when Solidor asked
ERA to
work with them on this
detailed project, it was clear that
both form and function would be
equally important.
The project saw ERA develop
two brand new finishes for Solidor:
Heritage Black and Pewter. The
new colours are intended for three
door handles, two door knockers,
a letterplate and a door knob.
Additionally, ERA developed an
enhanced door hinge featuring a
cover held in place by means of a
clip. Previously, Solidor had been
sourcing a hinge whose cover had
been screwed into position, and
the new product now offers the
company the improved aesthetics
of clean lines and colour-matching
with other hardware used. The
third part of the project involved
the development of a new heritage
style Pull in all of ERA’s Fab&Fix
colours.
A key part of the collaboration
between ERA and Solidor involved
the use of 3D printing in order to
enable all concerned to see exactly
how products would look right
from the early design stage. The
3D models produced were painted
so that both teams could see clear-
ly the effect that the colours used
in the production process would
have. Once the 3D models had
been approved ERA then devel-
oped the requisite tools and tool
samples to facilitate production.
Pierre Mifsud, Solidor’s Technical
Director said:
“We have been very pleased with
the service we have received from
ERA in this product development
project. It was fascinating to visit
the company’s UKAS-accredited