What have been the major successes of REHAU UK ’ s systems provider strategy in 2023 ?

One of the successes I ’ ve been really proud of this year has been how hard we ’ ve worked to establish REHAU UK as a whole solutions provider . Being able to bolster and promote our offering beyond profile alone is key to what we ’ re trying to do – becoming a one-stop-shop that provides ancillary products alongside polymer .

Now , customers know that when they receive their profile deliveries from REHAU , they can also take delivery of other items such as hardware , steels and trickle vents . Importantly , all our new product launches such as the Rio and SLINOVA door now come with their own , often tailor-made hardware solutions too . Being able to further emphasise our expanded service offering with each product launch will be crucial to keeping the market aware of just how much we can do .

Alongside this , our recent launch of cut-length steels have helped further improve efficiency and reduce waste . These benefits can really add up for fabricators , so being able to help like this as a systems provider is something we ’ re very pleased to do .

We will continue to strengthen our offering as a whole systems provider into 2024 with the ongoing rollout of the new REHAU webshop . It ’ s an exciting development

for the company , and by simplifying the order process to a single source wherever possible , we ’ re confident we can continue to offer a market-leading service .

What has REHAU UK done over 2023 to improve the sustainability of its operations ?

Ever since the opening of our new polymer recycling plant PVCR back in 2019 , we always wanted it to be a central cog in REHAU UK ’ s operations . The multi-million-pound investments made at PVCR are really bearing fruit now , which is very good to see .

For example , over 2023 , there have been significant improvements in the plant ’ s ability to meet the quality and quantity demands of our extrusion plant in Blaenau Ffestiniog , North Wales . Under the leadership of plant director Gwyn Jones , the two facilities are working closer together than ever before , and REHAU has been able to increase the amount of finished goods made using recycled material to 50 %. To my mind , it ’ s excellent to see how close collaboration has resulted in tangible benefits – in this case , the same high-quality profile we ’ re known for , but with more previously waste material reused .

Speaking of reuse and recovery , our ongoing partnership with polymer recycling specialists CNC Recycling has also really

impacted the sustainability of our operations over 2023 . Used frame recovery is something we ’ ve previously spoken about within the business at length , and I view it as a key cornerstone of our efforts to close the loop in the windows supply chain .

Overall , the aim must be this – one old frame out , one new frame in , and our efforts this year and next will revolve around getting this closer to reality . This will become especially important in commercial and social housing projects where local authorities are increasingly emphasising the sustainable reuse of old windows .

How has the market received REHAU UK ’ s third-party partnerships in 2023 ?

The launch of Window . ID , our new digital identification tag for windows , doors and accessories , has been warmly received by the market . It is helping our customers meet the need for increased product traceability throughout their lifetimes . As well as this , it is helping these companies generate repeat business and better manage frame maintenance and replacement regimes . Frankly , the more information on the supply chain we can get , the better . I feel being able to easily access that data and view it in a presentable way could help transform best practice around windows .

These sorts of benefits are always appreciated by the market , and I for one think it ’ s great that

Window . ID has received such positive feedback . Close collaboration with both internal and third-party software specialists was required to turn Window . ID into a reality , and we see the product becoming particularly important to our commercial project business in 2024 .

I ’ m pleased to say that our ongoing Yale-REHAU bespoke range of hardware and solutions . This partnership is a crucial part of our commitment as a whole system provider , and we will continue to work with Yale and others into 2024 on new product developments .

For example , I ’ m watching with great interest what our team is doing in the field of SMART technology . The possibilities in this area are extremely intriguing , and I hope to be able to share more on this as 2024 progresses .