40 | MARCH 2019
Business
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
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 techno-
logical advancements they made
helped pave the way for modern
civilisation, so much so that even
just the name ‘Aztec’ is synony-
mous with innovation and inspi-
ration. 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 of-
ficial launch at May’s FIT Show…
“I promised my father I’d never
work in the glazing industry,” be-
gins 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 cost-
ly – 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 com-
pany 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 rep-
resentation of what they needed,”
continues Gareth. “Fenestration
can be seen as a very flat indus-
try with flat thinking. At Aztec,
we wanted to think about things
differently and do things differ-
ently. Clarity Air has already been
tried and tested by lots of differ-
ent 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
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.”