20 | OCTOBER 2020
Installer Support
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
WHY SHOULD INSTALLERS HAVE TO ADAPT TO ACCOMMODATE THE SUPPLIER ?
I may be a lone voice , but , having spent so many years building Euroglaze into one of the most efficient fabricators in the UK , I ’ m struggling to understand why there seems to be a growing consensus around the idea that the market now needs to be re-educated to accept longer lead times . I accept there are supply issues at the moment , on glass , hardware and particularly on coloured profile , which are obviously impacting on many people ’ s ability to get orders out the door . However , these are just temporary and shouldn ’ t , in my opinion , be used to justify any kind of inefficiency moving forward .
I ’ ve read comments in the press and online over recent weeks that it would be better for the market if installers , who generally have a few weeks ’ work booked in , accepted lead times of seven to 14 days . This , it is argued , would give fabricators more time to ramp up volumes , eliminate mistakes and get their quality consistently right which , in the long run , would benefit their customers . Frankly , I just don ’ t see any justification for that position .
At Euroglaze , we are still offering our standard Rehau white windows on a three and a half day lead time , with almost zero errors . As long as we have the components in stock , there ’ s a maximum 90 minutes of operator interaction required to make that window . Using Kanban lean production methods , we know exactly how many windows we can make in a day and we can set a daily cap based on that capacity , without any work in progress backlog .
Post lockdown , and in response to the surge in demand , we ’ ve restructured our entire operation onto a continental shift pattern which has doubled our capacity with just a 25 % increase in manpower . We tell customers as soon as they place an order whether any items are out of stock so that there are no nasty surprises when they get their delivery and we give them a guaranteed lead time .
We ’ re not the cheapest in the market obviously , and nor we would want to be if that meant compromising on either quality or efficiency . We do save our customers money though , because they know that their orders will be right first time and they won ’ t have to struggle with missing items , rejects or remedials .
The pandemic will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on this industry , but it doesn ’ t have to be entirely negative . If it forces manufacturers to become more efficient and puts an end to the race to the bottom on price , then it will be installers , who are the lifeblood of this industry , who will ultimately benefit .
Yours sincerely Martin Nettleton Managing Director , Euroglaze
www . euroglaze . co . uk
Read online at www . proinstaller . co . uk
INSTALLER- FRIENDLY GUARANTEES TRUMP PAPER PROMISES
“ Brisant is on a mission to help installers sell more ,” says Nick Dutton CEO of Brisant Secure ,“ by making Britain ’ s homes a lot more secure and their doors look a lot less tatty .
“ Brisant burst on to the demanding locksmiths ’ market in 2013 ,” “ and quickly won them over with a ‘ lock for locksmiths ’. Then in 2015 we entered the original door equipment market . One of our big concerns , is when door hardware fails because of poor security or corrosion resistance , and the guarantee that looked so fantastic is not fit for purpose , installers have to pick up the tab to protect their livelihoods and reputations . Some guarantees are just paper promises , while others invite homeowners to comment on the installer ’ s work when they register for the guarantee . That isn ’ t fair or right . In contrast , our guarantee is direct from the homeowner to us and , if there is any comeback , we will sort it out directly with the homeowner . The installer is not affected .”
Since then , Brisant has moved the benchmark and standard expected for security . The industry was selling expensive doors with very cheap cylinder locks , including those sold as high security doors with the handles , hooks and flashy locks ( and certification ) to prove it , when anyone who knows can address the £ 3 cylinder lock that secures the door and walk in in under a minute .
“ Thankfully , many installers now offer Ultion locks as standard .” Nick says . “ Some even replace the locks which come in the doors from their fabricator . They say it ’ s worth the expense of buying another cylinder to be able to sell the real-life Ultion security homeowners want .”
If the first elephant in the room is security , corrosion is the other . Pitting , peeling , discolouration and corrosion of hardware generally has been a huge headache for fabricators and installers for decades . But hardware companies didn ‘ t have a solution , so they didn ‘ t want to talk about it .
“ The standards and tests for hardware bear little relevance to the requirements of real life ,” comments Nick . “ The lowest common denominator tests are 240 hours in salt spray tests designed to emulate accelerated weathering in a corrosive atmosphere , and the highest are 480 hours . When Sweet was tested it breezed through both without any effect . So , just to see just how good it was we left it in the salt spray chamber and looked at it from time to time . It flew past 1,000 hours , then 2,000 , then 6000 hours , then some time after a year when it was still looking good we stopped thinking we ’ d made our point .
www . brisant-secure . com