Door to new opportunities
While the old adage tells us not to put all our eggs in one basket, there is something to be said for sticking to what you know when it comes to window and door glazing systems. Rehau looks at why focusing on one system can give you a more complete portfolio and help you stay up to date with the latest industry trends.
The glazing industry is experiencing a sustained period of change, introducing more styles, colours and technological advances than ever before. For busy fabricators and installers, keeping up with what’s new on the market and incorporating it into their portfolio can be very time consuming and costly – this is when focusing on a single window or door system can pay dividends.
Manufacturers like Rehau are increasingly focusing their new product developments on extending existing system ranges, rather than creating new ones. As well as being able to respond quicker to consumer trends and creating a seamless continuity of product, it also helps installers and fabricators to extend their offer to customers with technology they are familiar with, therefore minimising the training and investment required.
Take for example Rehau’s Agila doors system. Compatible with our Total70 window profiles, the Agila doors range has grown year or year to give our fabrication and installer partners new options for their customers, while basing each new product on a system we know they like and are comfortable using to aid the transition.
Our latest addition to the range is the triple track sliding doors. Our authorised partner GRM windows and doors is a big advocate of the Agila system, and they saw the introduction of the triple track as a USP they could quickly adopt to set them apart from their competitors locally.
Richard Gambling, managing director at GRM said: “We have been fitting Rehau products since 1994 and really like the Agila doors system – we offer our customers the Passivhaus, multi-fold and sliding doors from the range already. The large span patio doors are performing really well at the moment as the trend for aspirational, statement doors continues, but we were keen to capitalise on this momentum with another option for our customers. So, when Rehau approached us about the triple track for the sliding doors, we were on board straight away.
“With the triple track we can offer large span sliding doors with the big openings normally achievable with a multi-fold door, but without as many sightlines (multi-fold door panels are 1m wide). It’s the best of both worlds. There’s a lot of excitement about it, and we have orders on the books already, despite only starting to manufacture it in January 2018.
“Because we already manufactured the Agila sliding and multi-fold doors, this new addition was minimal fuss for us to add into our range. We needed some new equipment to manufacture the track corners and some basic training for our fabrication staff, but as they were already familiar with the Agila system, it was easy enough to pick up.
“We are always looking for the next big thing in the industry, and for us, being an accredited partner for Rehau helps us do that, as the opportunities come to us and they are easy to implement.”
As well as the triple track, the Agila sliding doors now offer a low threshold option that can be easily added into an existing Agila offer.
By sticking to one system, fabricators and installers certainly aren’t missing out on anything new. In fact, they can simply grow their business with quality products from a supplier they know and trust, keeping their portfolio up to date with the latest industry trends, with minimal effort required.
