Safestyle switches to Liniar
Safestyle UK, reported to be the UK’s largest fabricator of windows and doors into the retail market, has transitioned to Liniar systems.
The Safestyle team underwent a management change in 2018, prompting a full review of its supply chain partners.
Prior to the switch, Safestyle UK carried out a lengthy due diligence process with Liniar to ensure risk mitigation. This included site visits and audits, allowing both parties to be assured of a good cultural fit and partnership.
According to Liniar, there have been no compromises necessary to the product range or processes to enable the Safestyle volumes of over 4,000 frames per week to be serviced without any operational blips; since the start-up in January 2023, the whole Liniar customer base is reported to have continued to see on time, in full service levels above 99% every day.
Liniar adds that this has been made possible thanks to a carefully planned and managed transition between both teams. Safestyle’s sales team has been trained on Liniar product familiarity, the service team has received on-site training at Safestyle HQ in Barnsley and the switch over was supported by the Liniar technical team.
According to Liniar, its ‘joined-up internal approach’ was key to the success of the switch, with production planning, product design, stock control, warehousing, transport, customer services, sales and marketing working together with the technical team on the ground to ensure nothing was missed and that Liniar’s operation continued as usual for all its other customers.
Liniar’s continued investment in capacity through plant and machinery, is said to have been one of the main factors in the decision to switch.
Phil Taylor, Safestyle’s procurement director, said: “Safestyle has ambitious growth plans over the next few years, so we need partners that are able to support that growth. The relationship with Liniar has been developed over a long period of time and after such a smooth start-up we’re delighted with our decision.”
Andy Cadman, Safestyle’s group technical manager, was responsible for the profile changeover internally. He commented: “The communication and interaction we’ve had with the whole Liniar team has been first class from the start. Any change of this nature obviously posed a huge potential risk to our business, but we’ve been reassured at every stage – the two companies have worked seamlessly together to make it happen.
“The feedback from our production and quality teams has been overwhelmingly positive and the change has been managed well. We have noticed significant improvements in product quality and expect this will have a positive impact both in our manufacturing and field-based operations. This is particularly evident with the Liniar patented bubble gasket system which provides unrivalled performance and longevity,” he continued.
“Our fitters are also sending positive feedback and are impressed with both the quality and the ease of installing Liniar products!”
Phil commented: “The recycling and environmental focus at Liniar is also of great importance to Safestyle as we continue on our own ESG journey – it’s rapidly become one of our key criteria when choosing supply chain partners.”
Andy added: “We always want to be able to offer consumers the latest and most energy efficient products. Joining the Liniar family will give our team access to the full Liniar product range via its existing network, which will be of great benefit to us as we continue to grow.”
Martin Thurley, Group managing director at Liniar , commented: “I’m delighted the transition to Liniar has been such a positive experience for the Safestyle team. The relationships formed across both our teams have proved that we are synchronised in terms of successfully and seamlessly managing such a large-scale project. We look forward to a mutually beneficial long-term partnership.”
