Eurocell Newsletter - February 2012
Eurologik system gets even better!
At the end of January we unveiled exciting news about how we have made our market-leading Eurologik system even better.
Already acknowledged for its market beating thermal performance, high quality and unbeatable sightlines, we have gone one better by improving its sustainable credentials thanks to investment in the very latest recycling technology and our dedicated in-house PVC-U recycling plant.
Welcome to Eurologik70!
And best of all, these advanced profiles come at no extra cost to customers.
Eurologik70 is now available, and to make ordering this exciting improvement in sustainability even easier customers can continue to use our existing product codes.
However, if customers still want to receive 100% virgin PVC-U products, they should already have received their new product codes.
“Improving the sustainable credentials of our market leading Eurologik system will provide customers with yet another valuable selling proposition,” said Chris Coxon, Marketing Manager at Eurocell. “Setting Eurologik70 up with the same product codes means that customers who wish to take advantage of improved sustainability need take no action.”
Chris added: “And, what’s even better is that it’s priced at the same level to trade customers as the 100% virgin PVC-U profile”
Political opening
Simon Kirby MP officially opened our new branch in Brighton on 16th January.
The new branch is located at Unit 5A, Freshfields Business Park - just off the Eastern Road between Queen’s Park and the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
Mr Kirby, who is MP for Brighton, Kempton and Peacehaven, said: “I am delighted to open the new Eurocell Building Plastics branch and wish it every success in our town.”
He added: “I have had a look around the trade counter and I shall definitely be visiting the branch next time I am carrying out work on my home.”
As part of the official opening we invited trade and DIY customers to help us celebrate our arrival in the town. Customers who attended were offered special promotional deals and complimentary breakfasts and refreshments.
Brighton branch incorporates our much improved retail concept, which has been based on feedback from customers. This includes an enlarged, easier to use trade counter area, and a showroom display including our innovative new Aspect bi-fold door, along with improved merchandising and point of sale.
These improvements allow customers to browse amongst the products, making it much quicker to find the exact items they need.
“We encouraged as many trade and DIY customers as possible to visit our Brighton branch on our official launch day,” said Warren Haworth, Eurocell Building Plastics - Regional Sales Manager. “The new branch has a much improved trade counter area and a full range of new products, all backed up by great service and unbeatable value.”
Patrick's Foreword
There is no denying that 2011 was a challenging year for everyone in our industry. However, I believe that Eurocell rose to the challenge, even if that meant making some tough decisions.
The resulting production efficiencies, product range rationalisation and commercial pricing reviews helped us achieve a better financial position than forecast at the start of 2011.
Looking forward to 2012, I believe that the consolidation and range rationalisation, combined with our new sales structure, will continue to deliver improved efficiencies. That is essential to ensure that Eurocell and our customers maintain a competitive advantage.
2012 will also deliver full year sales for winning products such as Aspect, our new bi-fold door system, which has already proved a hit with homeowners and developers.
So, despite external indicators looking gloomy, the outlook for Eurocell is more positive. But to make sure we reap the benefits of hard work done in 2011, we must ensure we do the basics better than our competition - this starts and ends with delivering customers a quality product on time and providing value for money.
Patrick Bateman
New premises for Britplas Group
Warrington-based commercial window and door specialist Britplas Group has relocated to much larger, 40,000 sq ft premises, due to continued business success.
The new Britplas premises were officially opened by David Mowat, Member of Parliament for Warrington South. Commenting on the opening he said: “It is encouraging to see world-class examples of innovation and manufacturing here in Warrington. Britplas has shown what can be achieved in a tough market.”
The relocation by Britplas forms part of the company's strategic plan to capitalise on products such as Safevent, which is designed to create a safe environment for patients in secure mental health units.
This innovative window solution was developed in collaboration with Eurocell and, since it was launched in 2008, has resulted in several multi-million pound orders, including a recent contract to supply in Australia.
Initially developed for Mersey Care NHS Trust, Safevent has subsequently been specified as the product of first choice by the majority of NHS Trusts across the UK, in addition to many private mental care hospitals, schools and commercial organisations.
Chairman Kevin Gorman said Britplas employs 50 staff but the relocation will allow it to take on more as the business continues to grow.
"We have had a huge amount of success with our Safevent Window and it is one of the main reasons why we outgrew our existing premises. Moving to a much larger, modern unit will allow us to take our business to the next level."
“The success of Safevent demonstrates what can be achieved when companies work in partnership to address specific customer needs,” said Ian Kernaghan. “We are delighted that Safevent is helping Britplas go from strength to strength.”
Grey Roofline tops it off for Wates
Wates Living Space has specified our grey PVC-U soffit boards on a flagship Extra Care scheme in Cannock, Staffordshire.
Grey soffit boards were chosen because they created the visual appearance of aluminium, which had originally been specified on the development, as well as offering the same performance and low maintenance benefits – without the cost.
The Extra Care scheme was commissioned by South Staffordshire Housing Association and enables people aged 55 and over to live independently in their own home with features such as added security and staff on site when needed by residents.
Hannah Hobbs, buyer at Wates Living Space - West Region, said: “Grey roofline from Eurocell gave us the visual appearance and long term, low maintenance benefits of aluminium, all backed up by comprehensive guarantees. Once South Staffordshire Housing Association had seen the Eurocell samples and realised the significant cost savings it made it was an easy decision to change the soffit specification from aluminium to grey PVC-U.”
Grey is one of three new colours recently introduced by Eurocell on selected products in the roofline and window trim ranges – others being Irish oak and white ash. These provide developers with more choice and allow them to create a completely coordinated look between windows, doors and roofline.
Gary Driscoll, Head of Business Development at Eurocell, said: “We are delighted that our grey roofline products provided an effective solution for Wates Living Space. The whole development has been finished to an extremely high standard.”
Aspect offers Barratt 'wow' factor
Eurocell has helped Barratt Northampton add a ‘wow’ factor to its Marston Moretaine showhouse with two Aspect panoramic door installations.
A 2.7m wide Aspect folding sliding door system was installed in the gable end of the Victorian style conservatory, providing virtually full opening access to the patio area.
An additional 1.2m wide Aspect bi-fold system was installed as a French door-type arrangement between the conservatory-dining and living room areas. The ultra-low internal threshold on Aspect means that once the doors are open it creates a seamless link between the two rooms – also making it an ideal room divider.
Aspect was fabricated and installed by Rugby-based Nationwide Windows, which also supplied the colour matched Eurocell windows and conservatory roof.
Barratt Northampton specified Aspect because its ultra slim frame and unique, patented D-handles created a more contemporary aesthetic for potential homebuyers, whilst offering the same aesthetics but much better value for money than aluminium and timber.
“As soon as we were presented with Aspect we could see that it provided us with a modern alternative to French and in-line sliding patio doors for our more style-conscious home buyers,” said Julian Kirby, Senior Buyer at Barratt Northampton. “We also liked the fact it offered much better value and could be used for various applications.”
Chris Coxon, our Marketing Manager, said: “Aspect offers high-end aesthetics and guaranteed long term performance, which are exactly the features potential homebuyers look for. With bespoke sizing capabilities and proven customer appeal it makes an unbeatable proposition for developers looking for a real ‘wow’ factor in the showhome.”
Man from BBC visits Merritt Plastics
Eagle eyed viewers may well have seen our enlarged PVC-U recycling facility on BBC East Midlands Today just after Christmas.
Mike O’Sullivan, reporter at BBC East Midlands, visited the site to carry out filming and interview our Chief Executive Officer Patrick Bateman and Simon Readman, General Manager – Merritt Plastics.
The interview allowed us to highlight the sustainability message to a much wider audience and will have been seen by over 225,000 viewers. Some of these may well be homeowners replacing their windows over the next few months, and so raising awareness of our sustainable credentials should help Eurocell fabricators.
With such a general audience watching BBC East Midlands Today, there would also have been a fair number of building specifiers who saw the programme. They are now more likely to remember Eurocell next time they are looking for a method of dealing with their end-of-life frames.
“The interview on BBC East Midlands Today provided an excellent opportunity to highlight capabilities at our enlarged recycling facility,” said Simon Readman.
New branches open!
With our new Crawley and Worthing branches recently opening we now have 120 depots nationwide. But we arn't resting on our laurels, because there is more to come with Christchurch the next destination on our hit list.
Worthing branch will help strengthen our presence on the South coast and give customers even more convenient access to our full range of products.
Situated midway between our Brighton branch to the East and Bognor Regis branch to the West, it creates a strategically convenient location for customers along this part of the South coast.
Trade and DIY’ers in Crawley will enjoy easier access to quality building plastics products following opening of our latest branch in the town. Customers in the area previously had to travel to our Redhill branch almost 10 miles away.
“We are encouraging as many customers as possible to visit Crawley and Worthing to see the improvements we have made to the branch layout,” said Warren Haworth, Eurocell Building Plastics - Regional Sales Manager. “With over 4,000 high quality building plastics products and a much improved trade counter area we are confident that our customers will find it much easier to get exactly what they need.”
Cavalok goes Passive
Our Cavalok team continues to push the boundary of what is achievable in terms of utilising post-consumer recycled PVC-U to create low carbon developments.
Parsons & Whittley Ltd, architects for Hastoe Housing Association, were looking for a solution that would close the 300mm cavity on 14 new-build Passivhaus properties in Ditchingham, South Norfolk.
This presented a challenge because the triple glazed windows, which weighed up to 60kg each, had to be supported over the 300mm cavity. Sidey, the window fabricator on site, recommended Cavalok because they knew it had an off-the-shelf solution from the work both companies had carried out on a similar Passivhaus project in County Durham.
The solution was based on a four-sided 300mm wide structural foam Bigblok cavity closer system, which was manufactured and installed on site by Alfreton-based Subframes UK Ltd.
The Cavalok cavity closer is made using post-consumer recycled PVC-U and utilises new structural thermal materials, enabling the zero-carbon windows to be seated and fixed directly onto the main body of the closer. This eliminates the need for strapping back over large spans to inner structures.
Being constructed to Passivhaus standards means that the 14 properties at Ditchingham are able to maintain a comfortable interior climate with only a compact heat recovery ventilation unit to provide space heating and domestic hot water
“We were looking for an efficient method of closing the cavity, supporting the window and eliminating any thermal bridging” said Dan Higginbotham, Senior Architectural Technician at Parsons & Whittley Ltd. “We have been very impressed with the new structural Bigblok system from Cavalok because it allowed us to meet Passivhaus requirements and position the window over the cavity, all in one product.”
The 500mm overall wall construction on the properties consists of block internal leaf, brick outer and 300mm cavity, fully filled with mineral wool insulation. The walls are designed to achieve a U-value of 0.102W/m_K.
Martin Benn, Eurocell Divisional Manager - Cavalok, said: “We have developed a ready-made structural solution for Passivhaus and zero carbon builds using our proven Bigblok cavity closer system. There is no other product like it on the market and we have had a huge amount of interest since it was launched.”
Cavalok down under
Australia, being the land of sunshine, may not necessarily be the first place that you would expect demand for cavity closers.
Yet that is just what our Cavalok team is finding - and there are clear reasons why. Down Under the issue isn’t that properties loose heat like here in the UK, but that they heat up too quickly due to blazing sunshine.
That’s an issue because the building has to rely on energy-intensive air conditioning systems to keep them cool.
There are also regions of the country that experience cold temperatures, for example, winter frosts in Melbourne, Canberra and Tasmania.
For both of these reasons, and through contacts with ex-pat Brits who previously worked in the UK fenestration sector, we have had a number interesting of enquiries from Down Under.
“The Australian fenestration sector is going through a process of regulatory change as the industry moves towards more stringent principles of design,” said Martin Benn, Eurocell Divisional Manager – Cavalok. “This has opened up opportunities in the PVC-U sector as specifiers look for more thermally efficient cavity closer and window solutions, mainly to reduce reliance on energy intensive air conditioning units.”
Martin added: “The Australian market is quite different to the UK in that the need is to reduce heat getting into the property! However, the objective is the same – to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings.”
Cavalok has already supplied extrusions to Ecovue, whose Operations Manager is ex-pat Gary Saunders, and they have offices in Sydney and Perth. The company used the cavity closers to demonstrate the Cavalok system to their installers and customers - and what better way to do it than fitting them in the Perth home of one of Ecovue’s principle shareholders? Our photo to the left is of this property.
“In many respects the Australian building sector is now following that of the UK – the common cavity width Down Under is only 50mm – a construction detail that hasn’t been used in this country for many years. However, as the sector begins to grasp the need to improve buildings’ energy efficiency we are confident that it will soon begin to catch up with the UK.”
On the road
Here, in one of our regular departmental focuses, we take a look at Penny Emma Way Logistics Centre.
When you consider that our distribution fleet is the face of Eurocell for many customers, it’s hardly surprising that a great deal of planning goes into making sure it creates the right impression.
And, with 17 replacement vehicles in the last six months featuring our new corporate livery and ‘All together better’ logo, there are few better sights for customers on our roads and highways.
At least that’s what our logistics team at Penny Emma Way think, and who are we to disagree?
Penny Emma Way is run by Jeff Newton, our Logistics Manager. Jeff, who has previously worked for Next, Allied Lyons, and Whitbread brought with him a wealth of experience that he has used to make ongoing improvements.
“One of the first tasks when I started working at Eurocell eight years ago was to implement a ‘fully-managed’ warehouse stock inventory system utilising SAP to link-in with both the Customer Care and Production Planning functions. This was to make sure we could fully automate the sales ordering process,” said Jeff. “This process for distribution purposes is co-ordinated by Emma Bell, our warehouse systems / stock manager, and it forms the backbone of everything we do within the warehouse.”
Logistics moved to Penny Emma Way just over two years ago when the decision was made to consolidate four separate distribution facilities into one. That in itself delivered significant efficiencies, not least because it simplified the resource and delivery planning aspects. It also enabled a reduction of the overall space requirement down from 470,000ft to 264,000ft due to the design of the new building, whilst still retaining the capability to store 11,500 stillages of finished product and the capability to deliver up to 2,000 stillages per week if required.
Once at Penny Emma Way, Jeff and his Warehouse Management Team of Steve White and Mark Knighton implemented a perpetual stock inventory system.
This involves sections of the warehouse being counted daily, which means that every five weeks the whole of the stock in the warehouse has been counted on at least one occasion. This is far more efficient than a traditional ‘annual stock take’ that would involve a minimum of two solid weeks’ worth of counting, during which time the warehouse would have to be closed.
Jeff explains: “We introduced the perpetual inventory system because it would allow us to have visibility of stock levels quickly and efficiently. The fact it could be done without major disruption to operations means we now have accurate data of physical stock in the warehouse against what is shown on the SAP based warehouse management system – typically we experience a differential rate of just 0.15%.”
“Making these improvements isn’t rocket science – it’s just a matter of making sure that what is shown on our system is what is physically in the warehouse,” added Jeff. “That means when we go to pick the product for delivery we know that it is going to be there. It sounds straightforward but in my experience so many companies fail to do it effectively.”
“We also have a totally dedicated team of pickers here at Penny Emma Way, and we offer them ongoing training. This allows us to achieve picking error rates lower than 0.4% volumetrically against the number of packs we deliver on a weekly basis”
Processing and picking is just part of what the logistics team does. Each of the 38 vehicles, is fitted with tracker technology to improve efficiency, and they deliver the product around the UK. That in itself is a huge undertaking and the fleet is covering 55-60,000km per week – equivalent to more than one and a quarter times around the earth!
Spare a thought for the full-time employed drivers who, between them, cover 3m miles a year and make over 520 drops per week!
With these kinds of numbers efficiencies are crucial, and Jeff and his Distribution Management Team of Scott Heathcote, Andy Cressy and Adam Cook have made much headway in this area. For example, changes in load consolidation and new and improved route planning will achieve savings of £500,000 over the next 12 months and have allowed the fleet to be reduced by six vehicles.
“Making these kinds of efficiencies has helped us offset some of the dramatic rises in fuel costs over the last few years, which are currently running at well over £1m,” added Jeff. “This is all part of our commitment to help Eurocell customers maintain their competitive edge in the market – which is an essential part of earning their lifetime loyalty.”
Further efficiencies have been achieved by using the vehicles for ‘back hauling’. This involves utilising vehicles returning to Penny Emma Way after they have delivered to customers to bring back stock from third party suppliers. That avoids Eurocell having to pay for them to deliver products to us and our vehicles would have been returning to the warehouse anyway, so there is minimal on-cost.
‘Forward hauling’ works in a similar way. Here scrap material such as used packaging is returned to the supplier for recycling when it fits in with the distribution schedule.
Training is an important part of the quality ethos at Penny Emma Way, and all drivers will shortly have attended Driver CPC courses, which are specifically designed to improve the knowledge and skills of professional LGV drivers.
The impression of Penny Emma Way is one of professional efficiency, from a team that is happy to remain out of the limelight. They prefer to let their results speak for them.