Client: ConservatoryLand in Mansfield

Project: Supply of upvc window profiles and conservatory roofs

Changing upvc profile supplier is not a decision taken lightly by most fabricators.  Concern over the disruption and the extra hassle-factor makes many fabricators unwilling to switch from their current supplier. One conservatory fabricator that has taken the decision to change recently is ConservatoryLand, based in Mansfield.   They were looking to join forces with a company that could help them grow sales, drive forward innovations and improve efficiencies in its factory.

Here Dave Bingham of ConservatoryLand discusses why they felt they needed to change and how this has benefitted the business.

‘The majority of our business is bespoke conservatories.  It is a competitive business in our area and it is really important that our products and price are right. We use the Eurocell Eurologik Ovolo system for our frames and already had a good relationship with Eurocell and knew the quality of its range. Changing to its Pinnacle conservatory roofing system also gave us the advantage of creating a perfect match with the Ovolo system already used on the window frames.

In an ever more competitive environment, we are constantly under pressure to increase production efficiency in our fabrication unit.  The previous conservatory roof system we used had real restrictions in the capabilities of its software, in addition to specific fabrication issues when it came to glazing. This meant that sometimes, particularly on intricate bespoke designs, we were not entirely sure that the conservatory would fit together perfectly on site. Often this meant we had to build the whole roof in the factory before dismantling and taking it to the customer’s premises. This added an extra time factor into the whole operation but it was the only way we could ensure that the product would be right when it got delivered to the customer.

Switching to the Pinnacle conservatory roof system meant we could increase the efficiency of our production process almost overnight. Eurocell software systems were much more advanced and enable us to plan a complete conservatory before we begin production, which is obviously the best way to optimise material usage and avoid installation issues further down the line. The Pinnacle software allows us to go into much more detail - even down to the drilling centres, which enables us to identify any potential problems well in advance. Planning a conservatory now takes minutes, rather than hours and we are confident it will look good and install correctly when we arrive on site.

It should come as no surprise then that our production team are the greatest fans of the Eurocell Pinnacle system. For example, take just one specific area, the tolerance on the rafter that carries the glass. The rafter bars on Pinnacle are much deeper than on the previous system we used which means that the glass does not need to be cut to such exacting tolerances. Our previous system gave us hardly any tolerance to work with - if the glass was even marginally short or wide it simply did not fit and had to be discarded with the whole glass cutting process having to start all over again.

The Eurocell Pinnacle system appears to have been designed to eliminate fabrication problems and the rafter is just one example of how this really helps us. This means we can order the 24mm sealed glass units in the same quick and simple way that we currently order polycarbonate. Our production team think it is a vast improvement now that they have been able to stop using a cardboard template to get the exact glass cutting sizes – which was the only way before that we could guarantee a perfect fit!

If we had known that our switch to the Pinnacle conservatory
||||||||||roof system would have been this hassle-free, we would have |||||done it a long time agoDave Bingham, ConservatoryLand

Feedback from customers who have purchased our new Eurocell Pinnacle conservatory roof system is also very positive. We are always encouraged when they appreciate the attention to detail and the fact that Pinnacle is unique in being available with a complete range of fully foiled Rosewood or Golden Oak woodgrain finishes. This is not only a powerful selling point but also something that is appreciated by our more discerning customers.

Since our move to Eurocell’s Pinnacle conservatory roof system, we have secured record sales. The week before Easter was our most successful ever and has been a great boost to both our sales and production teams. We believe that we now have the right conservatory offer - our factory like it, our sales people now have a great new story to tell to customers and our installers find it much easier and quicker to fit.  We are delighted that we were able to switch so quickly and easily!

There are other benefits too of working with Eurocell such as its marketing support, design capabilities and technical expertise in helping us develop our product range.

We are also looking at other ways to upgrade the sale of our conservatories.  We find that customers are more aware of the different glass options than ever before and our sales team are finding that they can convince homeowners to upgrade.

Looking to the future, we believe we now have the right partner to take our business to the next level. In particular, we are excited about the opportunities offered by the cream colour on the Eurocell Eurologik system – it really does seem to inspire customers about the huge possibilities of enhancing their home. This, again, creates the perfect opportunity for our sales people to convince a customer to buy from us. We are convinced that cream will become the next white, especially for older properties and those in more rural locations.

If we had known that our switch to the Pinnacle conservatory roof system would have been this hassle-free, we would have done it a long time ago. It is a superb product and Eurocell really did all they could to make the transition as simple as possible. If we can carry on in the way we have done in the last few weeks, we are confident we will significantly increase sales year on year.”