Clearview National October 2018 - Issue 203 | Page 54

PROUD SPONSOR OF DOORS & WINDOWS
DOORS&WINDOWS
The long and winding road
» » WHEN WE THINK OF A
timeline, we often visualise a
journey - a linear path travelled at
a steady pace. Although GEZE’s
route has spurred off in several
directions over its 155 years of
existence, it has been the past
three decades that has seen it speed
toward its current destination.
And, that is one of a prominent
high ground of spearheading
innovation in door and window
control technology…
The company, which began as
a German craftsman’s business
and was once a leading name in
ski equipment (as the creators of
a unique boot binding) is now
the ‘go-to’ manufacturer and
supplier of an exhaustive range of
automatic and manual products
and after sales services. All of this
led to the creation of GEZE UK
– this year celebrating its 30th
anniversary – at a pivotal time
when the boon of technology was
quickly taking hold.
GEZE has become a brand so
synonymous with durability and
reliability in the industry, that it’s
strange to think that it was only
1983 when its owner Brigitte
Vöster-Alber jettisoned the
company’s popular ski product
line to fully concentrate on door
and window systems. It was
definitely the right call. In 2017,
GEZE had a turnover of €406
million worldwide and a £30
million turnover in the UK.
The business is still a family
affair – an influence which shapes
its strategic vision and approach.
Kaz Spiewakowski, GEZE UK’s
managing director, is himself
celebrating five years at the helm
of the UK company.
He says: “I have worked in all
sorts of organisations, all have
their pros and cons; those owned
by venture capitalists reach a
target and then get out. It’s about
increasing value, reducing costs
and maximising top-line forecasts,
come hell or high water, then
selling the business. In PLCs, if
there is a profit warning, there are
inevitable short-term repercussions
to the company’s value etc, it all
leads to a lack of stability.
“Mrs Vöster-Alber is very
patient person with a long-
term view,” says Kaz. “I enjoy a
tremendous amount of arms-
length interaction with Germany.
There is a natural assimilation
to the parent company, the
overarching strategy and our staff
54 » OCT 2018 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
counterparts, but we are given the
autonomy to manage our own
market.”
Understanding the market, its
changing needs neatly dovetails
into new product development
(NPD). Although the majority
of GEZE’s NPD is undertaken
at its Leonberg HQ, supported
by defined resources, budget
and testing, its UK subsidiary is
given the flexibility to modify or
design products where it identifies
an emerging demand. Ideas are
developed by the technical team
or through the established PDP
process which are filtered through
a gateway system.
Recent examples include the
production of a locking bracket
for the drive belt of the Slimdrive
SL NT operators for sliding doors
– a solution that was created out
of test parts from a 3D printer,
and a water-resistant underfloor
operator that was devised to meet
particular client needs.
Technology has brought
about the greatest changes in
the fortunes of GEZE and that
pace of change has been most
significant in the past 10-15
years. There has been a digital
revolution as opposed to an
evolution which have been
demonstrated by products
such as the GEZE cockpit
and range of smart ventilation
products that marry the natural
environment with digitisation
that can orchestrate the working
conditions, safety and security of
a whole building.
Says Steve Marshall, GEZE
UK’s Service Director: “We
have always been part of a
very technical landscape but
technological requirements now
are as much about digitisation
and system integration as they are
about hardware.
“On the service side,