Pro Installer April 2014 - Issue 13 | Page 6

6 APRIL 2014 PRO INSTALLER PRO NEWS www.proinstaller.co.uk Innovation – the difference between leaders and followers In this article for Pro-Installer, Stewart Lamb, National Sales & Marketing Manager at HOPPE (UK) Ltd reveals the hardware company’s 2014 product innovations. Few in our supply chain need reminding that recent years have been pretty turbulent. The hardware sector has taken a double hit, both in volume and value owing to the continued influx of cheaper, imported ‘me-too’ products. But recent reports indicate the market is finally showing signs of recovery and on reaching the other side, we’ll probably discover that the current successful hardware companies – those who have made serious investment and commitment to the market even during recession – are those that come out ahead. Having celebrated our 60th Anniversary in Europe in 2012 and 25th year of trading in the UK in 2013, I am pleased to say that HOPPE is determined to lead this march and cement our place as UK market leader in door handle manufacture. ‘signs of recovery and on reaching the other side’ GIVING SOMETHING BACK HOPPE‘s current 50,000ft2 UK facility provides an ideal national distribution hub, which offers ultra-modern facilities including a fully equipped showroom, meeting rooms, in house training facility and new cylinder centre. This facility has served us well, and so last year we invested in order to give something back, and to ensure that we are offering the very best products and service to our customers. The last six months alone have seen an investment of three quarters of a million pounds. We executed this in such a way as to allow controlled expansion again in the next three, five and 10 years. The extra capacity allows us to be both proactive and reactive - essential when you consider our customer service and order processing departments take in the region of 8,000 incoming calls every month. ‘our customer service and order processing departments take in the region of 8,000 incoming calls every month’ We have also invested in our material flow in order to become leaner, and so offer better customer service. The addition of the Kardex Remstar Shuttle automated stock control and picking system for example, has had a huge impact. This really has to be seen to be believed. Computer-driven, it holds 700 individual SKUs and can be operated by just one man, providing us with a 25-30% increase in capacity. It is all very well to say we have invested internally to stay ahead of customer demand and future-proof our business, but what our customers want to see are new products that will support their sales and help differentiate against the competition. So the start of 2014 has seen HOPPE announce not one, but two new innovative hardware collections. Bringing Commercial Stainless Steel Expertise to Retail Composite Doors The first, building on our market leadership in the supply of stainless steel hardware to the commercial sector across the globe, sees us apply this unrivalled expertise to retail and composite doors. We can now announce the unveiling of our range of stainless steel, high performance door furniture and accessories designed specifically with composite doors in mind. The range includes stainless steel pull handles incorporating V-shaped and Semi-Circular, lever on rose and lever on plate handles, and PAS24 performance escutcheons. HOPPE‘s dedicated 150,000ft2 German stainless steel manufacturing facility has long been renowned for producing high volume, top quality stainless steel hardware that stands the test of time in global commercial projects such as HOCHTIEF’s Essen HQ with Sir Norman Foster, Mercedes Benz in Milan, the Mandarin Oriental hotel Hong Kong and the Commerz Bank HQ in Shanghai. ‘ensure our customers have everything they need’ Also now available is our new complementary range of products to ensure our customers have everything they need to maximise on the forecast market growth for composite and fire doors including letter plates, knockers, numerals and spyholes. Designed to colour-match exactly door handles, finishes include the polished chrome and gold and powder- coated white and black, with further colour matches to our anodised finishes due shortly. “HOPPE (UK) has always been driven by two mantras: get the product right first time; innovation in design leads to market leadership. These principles drive our day to day activities, and while we will never be the most cost-effective in the market and we don’t want to be, we have the desire and the resources to invest continually, to innovate and expand to support our customers. We believe this is our true competitive advantage.” www.hoppe.co.uk or call 01902 484 400.