NewCustomers

In ThisI s s u e

THE SYNSEAL TIMES

ISSUE NO.10Autumn 2003

Synseal - Committed to Sustainable Development

NewProducts

Synseal wins top

product awards

FEATURE

Seewhattop

Critic thinksof SHIELD

Synsealexpandagain.

S Y N S E A L EXTRUSIONS LIMITED, COMMON ROAD, HUTHWAITE, NOTTS. NG17 6AD

TEL: (01623) 443200 FAX: (01623) 550243e m a i l : nickdutton@synseal.com www. s y n s e a l . c o m

If you would like extra copiesof The Synseal Times for your sales teams,

showrooms etc. Call Phil Elseon 01623 443 200

This newsletter was printed on material

from a sustainable forest.

Growing your salesas you should be.I t ’s always fascinatedme that fabricators whoa re openly dissatisfiedwith their suppliers,continue to deal withthem. Despite being ac u s t o m e r, a clientpaying for a product orservice, they allow theirsuppliers to treat thembadly.

In any business relationship, the bottom line is a supplierhas a direct impact on the success of the customer. If asupplier isn’t 100% reliable, how can the person theysupply be? If their product quality isn’t up to scratch, howcan their customers be? It can’t. Some fabricators that aren’t growing as fast as theyexpected are sticking with their suppliers as they alwayshave. Others though, are starting to look around and areswitching to new suppliers. Synseal is one of the suppliersfabricators are switching to. Some of the fabricators we’vebeen talking to just realised it was time to change. Othersdidn’t realise how bad their current supplier was, untilthey saw what we had to offer. Different companies havecome to us for different reasons.

To see what made them change, and what they thinksince they’ve switched, see our special feature on newcustomers on pages 2 and 3 of this edition of The SynsealTimes. For those that think they’ll stick with their currentsupplier a bit longer and see how things go, my article onpage 4 might give you food for thought.

Synseal’s Global Marketing Suppor tIt’s more than just a brochureSynseal has revealed its latest pre m i u mmarketing support item for the newGlobal roof. A total of 25,000 bookshave been printed in anticipation ofdemand and 2,000 copies wereordered just days after launch. The50-page book is full of pro d u c ti n f o rmation. "It’s not just ab ro c h u re," explains Nick Dutton,Sales and Marketing Director ofSynseal. "The book clearly states thebenefits of the product, both technicaland aesthetic. As with the Imagination bookwe designed for our Shield Conservatory Systemcustomers last year, the Global book comes with theoption of overprinting. This means customers can personalisethe book for their own business while benefiting from the investment from Synseal."

Congratulations Chris!Synseal is taking qualitycustomer care on the ro a dwith the promotion of ChrisBoyington.

Chris has been promoted toSystems Support Manager andis visiting new customers toteach them how to useSynseal fabrication software.

When Chris leaves a newcustomer they are able todesign their own roofs andcalculate the necessarycostings. He is also on hand toanswer any technical queries.

"It’s a great position to have inSynseal," says Chris, "becausethe best way to grow anddevelop is to listen to yourcustomers. With thisphilosophy behind me, I canreally help our customersgrow their business which inturn will benefit Synseal. It’s awin-win part n e r s h i papproach."

In this issue wereturn to our regular‘department’ feature. This time it’s the turn of ourtransport division. This experienced 29 strong driving team is thelast point of contact for every order and between them they driveapproximately 58,000 miles each week. With nineteen for windows and ten forconservatories some of the team have been with us for as long as six years, some forjust 4 or 5 months since our latest recruitment campaign. They play a vital link in oursuccessful on time and complete delivery chain. As demand for our products continues toincrease the more drivers we need to stay ahead of this demand. Synseal wins two

top product awardsTrade journal Window

Fabricator and Installer, willbe announcing Synseal asthe winner of two ‘TopProducts’ awards in theDecember edition of themagazine. Winners of the‘Top Product’ awards areselected according to the

highest number of inquiriesreceived for products.

Synseal has won one awardfor its innovative box gutterand one for its Global roof.

Synseal is expanding its Sutton-in-Ashfield site again, with a purpose builtextrusion hall and mixing plant. "The extraspace gives us an additional 25,000 tonne blendingplant, on top of the 25,000 we already have," says GarethEdwards, Commercial Director of Synseal. "We can nowhouse an additional 20 lines but we will continue toexpand as the demand for our products continues togrow. The growth of our factory space has beenphenomenal over the last few years. In 1995 we started with 87,000 sq ft. In 2001 weadded 207,000, in 2002 a further 100,000 and in

2003/4 we are adding another 27,000 sq ft. Thatbrings us from 87,000 sq ft in 1995 to a total of421,000 sq ft next year, when this latestdevelopment is complete."

SYNSEALe x p a n dAGAIN !

SYNSEALe x p a n dAGAIN !

Consort Ltd has signeda supply contract with

Synseal for the newGlobal roof.

Consort, one of the first BBA Ultraframeroof fabricators, has struggled to achievethe margins it needs on conservatoriesand decided it was time to change."We could see the conservatory market wasexperiencing massive growth, but ourconservatory sales weren’t growing at all,"explains Stuart Buchanan, Sales andMarketing Director of Consort. "Weresearched the market for a new roof, butwe didn’t want to make any rash decisions.Global was our preferred choice, but weasked our customers what they thought ofit before signing the deal. We told them todestroy the roof with their criticism becausewe wanted to be sure before committing.But they couldn’t. There was no adversereaction at all. All our customers were notjust completely happy, but keen for us tomake the change.

"We liked lots about the roof but ourcustomers were particularly impressed withthe double skin box gutter, the gutter fixingplate, the seamless guttering joints, theway the top caps just push along and clip into place and the way the roof is installedfrom the inside. A particular selling point isthe aluminium woodgrain top capping.Although capping distortion is rare, it onlytakes one to go wrong. Synseal’s designavoids the problem in the first place. This isa big market with vast potential. We aremajor suppliers of complete conservatoriesto the trade and new build. We don’tintend to let this opportunity slip or bepushed into second place, so we havechanged to the Global roof."

The company has been selling two roof systems over thelast five months and says the decision to move to thenew Global roof system was down to their customers. Asone of the largest K2 dealers in the Midlands fabricating30-40 roofs per week, Roof-Maker Ltd now turns over£2million a year . "Our strong customer base is used to thehighest levels of quality product and service. The move toglobal means we can offer an unbeatable value for moneyproduct with superbly engineered product innovations.

"We recognise future market leading products and we have nodoubt that Global is set to take the conservatory market bystorm. With many large fabricators already making the movewe wanted to be part of it" adds Scott. "I was blown awaywhen I first looked at the Global system. It eliminatesu n n e c e s s a ry operations and components and standsconventional conservatory design on its head, mainly becauseit's installed from the inside rather than the outside. Customershave enthused about the quality of this system compared withothers with its thicker sections and stronger fixings."

THE INFORMED CHOICE

P e t e r b o r ough based leading tradefabricator The Omega Group hassigned a supply contract with SynsealE x t r usions Ltd for the Globalconservatory roof. Robert Morley, Managing Director of Omegaelaborates, "We were unusual in having our ownaluminium conservatory roof system which wasvery strong and great for swimming pools andlarge retail conservatories. We also fabricated theK2 roof. On a recent visit to Synseal to look at itsprofile, I saw the global roof and knew that’s whatI needed. I was impressed – it looked so strong.And since signing the deal, I haven’t beendisappointed. It’s good to run one system whichsatisfies both the retail and the trade market.

"The Global roof has lots of advantages, but I’mparticularly impressed with the box gutter, thevalley gutter and the aluminium woodgrain topcapping. The aluminium sections are also thickand strong and the roof itself is a modern design.The other huge benefit for Omega is that wedon’t have to carry anywhere near as much stockas we used to. Our trade customers love it."

We were delighted when the BritishBoard of Agrement recently awardedSynseal’s Shield Window System ac e r tificate for a u-value of 1.8.We were thrilled because 1.8 is lowerthan the current requirement of 2.0,but also because we understood thatwould be standard as of next year. Andthat’s what we put in our advertisingand editorial to market ourachievement.

But before the ink was dry on ourmarketing campaign, the Office of theDeputy Prime Minister moved the goalposts. The 25 page report, entitled‘Possible Future Performance Standardsfor Part L October 2003’ is an officialresponse to February’s Energy WhitePaper. It affects us all.

Our view, expressed in our advertisingand editorial that England and Waleswill have to face up to 1.8 u values in

2005, was based on theG o v e rn m e n t ’s proposals in theWhite Paper. The latest thinking setout in the new 25 page report is thatreplacement windows may now getmore time but that "1.8 u valueshould be the starting point for thestandard for reasonable provision fornew dwellings for 2005." Itcontinues: "We propose that theimproved standard would apply tonew building work immediatelyfollowing the implementation date."

Consultations are planned for 2004and the debate is not over. Whilesome are keen to delay the march tomore stringent u values, others arelobbying hard to accelerate it. Whatis certain is the standards will getp ro g ressively tighter, and thei n d u s t ry has a duty to makecustomers aware of these ever morestringent standards coming downthe track.

1.8 or 2.0?

K2 dealer Roof-Maker Ltd of Leicesterhas changed systems supplier .

THE INFORMED CHOICEApex Windows, Spectus fabricator of four years, hassigned a supply contract with Synseal Extrusions Ltd."We wanted to switch suppliers and had heard good things about Synseal fromfabricators and installers," explains Dale Arnold, Operations Director. "But wewanted to look at several systems, to enable us to make the informed choice.Out of the three companies we looked at, Synseal came out on top. I’vebeen in the industry for 25 years and I find Synseal’s approach refreshing.It is a youthful, vibrant and exciting company that wants to grow andtake its customers with it. There was no hard sell. It was our choice.

"We have been delighted with Synseal since the switch.Unlike many other systems companies, the technicalback up is excellent and nothing is too muchtrouble. How many systems companies do youknow that will provide two of their ownfabricators, for as long as necessary, tohelp new customers get used tothe system? Although we buy

in the Synseal roof system at themoment, we are thinking aboutfabricating it ourselves."

NEW CUSTOMERSPRODUCTS

Fabricators are lookingfor opportunities to save time, incr e a s ep roductivity and makemore money. Synseal ismeeting this demandwith the launch of pre-gasketed Shield pr o f i l e ."It will save customers a substantial amount of time, "explains Andy Dunbar, T e c h n i c a lManager of Synseal. "AllSynseal fabricators haveto do now is cut andweld. And all they have topay for this time savingaddition is the price ofthe gasket, nothingmore.

Our Research andDevelopment Depart m e n thas been working on thedevelopment of this productnow for many months. Wedid not want to just jump onthe bandwagon at theearliest opportunity andsimply put an existing gasketinto the Shield pro f i l e s .When the product is made

available, currently expectedin the first half of 2004, bothShield fabricators andinstallers can be assured thatall of the leg work involvedin ironing out any potentialteething problems has beendone at Synseal’s expense,not yours!

We have designed an exclusivegasket, which we extru d eourselves, that perf e c t l ymatches the internal contoursof the Shield profile. HOT OFF THE PRESS... the firstof these windows have justsuccessfully completed therigours of weather testing rigs.

Synseal launches pre-gasketed Shield

Nick Dutton, Sales & Marketing Director

Scott Nicholas from Roofmaker With Nick Dutton

Kevin Harvey,Director of Saleswith Dale Arnold

and Pete Featherbyfrom Apex

As of November 03,the transport divisionconsists of 31 lorries.

S Y N S E A LP VC - U

PR O FI L E SY ST EM S

F OR Q U AL I T Y

W I N DO W S , D O O R S

& C O N S E R V A T O R I E S

BS7413KM 30983

FM 31451

BS7950/7413KM 41324

Nick Dutton, Sales and Marketing Director of Synseal Extrusions Ltd looks at why somefabricators change suppliers when things go wrong while others stay put and suffer.

NICK’S IN THE CHAIR

Nick Dutton, Synseal’s Salesand MarketingDirector

glass age/2003

Welcome to our Customer Feature pages. Whether you’ve been a Synseal customer for awhile, or have just joined us, if you’d like to be included in the next newsletter, pleasegive Helen Ahern at our PR Agency Michael Rigby Associates a call on 01453 521621.

It has always intrigued me whysome fabricators change supplierswhen things go wrong and othersstay put and suffer, no matter whatthe damage to their business. Thestory of a frog in trouble offerssome insight.

Drop a frog into very hot water andit will jump out and save itself. Buta frog in cold water will stay put ifthe water is heated slowly.Eventually it will let itself be boiledalive. The changes in temperatureare so subtle the frog doesn’tnotice. By the time the frog doesperceive the danger it is too weakand groggy to act, and it slowlydies.

Some changes are sudden andimmediately obvious, and we reactquickly to the threat or opportunity.Most change is imperceptible. Ithappens at a snail’s pace. We areblind to the difference from oneday to the next. It is only bystanding back and comparing whatit was some time ago, with what itis now, that we recognise howmuch has changed. Unless we seea big or sudden difference, orsomeone draws our attention to itwe probably won’t notice.

Mind the gapWithin a limited range oftemperature - not too cold and nottoo hot - the frog is happy,perfectly adapted to itsenvironment. Like the frog, at apoint in time, fabricators are alsocontent and well suited to theirenvironment. Perfectly adapted tomarket conditions they grow andmake money with ease. Butnothing stands still. The market –in effect the sum of all the actionsof customers, competitors andsuppliers - is constantly changing.You may not be alert enough tonotice the transition, but yourbusiness feels every stress andstrain as gaps open up between

what the market wants –what your company needsto compete effectively -and what your companyprovides. What wasperfectly matched to themarket at one time isprogressively less so. Thecompetitive lead you haveover rivals starts to shrink.Unless you take actionthey will draw level andovertake. The level ofsatisfaction among yourcustomers gets cooler and colder. Atsome point, depending on their needs,the gaps will prove too much and yoursales will suffer.

Because your market is in constant flux,the needs of your business change too.From day-to-day, month-to-month andyear-to-year, your needs will bedifferent. It is hard to measure the rateof change when you are in the thick ofit, but change is inexorable. You mayfeel you are standing still, but it’s anillusion, and a dangerous one at that.

If the frog had the benefit of anindependent, objective measure of thetemperature of the water it would sensethe danger in good time to save itself.It’s the same for fabricators. If yourmarket intelligence isn’t up to speed youdon’t have the objective, independentinformation you need to tell you whereyou are and how you are doing. You arerunning your business as if the changesin your external environment, themarket, don’t matter. Wallowing in hotwater might feel good to begin with, butit is high-risk behaviour.

The completepackageWe choose to buy a product, but it’s apackage of bundled products, serviceand relationships that delivers what webuy. Some of it may disappoint. Thesum of the gaps between what you

need and what you get is howsatisfied and well adapted you areto your market. It’s a measure ofhow competitive you are. You maycompensate for your suppliers’shortcomings in the short term, butover time you can never be morecompetitive than the sum of theproducts and service they supply. Ifthey are weak and slow your abilityto compete will be hampered, andyour sales and profits will suffer.

Kick the habitFabricators often tell me they knowthe product they get is outdated orit isn’t what they were promised.Perhaps their service lets themdown. We’ve all been there. Youknow it is damaging your business,but you give them one last chance.We don’t like the thought ofchange. We find good reasons toavoid it and convince ourselves thatit’s probably easier to live with theproblems rather than face theunknown. But eventuallyprocrastination becomesindistinguishable from habit orapathy, which is what the frogstruggles with when it’s too weakand groggy to move.

Follow your dreamSettling for second best is settlingfor something less than youdreamed of. So take a serious lookat where you are compared withwhere you want to be. If you’re notwhere you want to be, why not?What’s holding you back? If theanswer is your supplier, why areyou still with them? Changing tosomething better, to help yourealise your dreams may not be asdisruptive as you think. As you startto realise your dreams, you willappreciate what you’ve beenmissing and wonder why you nevermade the leap before.

Further information call Nick Dutton on 01623 443 200.

Because your market is in constant flux,the needs of your business change too.From day-to-day, month-to-month andyear-to-year, your needs will be different.

T h e F R O G a n d t h e F A B R I C A T O R

S Y N S E A LEXTRUSIONS LIMITED,

COMMON ROAD,H U T H WAITE,

S U T TO N - I N - A S H F I E L D ,NOTTS. NG17 6AD

TEL: (01623) 443200

FAX: (01623) 550243

e m a i l :n i c k d u t t o n @ s y n s e a l . c o m

w w w. s y n s e a l . c o m

NEW ROOF VENTfor all conservator y

customersSynseal has added the SkyVent roof ventto all its conservatory roofs as part of itsongoing innovation drive."Even though the Shield and Global roofs are already twoof the fastest roofs to install," says Nick Dutton, "wecontinue to look for ways to make it even quicker. The

SkyVent cuts installation time because we are offering itpre-glazed, at no extra cost. It consists of a PVC-U

outer frame which matches the internal PVC-Ufinish perfectly, and an aluminium sash profile

which prevents any distortion. Tr a d i t i o n a l l yconservatories with roof vents came at a

price – much longer lead times. Butbuying a conservatory roof with the

new SkyVent from Synseal will not affect the five

day turn a round ourcustomers alre a d y

enjoy."

New in-line sill jointer means

more choiceFollowing the successful take up of our 90˚and135˚ sill joiners for the 150mm sill, we’ve beeninundated with customer requests for an inlineversion. Always keen to give our customers achoice, we have now launched our inline silljointer.

Like the angled corner joiner, it’s particularly usefulfor shipping long lengths of sill sections easily ands e c u re l y. It is ideal when the customer hasspecified that any joints must remain welded, butby eliminating the need for joints on the corner ofthe sills it gives you and your customers choice.

Shield Conservatory putto the test by famous

critic Gary Bushell

Synseal customer, Waterford Windows, recently putthe Shield Conservatory to the ultimate test when theyfabricated and installed a 6x3.5m Edward i a nconservatory for the famous newspaper critic GaryBushell. "It took 10 weeks from the time we receivedthe enquiry to the time the job was completed,"explains Colin Wo o d w a rd, Partner of Wa t e rf o rdWindows. "Gary was so impressed he wrote us a letterto say thank you."

The letter re a d ‘thanks for a job well done. I’drecommend Waterford Windows to anyone for product,service and price.’ "We knew the Synseal conservatorywas good," continues Colin, "but to get anendorsement from such a critical person, is praiseindeed! They also back up a good product withcomplete and reliable deliveries that enable us to keepto our schedules and provide our customers what theywant, when they want it."

JUST A FEW CUSTOMERS WHO HAVERECENTLY SWITCHED TO SYNSEAL

With a £21 million turnoverand eight conservatory retail outlets – one of which,

The Conservatory Village is the biggest in the UK -East Yorkshire Glazing have chosen Global. Sales &

Marketing Director Nick Ward explains why .

"We became aware of Global via the trade press, and were invited toSynseal to see it for ourselves. A tour round the manufacturing

facility with Nick Dutton and Tim Armitage convinced us we’dbe dealing with a professional team and getting a good

quality product at a competitive price. With ourambitious growth forecasts, we also needed to be

sure that we’d be dealing with a supplier whocan deliver our projected increased demand

for conservatories. That’s alsosomething that Synseal has

guaranteed.

Synseal comes out on top forthe Conservatory Factor y

The Conser v a t o r y Factory Limitedsituated in Frome, Somerset werefabricating one of the market leadersin roof systems for several years. "Wealso have a polycarbonate business inBath and decided to look at analternative roof system to offer our DIYcustomers," explain Sue and Bob Lilley,of The Conserv a t o ry Factory. "Tw oseparate businesses with two separateroof systems. Unfortunately this was notacceptable to our existing supplier sowe were forced to make a choice. Welooked at several systems companiesand decided the Global RoofSystem was the system wewould fabricate. Even thoughthis is a new system to us theenquiries have beenphenomenal. Feedback fromour customers has been verypositive. One of the manybenefits has been the speed inwhich fitters have been able toinstall the Global roof.

"Synseal appears to have the rightapproach to business. They want tosucceed, but they also want theircustomers to succeed and indeedtogether we will succeed."

Bob andSue Lilleywould like to take this opportunity tothank all existing customers forsupporting them with the change of roofsystems and indeed all new customersthat have come aboard.

"Most importantly for us was the feedback from our fittersso we set them the task to find out if global really did haveall the time and ease of installation benefits we’d heardabout. And we weren’t disappointed on this score either.The roofs went up quickly with no problems at all and gotfull fitter endorsement".

Corby Windows has been selling Ultraframeand Synseal conservatory roofs alongside eachother for 18 months. One of Ultraframe’soriginal BBA fabricators, Corby has nowannounced it is to focus solely on Synseal.

"This isn’t a decision we took lightly," explains JasonWilder, Joint Managing Director of Corby Windows. "Itis a big decision to drop such a big name inconservatories in favour of a relative newcomer butthree main reasons motivated us to make the switch.It’s a more fitter friendly roof, it is more competitive andthe features and benefits are excellent. But mostconvincingly our customers took the real decision. Overthe last 18 months the Synseal roof consistently outsoldUltraframe.

"We also like Synseal’s approach. If they see a betterway of doing something they do it. If we suggest howthey could improve something, they listen. They arequick acting, proactive and flexible and they provideexcellent support to their manufacturing base. Beingable to focus all our eff o rts and manufacturingcapabilities on just the one roof will help us streamlineour business. I’m confident our business will benefitbecause our customers love the Global roof."

The day was organised as a thank you to staff and suppliers for the hard workput in during the course of Newstead’s recent expansion programme. GaryDutton, Chairman of Synseal Extrusions Ltd opened the £60,000 showroomwhich is for the exclusive use of Newstead installers. Formalities werefollowed by guided tours round all four of Newstead’s manufacturing facilitiesand sales premises, totalling 79,000sq ft.

"The day was really to say thank you to staff and suppliers," says Adrian Locker,Director and General Manager of Newstead. "And to let everyone share in whatwe’ve all achieved in the last two years. Over the last 18 months we haveinvested over £2 million to increase capacity and provide what we believe is aunique package of support for customers. As well as the showroom, we’veinvested in state of the art manufacturing machinery and IT systems; new tradecounter facilities, and abuilding products one-stopshop. But we aren’t stoppingt h e re, and are alre a d yworking on more projects thatwill give Newstead installersthe edge over theircompetitors."

Newstead’s CelebrationOpening of new £60,000

Installer showcase showroom!

Synseal fabricator Newstead T r a d eFrames recently held a CelebrationOpening event, attended by over 120staff and their partners and 46 guests.

Nick Ward fromEYG and

Tim Armitage,Synseal Area

Sales Manager

Peter Wilcox, MD of Newstead Trade Frames with Chairman of Synseal Extrusion Ltd, Gary Dutton.

Graham Williams ofWaterford Windows

and Gary Bushell