The term “market leader” is often abused by those that aspire to be market leaders themselves, believing that by styling themselves as such, they suddenly gain added credibility in the eyes of their potential customers. Real market leaders earn their credibility. After all, what does market leader mean? Being the biggest, being the most innovative, being around the longest?
In the case of Door Panels PLC, it means all of those things. The UK’s longest established and largest door and infill panel manufacturer has dominated the market since its inception nearly quarter of a century ago. Hard to believe that in this relatively young industry, a company has survived for nearly 25 years, and throughout that period, has time and again introduced new products and services that have extended the life cycle of a product that they pioneered and which today is still the No.1 choice of fabricators and installers despite the over-hyped threat of composite doors.
Today Door Panels PLC commands the largest market share by some considerable margin, despite the influx of competitors who have seized the opportunity to make a “quick buck” without any significant investment. Perversely, this has been one of the cornerstones of the company’s success, proud of the fact that not only has the business existed long enough to honour two 10 Year Guarantee periods, but also that it isn’t like any of its competitors.
It remains the only panel manufacturer with its own Extrusion Line and Research and Development Laboratory, allowing the company total control of quality from polymer through to finished panel, and the only plastic sheet in the industry that is designed solely for the purpose of making door panels. These unique facilities have contributed to major improvements in product performance, such as “flexecore”, a patented rubber layer that allows woodgrain panels to expand and contract freely in extreme temperatures, thus reducing potential cracking issues by over 90%.
As well as ensuring the product performance is “best in class”, the company places an emphasis that the aesthetics of their panels is also superior. The comprehensive range of over 70 raised and inverted designs all offer soft attractive mouldings that consumers find more pleasing on the eye. These are complemented with a range of decorative glass options that offer benefits to both the installer and consumer. Forte and Trinity brands are exclusive to Door Panels PLC, presenting a wide range of stained glass and bevelled designs which come triple glazed as standard at no extra charge. These options eliminate the potential risk of expensive call outs for oxidising or peeling surface lead, are more aesthetically pleasing, and give the consumer the additional benefits of superior thermal and acoustic insulation, and easier maintenance. Since their introduction, Forte & Trinity brands have experienced dramatic growth, as installers look to reverse the downward trend on selling prices.
They have recently added another exciting new product to their portfolio to help installers increase sales of back doors, which can often be overlooked when selling a job. The 2XG Integra is back door panel which presents the traditional 2XG style, but the glazed top section contains an integral Venetian Blind system which can be operated by the homeowner to control the angle and position of the vents. It offers maximum light and visibility when fully retracted, or privacy and security with the use of a simple slider mechanism.
Having good, reliable products, competitively priced is not the end of it either. The company is the only manufacturer in the industry to offer its customer’s high quality bespoke marketing support to ease the selling process. Each leaflet and brochure is designed to the customer’s specifications including their company logo and corporate identity, free of charge. This unique facility is operated in-house to ensure quick turnaround. Additionally the company does not charge for its high quality sales literature which again can be personalised, and is not restricted to a handful of copies either.
The real key to Door Panels success though is that in 25 years, it has never rested on its laurels or considered it has won the race. Constant innovation and development has kept the company well ahead of its competitors throughout and it is now busy working on developments for 2008 and beyond which will help to strengthen its position as the market leading door panel manufacturer.
Recent investment in a new £200,000 high speed glue line, is being followed up with a new £250,000 computer system, which will see the company offering a standard 3 day lead time to ALL customers from January 2008 on its leading Forte, Trinity, Fantasia and Integra branded products. The company believes that this will allow it to compete head to head with smaller regional manufacturers who have been able to serve local markets unchallenged because of their ability to offer quick turnaround.
The company also has some exciting plans regarding software development, and new products which it plans to launch in 2008, as it looks forward to the next 25 years.
