PVCU’s pop parade

Homebuilders wanting to know more about the qualities of the PVCU windows they are specifying should take note of a report which measures the performance of 38 leading window system suppliers against the knowledge and demands of 432 fabricator customers.

BenchMarks, a 300-page annual analysis of the PVCU industry produced by consultancy Reputations Plus, asked fabricator companies to score 23 attributes of systems suppliers by importance. The top five attributes to emerge were:

1. consistency of product quality

2. complete deliveries

3. quality of product specification

4. competitive prices

5. delivery frequency.

Each fabricator was then asked to rate all suppliers against all attributes, and also to rate all suppliers for value for money. The tables opposite highlight the top 20 performers among the leading 38 suppliers. Fabricators scored each firm as a 1, 2, 3 or 4 (1 being best and 4 worst) and BenchMarks created a league table in which the lowest average won.

Benchmarks found several firms had significantly improved or lost reputation in one or both ratings. Key changes in the overall ratings league were:

Schuco up from 16th to 7th;

Eurocell up from 25th to 14th;

Status up from 30th to 15th;

HW Systems up from 36th to 17th;

Permacell Finesse down from 12th to 18th;

Swish down from 11th to 19th; and

Premier Profiles down from 14th to 20th.

Key changes in the value for money ratings league were:

Kommerling up from 9th to 4th;

Schuco up from 13th to 5th;

Marshall Tufflex up from 11th to 6th;

Spectus up from 21st to 9th;

Status up from 32nd to 11th;

Profile down from 3rd to 8th;

Caradon Duraflex down from 5th to 12th;

Permacell Finesse down from 10th to 16th;

HIS down from 17th to 24th; and

Brugmann down from 18th to 30th.

Reputations Plus partner Michael Rigby said one key finding had been the widening gap that fabricators reported between what they wanted from their key supplier and what they got. Rigby pointed to significant opportunities for systems suppliers to take market share if they could meet fabricators’ rising expectations for attributes they said they most valued, notably consistency of product quality and complete deliveries.