Innovation for your façade

The German profile coating experts Schwarz Profilbeschichtungen GmbH und Co. KG in Binsdorf have launched ?Finalfix?, a brand new weatherproof plastic profile system for the façade.

Every homeowner and DIY-enthusiast is familiar with the problem: before long, rain, sleet and snow leave ugly traces on the prettiest of façades. Just a few years down the road, the wooden panels covering the gables on the windward side have warped or begun to mould or rot. Now Schwarz, the European market leader for coating of plastic, metal and wooden profiles, puts an end to every homeowner?s meteorological misery by launching a weatherproof plastic profile system for the façade called ?Finalfix?.  

Schwarz Profilbeschichtungen GmbH und Co. KG, a specialist for coating of profiles founded in Binsdorf in 1985, has developed a profile system for façades coated with the same kind of film used for window profiles, which  is easy for DIY-enthusiasts to plan, assemble and mount without any professional help. The system is made up of only 5 components: the main panels (plastic tongue and groove profiles), corner profiles for both interior and exterior angles, end profiles, U-shaped profiles, and the connectors. ?The system is so incredibly easy to handle, that you can actually renovate the entire façade of your home without any professional support,? says Uwe Bührer, responsible for the product. And Ewald W. Schneider, interim manager in charge of sales and marketing, adds: ?This new product has a very high potential for commercial success. We have decided to sell the product exclusively via selected DIY-chains.?

Finalfix?s well-proven film coating makes it both absolutely weatherproof and even washable, so that there is no need to sand down panels or repaint them in a couple of years. ?This is the reason why the product is also well-suited for damp indoor locations,? Bührer points out. For four months, Bührer, Schneider and their project team worked on the development of the new product. They took many different aspects into consideration, looked into supply options, studied rules and regulations, analysed ways and means of transportation, forecasted production and delivery figures, planned delivery times, tested different coating options, made decisions about the product name, designed and further perfected profiles, created lists of potential customers worldwide, and tried to figure out ?Finalfix?s? realistic market potential. 

Now is the time to introduce ?Finalfix? into the market(s). The makers of this unique profile system have tested 4000 square meters of panels and are now planning to export the product to several Eastern European countries. Beginning in autumn, they also want to start negotiations about points of sale with interested trade and DIY chains. ?For now, we are planning to cooperate only with DIY stores in Germany which share our enthusiasm for the product and actively support its potential in the market,? says Ewald Schneider. ?We are convinced that ?Finalfix? is perfect for worldwide DIY marketing and it is our goal to get the product ready for the markets by early 2004 and sell them exclusively via selected DIY stores,? Bührer and Schneider insist. Schneider, a seasoned expert of the DIY scene, adds: ?At the same time, we will establish a mobile service team for ?Finalfix? in cooperation with our sales partners. Our service staff will be onsite a lot of the times and will therefore be able to also support other suppliers of DIY products at their point of sale in these stores.?  

The idea for ?Finalfix? was born when a staff member at Schwarz Profilbeschichtungen was wondering about the unspectacular colour schemes of windows manufacturers and decided to add a touch of colour to his own home by using more colourful panels on the façade ? but instead of the regular wooden panels, he wanted more durable ones made of plastic. ?We?re entertaining a clear vision of a lot more colourful German homes in the future. Since there are endless possibilities for coating, we will market the product more or less as a kind of ?outdoor wallpaper? and that, of course, involves an annually updated range of colour schemes. In the end, the consumers will decide which colours and patterns sell best. Dyed-in-the-wool wood fans may be hard to convince, but anyone who buys plastic windows today, is a potential ?Finalfix? customer tomorrow,? says Bührer.

With its innovative plastic façade profile system, Schwarz hopes to kill two birds with one stone: On the one hand they intend to put to good use their know-how as market leader in the field of film coating of plastic, metal and wooden profiles; and, on the other hand, they are confident that ?Finalfix? will become a success factor for both the headquarters and production facilities in Binsdorf and the continuing growth of the company.

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