Something you may have noticed in a recent post published on DGB was a little teaser by Brisant Secure. The article in question is this one: https://www.doubleglazingblogger.com/2018/02/5000-5000-hours-gm-fundraising/

The main news of the piece was the noble gesture of donating £5000 to GM Fundraising in honour of Brisant’s LockLock handle surpassing 5000 hours in the salt spray booth. But in there was also a nugget of information about their future direction as a business.

The hint

The paragraph you need read is this one:

Nick Dutton, CEO of Brisant Secure commented: ‘We’re redefining expectations for hardware. Our aim is to develop an unrivalled product range in terms of longevity and performance, and with a new suited hardware range tooled up for production in the coming months, we’ll again be challenging convention in the sector. We felt this was a fulfilling way to mark this milestone.’

Brisant have Ultion, and they have LockLock. Two wildly popular door hardware products that have helped Brisant shoot to the top of their particular part of the market place.

And lets be honest, it’s not been a case of reinventing the wheel, but taking that wheel and making it so much better. That is what Ultion did to door cylinders and what LockLock has done to door handles.

So, the prospect of a “new suited hardware range” should get people talking. At least the hardware sector of the window and door industry. Here’s the thing to understand; the LockLock handle is STILL in the salt spray booth, currently making a mockery of the 240 hour test. If Brisant can achieve the same level of success on their new range of suited hardware, it’s going to totally change the game.

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Turning the screw

One of the biggest USPs the LockLock handle has is that it’s seemingly impenetrable to pitting and rust. It’s approaching 6000 hours in the salt spray booth and still going strong. For installers fitting them, it means they have a handle that they won’t have to worry about going bad so soon after fitting it.

If this new suite of door hardware can provide the same level of resistance to pitting, combined with the expected quality and slick marketing, you can expect installers to come calling with brisk pace. And fabricators for that matter. There are plenty of early adopter businesses out there who will want a piece of the early action.

That’s the potential good stuff for fabricators and installers. This will be less positively received by other hardware suppliers. In particular the mass market producers of door hardware.

When you think about it, nothing has really changed in that part of the door industry. Yes there has been a clear shift towards the types of companies that make the traditional hardware suites, take Traditional Window Fittings and From The Anvil as good examples. But in the mass market part of door hardware, it’s hard to think of anything that has really revolutionised that part of the sector. There’s been no major re-designs. Quality has remained poor generally. Door handles and letter plates still pit far too quickly. The more you think about it, the more door hardware appears to be the player that lets the side down.

The market is begging for a hardware solution that just does not pit. It’s 2018, surely the industry isn’t asking too much for a door handle or letter plate who’s finish is going to last at least ten years? If Brisant does bring out a new suited hardware range, and it matches the same quality of the LockLock handle and the Ultion door cylinder, and has a price point that is reasonable for most installers and fabricators, the game will change. How will other suppliers respond?

And one last thing, just take a minute to think about the 240 hour salt spray test. That is just ten days. 480 hours – 20 days. Are we really saying that hardware tested to these standards will only stay their original quality for less than three weeks? This is something I’ll be tackling in my next post.

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