Archie Hardware

SETTING UP INDUSTRY LEADING HARDWARE MANUFACTURER

In 1990, Mr Z Cao started a business which aimed to specialise in designing and manufacturing industry-leading hardware for doors and windows – locks, handles and latches.

Now, more than 30 years on and with a team of over 680 employees worldwide, Archie Hardware is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of prestige door and window wares.

With headquarters in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China, Archie Hardware services countries worldwide, including Australia, both direct-to-customer, and via OEM / Distributor partnerships.

General Manager of Archie Hardware Australia, Andries Botha, said that launching in Australia in 2015 was one of the brands most rewarding challenges.

‘In a lot of markets worldwide, reputation and history can be enough for a business to gain traction and success in quite a short period of time’, Andries said.

‘But in Australia, you need to do better than that. Relationships are different – more intimate, and identity is very significant.

Approaching the Australian market with how we approached other markets was never going to work. And we embraced that because at the essence of our business is customer relationships and reliability.

‘We are immensely proud of what we have built and what we create, but if we don’t have strong relationships with customers, then we have lost before we have even begun. What we produce is heavily influenced by our customers and partners so making sure we are easy to work with and reliable was at the core of our launch into Australia.’ Andries said.

HISTORY

Archie Hardware traces its roots back to the Fengchi die-casting company, founded in 1990. The company developed a reputation for manufacturing excellence and in 2001 earned ISO 9001 Certification, arriving as a world-class manufacturer.

With a rapidly growing list of accreditations and industry honours, Archie Hardware began attracting a wider global audience for its products. The company opened its first international showroom in Cologne, Germany in 2002, and made inroads to Japan and the USA in 2004.

Today, Archie Hardware’s sales network spans the globe with more than 1700 agents and distributors in 59 countries around the world. WORLD CLASS MANUFACTURING

With a vertically integrated manufacturing process, Archie Hardware has full control at every stage of production. This unique, vertically integrated, end-to-end manufacturing process covers diecasting, machining, polishing, finishing and assembly. Everything is handled completely in-house for consistently superior quality from start to finish.

It is this commitment to quality and reputation for delivering products with such high standards that has allows Archie Hardware to develop an international footprint.

GLOBAL SALES NETWORK

Today, Archie Hardware’s sales network spans the globe with more than 1700 agents and distributors in 59 countries around the world.

While only having landed in Australia in 2015, the brand has already gained significant traction, and continues to build market share, and distributors nationally.

QUALITY STANDARDS

With ISO 9000, 9001 and OHSAS 14001 accreditations, Archie Hardware meets the strictest international standards

MEMBER PROFILE

in manufacturing and environmental management. Archie Hardware’s facilities include a self-sustaining eco-management system, which purifies contaminated water before it leaves the factory, protecting the environment and upholding Archie Hardware’s commitment to corporate social responsibility.

HEALTH AND HYGIENE

People cannot avoid touching door locks and other hardware in their daily life, and so Archie Hardware developed an antibacterial technique for implementation on their hardware products.

Archie Hardware has successfully overcome the limited antibacterial technology of zinc and copper products. Zinc-based antibacterial agents are less than onethousandth of that of silver-based antibacterial agents, and it is difficult to achieve any antibacterial effects. Equally, copper-based antibacterial agents are easily oxidised and discoloured in the air, causing problems such as damage to the appearance of locks. In this case, a watersoluble antibacterial agent is added to a high-grade coating, and the high-grade coating is co-precipitated on the surface of the products to form a layer of antibacterial silver coating. The products then achieve an antibacterial rate of 99% and guarantees product performance while achieving safety without irritation.

The silver ion antibacterial agents used by Archie Hardware is a water-soluble antibacterial agent which is mixed into highgrade coatings, and then deposited with the high-grade coating on the product surface. A layer of silver-containing coating with antibacterial effect is formed on the surface of the product, so that the product achieves antibacterial results.

In terms of antibacterial principles, Archie Hardware Antibacterial Technology uses a Japanese technology-specific antibacterial coating containing a large amount of antibacterial silver ions. The silver ions are in contact with the bacterial cell membrane, penetrate and combine with the cells, so that the enzymes in the bacteria lose their activity. The silver ions are released again and again to achieve the purpose of inhibiting bacterial reproduction and killing bacteria, so that

common bacteria cannot be adsorbed on the surface of the hardware handle or lock.

The inspection report given by GUANGDONG (CHINA) Provincial Microbiological Analysis and Testing Center through strict inspection shows that the antibacterial rate of the 'What we produce is heavily influenced by our customers and partners so making sure we are easy to work with and reliable was at the core of our launch into Australia.’

antibacterial protection technology of ARCHIE antibacterial hardware product is as high as 99%, which is higher than the Class I Standard of GT / T 21866-2008 Standard.

Archie Hardware antibacterial technology and products fully meet the antibacterial performance and safety performance requirements of the China National Standard ‘Antibacterial Product Technical Specifications’ of the National Antibacterial Industry Branch of the National Health Industry Enterprise Management Association.

www.archiehardware.com