Special Discover the possibilities of industrial lacquers

RANGE OF ‘CONTRACT WORKERS’ DEVELOPS WITH TECHNOLOGY

THE LOGIC BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF OUTSOURCING IS SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE

Photo – Mapo Group

‘Subcontracting’ or ‘outsourcing’ basically means that a trader entrusts one or more aspects (subtasks) of an economic activity (service provision or production) to an external partner. The concept is as old as economics itself and is applied in scores of sectors. In the realm of the parquet industry we find various specialities: knowledge of chemical products, how they react to various wood sorts, various forms of drying technology, etc. ‘Contract workers’ have the big advantage of working for various clients so they acquire the combined knowledge of all their clients. They have experience in a greater variety of situations than manufacturers which only make their own product.

Why outsource? There are lots of reasons for outsourcing a particular activity. The three most common reasons are that someone else can do the job cheaper, faster, or just better.

Financial reasons and timing There are various sorts of financial reasons for outsourcing an activity. Some requests from clients may deviate from a normal production process. In that case manufacturers can meet those requests only by temporarily adapting the normal production process. That often costs more than outsourcing and, furthermore, a lot of time is lost. New forms of technology (e.g. UV drying) can also emerge which obligate manufacturers to invest in order to remain competitive. That, too, can lead a trader to consider outsourcing to someone who has already made the investment. Bodywork in the vehicle industry is a good example of that. Bodywork jobs and repairs after an accident comprise only a very small proportion of the work done by garage owners. It is not worthwhile for them to invest in an expensive spray cabin.

Knowledge and expertise Anyone who is skilled in a niche activity usually develops into a specialist. It is undoubtedly a fact that outsourcing a specialist part of the production to such an external partner offers greater likelihood of top quality. Examples which apply to the parquet sector are legion: knowledge of chemical products, how they react to various sorts of wood, various forms of drying technology, etc. Contract workers have the big advantage of working for various clients so that they acquire the combined knowledge of all their clients. They have experience in a greater variety of situations than manufacturers which only make their own product. That raises the question: Isn’t it more worthwhile for a garage owner to pay a bodywork specialist to repair bodywork damage from time to time?

What do they offer? Applied specifically to parquet, outsourced operations take place between the time when rough floorboards leave the production line and the time when they appear in the store or show room.

Interventions with the production Some contract workers carry out grinding, planing, and milling work, but probably the most commonly requested operation is that of

mechanical distressing. Beating, lashing, brushing, and exclusive operations such as hand-scraping are all amongst the possibilities. The most common chemical intervention is undoubtedly distressing by smoking by means of ammonia.

Finish operations The application of the finish to wooden floors has been a speciality of the so called ‘coating contractors’ since time immemorial. They have followed developments in the chemical industry closely for all sorts of finishes. The emergence of UV technology has enabled them to increase their capacity considerably and thereby together to reduce the delivery period. Most companies offer lacquer, oil, and hard wax as well as colours.

Marketing operations Less common, but emerging strongly is work at the end phase of the cycle, namely labelling, reading, registering, and packing. The fitting instructions and all other communication for end users are added by machine. This means the floors are ready for the store when they leave the ‘coating contractor’.

For whom do they work? Who are the clients?

Parquet manufacturers The clients are parquet producers which are increasingly facing requests for small and ‘tailored’ jobs. You can hardly invest in the required infrastructure merely to distress 100m² of parquet. Since coating contractor companies work for various clients, that investment becomes viable.

Parquet floor fitters Another client group are parquet floor fitters who wish to have some ‘operations’ (e.g. colouring or distressing) done in advance. They see the benefits of pre-finished, but stick to their own formula. Coating contractors apply that formula on request in accordance with the floor fitter’s instructions. This can be done directly, but usually it is more attractive to do it via wholesale because in this way floor fitters can benefit from the bulk discount which wholesalers can offer their suppliers.

Two specialists

Mapo Group

Mapo specializes in the pre-finishing of flooring, ceiling and exterior wall claddings. She distinguishes with a large but flexible pre-finishing equipment. The combination possibilities are unlimited : UV lacquer, UV or oxydative drying oils, with additional treatments as there are brushing, staining, distressing and smoking on traditional planks, herringbone or chevron and surfaces of 1 m² and more. Finishes easy to maintain for competitive prices. Vepola, our manual painting department, offers you special painting treatments in a matt or high gloss paint whereas Mapo Print, digital printing company, services you with a customized image on your panels, well protected with 2 coats of lacquer. Think finishing, contact Mapo ! www.mapo.be

ZABOLAK A fixed value for the long term.

Zabolak means Creativity - Flexibility – Reliability, as a specialist in the finishing of wooden flooring, we fill in the missing link for manufacturers and wholesalers who trade wooden flooring. This has been done for a period of more than 20 years in which the required expertise has been built up, together with a team of people and a modern and versatile machine park, work is done for relations at home and abroad. The result can be found all over the world. A great deal of value is attached to creating a long-term relationship, whereby the aim is to be a partner in business in addition to providing a high-quality product. In a world that is completely upside down while writing this piece, we see the finishes of floors change more and more. The oil / paint industry is coming with more and more innovations that we embrace and follow, but in which we prioritize proven quality / reliability. With this vision, we aim to be a colourful long-term partner. Within Zabolak we can treat floor parts from small to large size, even panels are possible. We are able to carry out the most well-known applications, for example, distressing and brushing, use of reactive or colour stains, oils, lacquers, etc. We are also able to smoke in a controlled environment by means of ammonia. All this or in combination of several allows us to realize almost any desired finish. We work in a customer-oriented manner and we will examine per customer what are the specific wishes / requirements that are set. After that, a product is developed specifically for each client, sometimes even with an exclusive character. In the end, we pack the product responsibly with straps and foil and put it on pallets according to agreement so that it can be collected. We can load both on trucks and containers.. Creativity, Flexibility, and Reliability, that's ZABOLAK.