Window of profitability QFORT - Casa Noastra

WINDOW OF

PROFITABILITY

QFORT is a Romanian company that produces and supplies polyvinyl chloride (PVC) windows and doors. Mr Cosmin Ionescu, one of the company’s shareholders, talks about the main trends in the industry with a strong focus on product improvement, comfort and safety. Vanja Švačko reports.

Being one of the major window producers in south-eastern Europe, QFORT operates in the majority of European countries from Italy, France, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands to Belgium, Switzerland and Romania.

Established in 1995, the company started as a distributer of PVC windows and doors manufactured by another Romanian company. In July 2004 it was ready to start its own production of systems for doors and PVC windows and insulating glass. This led to the creation of its own brand QFORT in 2007, resulting in a synergy of quality and comfort that has made it the most enduring thermal insulation system in Romania.

Mr Ionescu explains, “In the past 10 years we have invested around €30 million in production facilities, offices and logistics. Currently we are based in the city of Craiova.” A window every minute

Today the company has three state-of-the-art production facilities covering an area of 15,000m2 (with plans to expand that space to 20,000m2 by the end of 2016), logistics capacities of 10,000m2 and a fleet which encompasses 250 cars and trucks for transportation purposes. Apart from 1,300 resellers throughout Europe, QFORT has numerous logistic centres to which products are sent for distribution. The company employs more than 1,000 people. It does not come as a surprise, therefore, that such an organisational structure enables its plants to produce windows at the rate of one per minute.

The raw materials used in door and window manufacturing are produced by the world’s best suppliers. Among them are the German

VEKA AG and Aluplast, two of the most renowned and innovative PVC profile manufacturers globally. The glass required for the production of insulating glass units is supplied by the French Saint-Gobain, American Guardian and Japanese AGC. The Italian company HOPPE is also on the list of QFORT’s top handle suppliers while the most experienced in producing hardware for windows and doors is the German company Winkhaus AG.

The company holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 18001 quality certifications. Their products and production are certified and regularly audited by the prestigious German testing institute IFT Rosenheim. “The institute evaluates our products and makes the audit every year to ensure that we are following the processes and rules and delivering a product with consistent quality according to the initial tests,” says Mr Ionescu.

In-house control

The diverse product range offered by QFORT includes windows, doors, sliding doors, roller shutters, insect nets, windows sills and other accessories. All parts are manufactured with fully automated machinery in-house, which enables comprehensive quality control. According to Mr Ionescu, the company’s product range is very straightforward and easy to understand. “Windows and doors are not luxury products and generally customers do not spend time in

research, but buy things based on recommendations from the field expert or retailer. Even so, we have made categorisation as easy as possible for them to understand: we have chosen a familiar star system, offering 4-star, 5-star and 6-star ranges of windows. The 4-star ranges are composed of PVC profiles with depths of 70mm, while higher stars have different depths and are certified for either more severe weather conditions or optimum energy-saving.”

To underline its commitment to durability, comfort, energy saving and security, QFORT has recently introduced an innovative range of doors with a new security system, as well as sliding doors with automatic opening. The company also put forward different models of door panels and highlighted its range of new colours for both windows and doors.

“In terms of the end use of our products,” continues Mr Ionescu, “they are mostly destined for residential buildings. This is because larger glass areas require the more stable frames provided by aluminium. But that is at the expense of thermal insulation, which is not as critical for commercial buildings as it is for residential. We produce windows using Super LowE (low emissivity) insulating glass units and warm-edge spacers with an excellent thermal and sound insulation as well as solar protection. In fact, all our products have similar features as standard. We try to add more of those that mean higher durability and functionality. We also have excellent delivery times in Europe and very comprehensive presale and after sale services for retailers and the end customers.”

Promising future

This year, QFORT aims to achieve 75 per cent of its turnover from exports, focusing primarily on Italian and French markets. While the projected turnover for 2015 is €43–44 million, the target for 2018 is €80 million. It is a very realistic goal given that the company has increased its production capacity by 30 per cent last year. There is also a possibility for increasing production due to reserves of capacities.

“Apart from production and turnover, we are also looking to increase our logistics network in Europe. However, for the next five years we do not have any acquisitions in mind.”

The Romanian real estate market is on the rise. Therefore QFORT’s durable windows and doors alongside the wide range of consulting and professional services presents a winning combination that can stand up to any competition. n Visit: www.qfort.ro