Post-Covid Mutation in the Window Accessories Industry

Architectural Hardware

Industry Performance of the Architectural Hardware for Aluminium Doors, Windows and Façades

A villa project

The last 3 years were an actual rollercoaster ride for the entire industry. Warehouses were full of material without any movement to empty warehouses due to global supply chain issues It was a ‘walk on tight rope’ for the whole industry. Value-wise, 2020 took the most hit due to the Chinese virus/lockdown. All construction practices came to a halt all of a sudden. The year 2020 was a bit of relief but only due to roll-over orders of 2020. We have not seen major new orders or launches in 2021. The rally of 2021 was strong only for the first two quarters. The last two quarters were just average.

Incentives from the government pushed developers to launch new projects and normalcy in order to get them started. The year 2022 has started on a good note. I am sure this rally will continue for the entire year. The global supply chain is still a challenge and normalcy is not in near vision.

In all this difficult time, I must appreciate the efforts taken by organisations and knowledge-sharing platforms like WFM to keep the industry engaged in knowledge enrichment sessions. This really helped many people or decision makers to understand the different perspectives of windows, doors & façades. In the daily busy schedule, this was really not possible.

Due to this break, many industry experts brought in new concepts and enhanced their portfolios. We saw a sharp increase in demand for quality hardware. The window, door & façade industry is known as an unorganised sector, but the pandemic break gave an opportunity to make it a more organised and lean operation. This, in turn, helped hardware suppliers to present their products in a different format.

The demand for larger homes along with bigger windows that invite light and air inside has increased. According to the ANAROCK report, the demand for larger homes increased by 79%. A bigger home means more windows per flat.

The demand for commercial spaces, even though the work from home (WFH) declined initially, it picked up in 2021 due to normalcy.

There is renewed demand for aesthetically more pleasing hardware. This promoted established brands to launch some new handle designs. One of the most indemanded handles is a handle without a base.

The global supply chain forces people to find local suppliers for on-time delivery. Creating a local ecosystem for hardware is a good initiative for a local supplier. Focused efforts are needed to create basic infrastructure with investment in R&D which lacks at present.

I am confident that sustained demand for better-performing hardware will continue to improve over a period of time. ABHISHEK KALE

Area Manager India,

Sobinco

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Abhishek Kale leads operations of Sobinco as the Area Manager India. He started his career as a Junior Design Engineer in Reynaers Aluminium and learned and scaled himself to the level of Sales Manager. He holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical from YCCE Nagpur University and did his Executive MBA from IIM-Lucknow. He has over 16 years of experience in the façade & fenestration industry. Presently he is responsible for overall operation in India related to Sobinco in sales, marketing and operations.

Sobinco started operation in India in 2016 and has seen many milestones of growth over these years. The company manufactures hardware for Aluminium windows, doors & façades in their state-ofthe-art facility in Zulte, Belgium.