Exterior Joinery
Groupe Lapeyre SA is France’s largest manufacturer and retailer of joinery products such as doors, windows and other joinery products to the DIY consumer and professional markets. Three years ago Laurent Pasqualini, Sales Director with Becker Acroma France contacted Lapeyre to find out if there was some way in which Becker Acroma France could partner with Lapeyre, using our key wood coatings, application and finishing skills. Lapeyre asked Becker Acroma France to compete to develop a totally new lacquer to apply to its timber/joinery sections, which would tie-in with a new ecological treatment that Lapeyre had developed and would guarantee their products for 30 years against insects and fungal growth.
The problem
Lapeyre had applied the new ecological treatment (”WOOD PROTECT”) to a range of shutters they were producing, but came across a problem they didn’t have a solution for; the wood was too oily and they couldn’t find a coating with the requisite amount of adhesion. In addition, no one wanted to buy the shutters. It was in mid-2004 that Becker Acroma France and their colleagues in Sweden and Italy got their heads together and started looking for a process and a solution that would protect and guarantee Lapeyre’s product for 10 years. If successful, Lapeyre would be the only manufacturer in their market that would be able to provide a 10-year guarantee on its products – a big competitive advantage in a fiercely competitive market.
For the next 36 months, Becker Acroma France would compete for Lapeyre’s business in stiff competition. The goal was to develop and produce a brand new coating in transparent and pigmented versions.
The solution
The solution we came up with, and now validated by Lapeyreis a 100% solid content, UV solution with the requisite adhesion, applied by vacuum coater. One of the many advantages of this solution is that there is no loss of product. The primer we also developed for the process consists of wooden and pigmented colours and means that Lapeyre can broaden its offer to consumers. We’re proud to say that Lapeyre is the only manufacturer in France that can offer a 10-year guarantee on its joinery products (transparent lacquer on exterior products).
For the future, Lapeyre is keen to use the treatment and coatings process we developed and apply it to their entire range of exterior products; doors, windows, decking and wood panelling for exteriors. Working closely with Lapeyre, Becker Acroma France will be pulling out all the stops to make this happen.