MECHANICAL CONTRACTING
Phc: How does the new low lead law affect JG’s business?
RG: This could be very significant for JG Speedfit products in the States. President Obama has now signed the bill, meaning that all manufacturers will have to supply products with greatly reduced lead content after January 1, 2014. Our Speedfit range has no lead content, meaning that we won’t have to make very expensive changes to our materials and tooling. Installers can be satisfied
deal with this challenge by ensuring that we offer the best quality fitting around and continue to be the company people look to as the innovator in the marketplace. They do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
Phc: 50 years — can you describe the evolution of JG’s business and its products?
RG: The business started off small with a mindset of taking full
and will be well respected as a leading brand in this sector. We are prepared to work hard to make that happen.
Phc: Explain the process of getting product to the customer in a timely fashion.
RG: Our factories operate within a “lean manufacturing” philosophy, meaning that we try to get from raw material to a completed product on the customer’s shelf as quickly and efficiently as possible. Significant investments in automated assembly equipment have helped achieve this and, by not outsourcing production to other parts of the world, we don’t have the problems of integrating parts and stock, etc. Like everything, it often comes down to good communication both internally and with our distribution partners.
Phc: How does John Guest help the contractor do his/her job better?
A contractor works with John Guest products in the tightest of quarters.
that they are using fully approved products. It might well prove the catalyst for plumbers who haven’t yet used the Speedfit system to give it a try and discover all the other benefits that go with our signature line.
Phc: How are you celebrating 50 years?
RG: We feel it’s a great achievement to hit the 50-year landmark, and we are enjoying recognizing it. We have in-house celebrations going on throughout the year, but we are also running various promotions in the market to help celebrate with and thank our customers, who are fundamentally the people who have made John Guest the success it is. We greatly appreciate the support that all of our trading partners have given us.
Phc: Describe some business challenges the company has faced over the years and how they were dealt with.
RG: The success of Speedfit technology has led other manufacturers to produce copies or their “versions” of the product. We
responsibility for the product that leaves the door. Today, employing around 1,300 people, the company is still very “vertically integrated.” Every aspect of the production cycle and supply chain, from initial product design and tool manufacture to final product dispatch is undertaken by John Guest. We take control of every manufacturing stage, as we are confident that we can do it better than if it was sub-contracted out.Our push-fit products still have some physical resemblance to the very first batch back in the 1970s. However, continuous product improvements and increases in market reach, mean the system can now be found in many more applications and industries than 30 years ago.
Phc: Where do you see/would like to see John Guest in the next five years?
RG: We will ensure that what the company stands for remains the same and that we continue to deliver on the service levels our customers have come to expect. I would like to think, and am confident, that we will have secured a strong market position in the U.S. plumbing market
RG: When designing and conceiving of products we always have the installer in mind. Everybody would like their working lives to be made more efficient. The Speedfit system enables plumbing work to be done quicker and easier, without compromising on quality or reliability.
“Our Speedfit range has no lead content, meaning that we won’t have to make very expensive changes to our materials and tooling. Installers can be satisfied that they are using fully approved products.”
With the flexibility that plastic pipe provides, it also delivers greater options for the contractor during installation.
Phc: The last time you said, “This is a great day,” what were you doing?
RG: I’m tempted to say when sitting on a sun lounger on the beach! In all seriousness, I am very lucky in that I have many days to choose from. We recently sold our 3-billionth push-in fitting. Something my father, when first designing his idea for Speedfit forty years ago, would have scarcely believed. l
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phc june 2011
www.phcnews.com
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