HEAVYSIDE
A CONCRETE CUSTOMER SERVICE SOLUTION
More efficient, more environmentally friendly and with increased customer service levels: Fiona Russell-Horne finds out more about fibo Collect, the concrete mortar and screed service that’s bringing real benefits for merchants.
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lick-and-collect as a concept has taken hold in most industries, having had a real, necessary boost thanks to the pandemic and lockdowns. It’s now being used for a far wider variety of products than you might think.
fibo Collect is the click & collect solution for ready to use concrete, mortar and screed. It provides a more efficient and environmentally friendly purchasing option for its users, and its reach has been growing steadily amongst UK builders’ merchants since February last year. It’s also a great way for merchants to differentiate themselves from their competitors whilst also providing them with other means of distribution..
fibo Collect is an automated batching plant, with self-cleaning technology that allows customers to order small to large quantities of concrete, mortar or screed at the touch of a button. With orders from 0.25m3, builders merchants’ customers can instantly mix, pour and dispense small volumes of concrete so they can start their projects in a matter of minutes not hours.
Alex Atkinson launched fibo Collect in the UK with his father-in-law Stuart Cranfield, managing director of Bell Meadow Luxury House Builders in Chester. Fibo Intercon are the Danish manufacturers of the technology. Atkinson saw it in operation in France two years ago and thought that here was something that could really work in the UK market.
He says: “We thought if you could do collections like this in a builder’s merchants in the same way but could also offer customers a chance to get mortar and screed, it would have such great appeal for the UK. Small housebuilders, landscapers trying to get product onto a site, when they only need a small amount, is very difficult. It can be time- consuming and costly to mix the product themselves by hand, or they could arrange to get it delivered, but then they are forced into paying a minimum order, usually of a half a cubic metre, not all of which will be required,
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From an easy-to-use, intuitive touch screen, customers choose the amount of the product they need and pay by credit card, bar code or RFID tag at the terminals next to the screen. Within minutes the product is dispensed from a conveyor belt, into a tub, truck or trailer, and a receipt is printed at the terminal. Integrated mixer washing and water recycling systems allow for low maintenance and 24/7, unsupervised operations.
so the rest of it is wasted, and the customer is paying for product they don’t need. “And while there are purpose built ready mixed facilities around the country, they aren’t really geared up to cater for a series of white- van traders coming in for small amounts on a Thursday morning.”
It’s a story that’s increasingly been heeded by independent merchants. The latest journey started in February 2023, when Thorncliffe Building Supplies launched fibo Collect at its Ewloe branch in North Wales, followed a few months later by the Dyserth branch, also in North Wales. In August 2023, Carvers Building Supplies took the concept into its Wolverhampton branch, then Scottish independent Cartmore Building Supplies set it up at the Lochgelly branch.
Palmer Nurseries became the first branch
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net April 2024
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