Rapierstar has continued to invest throughout 2020, with stock value increased by £1m-plus, construction of its extended R&D centre and the recruitment of new apprentices and employees during August. The firm has also hit a turnover high this summer.
Rapierstar's core window and door industry market has been recovering from lockdown and fabricator customers have been kept supplied through the fastener firm's £4m of window screw and fixings stock, including one billion items in its 100,000 ft² warehouse and distribution centre in Cheshire. Holding many months of stock has helped absorb the short term impacts of disrupted global trade of the kind caused by the pandemic, the fastener supplier said.
Investments have been made in people and operations, with new apprentices and employees recruited during August, supported by the latest upgrade of a fully integrated ERP (enterprise resource planning) system, Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, and further investment in its carbon-saving electric commercial vehicles and new on-site charging points.
“There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has rocked global supply chains in every market and exposed the fragility of some of these which, with a rapid manufacturing bounce-back, now means some of our competitors are experiencing supply issues – but certainly not Rapierstar," said David Furness, MD of Rapierstar. "We achieved 99.4% OTIF deliveries while smashing our best ever monthly turnover in July (up 23% YOY) and August is also flying.
“Our long term manufacturing partners are located in Taiwan, so our supplies were never particularly under threat even when the strict economic and social restrictions started. We continued to accept and pay for pre-ordered monthly deliveries from our respected supply partners during the COVID-19 shutdown, so our stocks have never been so healthy.
“This is why we have been able to provide a great service to our customers through the pandemic and why the immediate availability of Rapierstar's products remains unchanged with fabulous stock levels. Ultimately, our customers can have confidence that we can deliver because of the depth of stock we carry.”
Rapierstar's new extended R&D centre will incorporate a video conference suite to enable improved communication with suppliers and customers post-pandemic, as well as a large showroom for demonstrating its forthcoming innovative new product ranges, developed in-house with senior researchers in a turbo charged new product development programme.
Rapierstar believes it is the only specialist fastener supplier of its kind to the UK and Irish window and door industry. Its products are available to fabricators and installers through the main industry distributors and trade counters, as well as directly for the largest fabricators, with a wide range of fasteners suitable for all PVCu and aluminium systems, as well as timber frames. Rapierstar also provides a wealth of technical guidance and resources regarding fastener choice and application on its website. This includes Recommended Fixing Manuals (RFMs) for each of the most popular PVCu profile systems, which are free to download.
