BI-FOLD&SLIDINGDOORS
British
Manufacturing
Born, Bred
and Bi-Fold!
There is a great deal of concern in the
UK that this country’s manufacturing
sector has dwindled dramatically over
recent years, but for one family business
based in High Wycombe, this is certainly
not the case. With an annual turnover
of over £10m, substantial growth targets
and exports to Dubai and the US, Origin
is certainly a ‘Best of British’ story.
Over the last 11 years, Origin,
a manufacturing company of
bespoke aluminium folding
sliding doors, has grown from
strength to strength. Neil
Ginger, alongside his cousin
Victoria Brocklesby, founded
the company in 2002 after
spotting an opportunity in the
UK market for aluminium bifolding doors.
Neil explained: “Before Origin
I was working for my father and
uncle helping to build indoor
and outdoor swimming pools.
Customers were constantly
requesting high quality, bespoke
bi-fold doors to complete the
look, it was near impossible to
find anything of high standard
in the UK, let alone match the
specifications, and some of the
lead times for the doors were six,
eight or even 16 weeks.”
Origin was born out of sheer
frustration and Neil could not
resist the challenge when he
spotted the gap in the market.
The British company designs,
develops and manufactures the
Origin bi-fold door system.
Neil and his team designed
the Origin Bi-fold door system
from scratch, ensuring even the
smallest details were carefully
50
MAY 2014
considered and designed to
ensure a precision engineered
bifolding door system. Having
previously been a customer,
Neil knew what the doors
needed to make them the best
on the market – including high
security locking and a state-ofthe-art roller system to ensure
complete ease of use. Product
developments remain at the
forefront of the business, with the
recent development of colourcoordinated weather seals adding
to the doors’ aesthetics and
overall performance.
Neil said: “The major challenge
was getting Origin up and
running; unlike most other
products it wasn’t possible to
make a prototype because of
the specialist processes and tools
required. So we invested in the
equipment not really knowing
what was ahead. Everyone said
it couldn’t be done, we wouldn’t
be able to manufacture a bi-fold
door solely in the UK and for me
this was like a red flag to a bull –
I don’t like being told that things
can’t be done.”
Exactly a year to the day
Origin was manufacturing doors.
Everything right down to the
last bolt was sourced within the
UK. All the mechanisms were
engineered by Neil and his team
– which made them the first and
only company to manufacture
completely bespoke, completely
British, bi-fold doors.
Your Lead Time, Not Ours – a
bold move
One of Neil’s career highlights
was devising a system that has
allowed Origin to remove its
manufacturing lead times. “We
are the first in the world to
remove lead times from a bespoke
manufactured product. This bold
move will redefine the industry.
In the past, customers have
accepted a lead time of between
six to eight weeks, we can have
your doors delivered tomorrow if
needed,” adds Neil.
The concept ‘Your Lead Time,
Not Ours’ is a revolution.
Even the industry is still trying
to get its head around it and
customers can’t quite believe it.
Neil remarks: “We have devised a
system that enables our customers
to choose when they want to
receive the doors, irrespective
of current demands on our
manufacturing.”
This system has helped Origin
gain a sizeable increase in its
market share. In the last three
years, Origin has seen growth
averaging 40 per cent year on
year and it is currently on target
for 40 per cent growth in 2013.
‘Your Lead Time, Not Ours’
is based on a Reliable Rapid
Response model. “This system
means we never have to turn
away business and always deliver
to the customer’s lead time,
in fact we have a 100 per cent
delivery rate of which we’re very
proud. Most of our competitors
assume we hold high quantities
of our stock, but this isn’t the
case. Our system is very simple
but difficult to copy; in essence
you have to optimise your staff as
well as your materials.”
www.origin-global.com
To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com