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Platform on sun and daylight control, shutters, patio covers and closures
Some companies profile themselves with design, others focus more on technical ingenuity, Rainbowsol can safely be called the king of concepts. Especially by Z&R. After all, the company has already won the Z&R Product of the Year Award twice with its Limited Edition and Q Series concepts. Incidentally, design also plays an important role in both concepts. Now the Leerdam-based supplier of awnings and patio covers is introducing a new concept. Perhaps slightly less spectacular, and not entirely new, as they have done it before, but still: 'an articulated screen delivered within one day!'
Other times are coming, Robert Bosch is convinced. Or actually, they are already here. During the corona epidemic, people could not go on vacation, eat out or go to a terrace, go to the cinema or the amusement park. So many chose to invest in their own homes. The sun protection industry benefited enormously from this and experienced two absolutely top years. This past year was already very different, because everything could be done again. "The vacation money 'then invest in an awning or patio cover' was no longer an issue! And on top of that, the war in Ukraine and inflation!"
"By the way, it's really not all doom and gloom," Bosch observes. "The years 2020 and 2021 were exceptional, but 2022 was still a good year. Compared to 2019, the year before corona, the industry in general is still growing. And there are also new, positive developments again. For example, the corona pandemic has changed how people view working from home. It is more accepted than before and is not going to disappear. In the spring, when the sun rises higher again and starts bothering people, working from home will be an additional motivation to invest in sun protection. But of course that can't compensate for the decline in sales after the corona years."
At Rainbowsol, they see the concept of "an articulated screen within one day" as a way to offer the dealer an extra option in today's market. "Think of it as an extra service the dealer can offer his customers," says Robert Bosch. "It's nothing more than that. We really don't expect it to suddenly take a storm and the orders to flood in, but we do offer the dealer that extra option."
The dealer selling "a screen in one day" can basically pick it up from Rainbowsol in Leerdam the same day and install it at the consumer's home. After all, the screens are in stock. Speed is the strength of the concept, but understandably at the expense of choice. If Rainbowsol were to offer a choice of ten trimming colors, ten cloths and ten sizes, there would have to be thousands of different screens in stock in numbers. That, of course, is not possible. "That's why the choice is limited," Bosch explains, "although I think that by cleverly selecting the most requested trimming colors, cloths and sizes we cover a significant portion of what consumers generally demand."
The screen offered by Rainbowsol for "a screen in one day" is the Ibiza Plus, 4½, 5 or 5½ meters wide, in all cases with 3 meters of projection and equipped with a Somfy io motor. For this concept, the screens are available in the four trimming colors white (RAL 9010), cream white (RAL 9001), textured anthracite (RAL 7016) and textured stargrey (RAL 9007). Each color is paired with one particular fabric; the best-selling combinations, of course. If the end user wants a certain trimming color, then a fabric goes with it and vice versa.
A screen in one day, of course, can also be an entry-level solution. The consumer who is attracted by this concept, but ends up wanting something else - a different type of screen, a different trim color, a different fabric... - may then still choose another solution. "That's always possible, of course," Bosch says, "It's the Rainbowsol dealer's job to respond appropriately. But normally every awning specialist has enough experience with this, because it won't be the first time that a consumer walks into the showroom with a certain idea and then walks out with a different solution. The consumer goes to a specialist for nothing, he or she wants to be optimally advised. And this promotion only applies to specialist dealers."
In any industry, you have trendsetters and early adapters on the one hand and companies that are more likely to follow. Rainbowsol is actually both. With concepts such as Limited Edition and Q-series, and now again with "a screen in one day," the company is showing that it has a vision and can lead the way. "But with solar, for example, we are rather following," Bosch says. "Don't get me wrong, of course we have it. Especially with screens and shutters, it's taking off. For solar drives for awnings it is still too early. For solar screens, larger capacities are simply needed than are available up to now."
The advantages of solar are obvious, Bosch also sees. No more cutting and breaking and faster installation. If desired, even when the residents are not at home: remote control in the mailbox and done! But there are disadvantages, too. "A roller shutter or screen lasts twenty years, but a loose battery or the battery of a battery motor does not. Interim replacement is therefore inevitable."
Implicitly woven into this is criticism of the architectural world. "Architects as a rule do not like shutters and blinds very much," Bosch observes. "They don't foresee them in their plans, because they find it too disruptive to the image of a house or building. Even making a building 'awning-ready' by at least providing electrical connection points is usually not an option until now. If awnings have to be installed later, solar is often the easiest solution. But with increasingly stringent requirements - BENG, you name it - architects will be forced to think more about solar shading in the future. We are going to see what that brings."
Robert Bosch has been in the sun protection business for many years. So to speak, from hand control via motor control to solar! So it is only logical that he feels highly involved in the industry. For example, he has been chairman of Romazo Manufacturers and Suppliers for many years, when things were going very well at the time of the first Romazo Branch Day, until the near dissolution of the club in 2019. What does he think of the relaunch that a new board is now working on?
"In principle I welcome cooperation, but the involvement of large parts of the industry is still low it appears time and again, especially among awning specialists. Romazo Professionals has been sitting at about the same number of members for years. There should be more to it: for members doors open, for non-members they remain closed. I warmly support the efforts of the new board of Romazo Manufacturers and Suppliers. But if the association wants to be successful, it has to be different than before. It has to be something new. Not old wine in old bags, because I'm afraid it won't work then."
