Company News
21. July 2020

Built to last - a customer story

Throughout our 90 Year history, we’ve always believed that real value is created by providing sustainable solutions that our customers can have confidence in, with products that deliver and continue to deliver.

With today’s increasing environmental impact concerns, choosing functional, serviceable, scalable products which stand the test of time, that don’t need to be regularly disposed of or replaced – is now more important than ever. A long-term investment today, is preparing for the challenges of tomorrow.

This is why we were really excited to hear this story from one of our customers, which perfectly backs-up our Built to Last ethos…

Built to Last

Graham, from Ten Metre Repairs & Restorations.

So, as my business grew, I found myself needing storage for all of the small parts and components I was producing. I started to buy steel cabinets, small A4 size drawers which were shallow enough to accommodate the things I made. Then when I came across small toolmakers cabinets I bought those.

Then of course we all found ourselves facing a global health crisis. Small manufacturers such as me found no reason to stop production but what did happen was, we found ourselves with a little time to re-evaluate our procedures.

I looked around and discovered that I had made a real error. All of those “useful storage cabinets” had taken over the storage and shipping office. I found myself searching for stuff I just knew I had, then remaking it to fill an order. The multitude of cabinets has become a millstone around my neck, sapping time and energy, something as a micro business I could ill afford.

So I decided to do something about it and began asking questions of my fellow engineers, “where do you store stuff”?  One name came up repeatedly: bott

Apparently they made excellent storage cabinets that could hold real weight AND they made all of the drawer inserts you could ever need, so I started looking. I knew what I wanted because this time I had studied the problem and measured the floor space – I had done my research as opposed to just reacting to a situation.

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Graham continues:

A good friend of mine told me of a company selling up because of the current situation and after some enquiries I found that they had sold everything to an organisation called GD Machinery Sheffield, so I called them up and spoke to a very helpful chap, David, and he confirmed they had several for sale. I set off over the Pennines to Sheffield.

The sight that greeted me was pretty bad, I think the workforce had bathed these cabinets in waste oil every week for twenty years. You can see from the pictures, the two I wanted were in dire straits. David assured me that indeed, they were well made and the company: bott were a very respected name. A deal was struck and they accompanied me back to my premises.

After being well covered in waste oil myself and getting them unloaded I started. I was astonished at how well they had survived the years of abuse, I was also pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to dismantle them and break them down into their component parts. As you can see from the original photographs, these cabinets had suffered some real abuse.

The quality of the original finish shows through in the restored photographs, that is the original drawer finish, cleaned up with degreaser. The drawers were not refinished at all. The cabinets were another matter but as they are well made a few judicious blows with a mallet removed ninety percent of the dents. I then had the cabinets powder coated in RAL 7035 which is the current bott colour. Helpfully all of this information was freely available on the bott website.

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Graham continues:

Then came the real test: The cabinets came without keys, so I contacted bott. A reply came straight back, Holly at bott Customer Services explained that the locks were no longer used by them but spares could be secured. This, on a twenty odd year old cabinet. Would I like keys? You bet!

bott were kind enough to also supply me two new stickers to complete my restoration and set the cabinets off beautifully. Yes, it is a minor detail but in my business it is all about detail and my customers demand I pay attention to the smallest of them. This means a lot.

Were they cheap? No, not really, even in their used state they were good money, plus the time and effort in their refurbishment. Would I get my money back? Absolutely, if you buy into a quality product that proves long lasting and durable you will always have something of real value.

Has this improved my storage and inventory control? Beyond measure, the drawers slide out effortlessly, lock in the fully open position and everything is just laid out before you. I have just started to scratch the surface of the adaptability of the dividers and storage trays, the possibilities are endless.

Would I buy new? Yes, absolutely. What you are getting is not that expensive and they hold their value for all of the reasons stated above, not least of which is the support of customer services. You are not just buying a cabinet here you are buying into a well supported brand.

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