Jun 6, 2023 - 3-5 minutes
Why You Should Offer a Total System Approach for Building Envelopes
Discover the advantages of a total system approach for building envelope products. Learn how it solves logistical challenges, improves installation processes, and ensures long-term performance. Find out why the right supplier can help streamline operations and enhance brand reputation.
As a brand owner, you likely are looking to provide contractors with everything they need for the building envelope, including the right tapes, adhesives and sealants. However, when your building envelope products all come from different suppliers – i.e., a piecemeal approach - it can cause challenges for both contractors and brand owners alike. For example, contractors may end up dealing with complex product logistics, different installation processes as well as material incompatibilities. As the brand owner, it can make it challenging to ensure your building envelope products will be installed properly and able to maintain performance overtime.
However, by developing and offering a total system approach to your contractors under your brand, it can resolve these issues and ultimately help set you, the brand owner, apart from the competition. Gain an understanding of the issues a piecemeal approach can cause for contractors and how a total system approach addresses them, benefiting both you and your contractors.
However, by developing and offering a total system approach to your contractors under your brand, it can resolve these issues and ultimately help set you, the brand owner, apart from the competition. Gain an understanding of the issues a piecemeal approach can cause for contractors and how a total system approach addresses them, benefiting both you and your contractors.
Issue #1 for Contractors: Managing Product Logistics
When using products from different suppliers for the building envelope, each of these products likely has its own lead time. This can make it difficult for contractors to ensure all materials arrive on time and in the right order.
If one material is late, it can throw off the entire construction timeline. This is especially an issue for residential projects, because tradespeople may only be scheduled for one or two days at a particular construction site. If their availability window gets missed, it might be days or weeks before they can come back to the site.
From there, the issues can easily domino, creating extra headaches for contractors. This is because other subcontractors who are relying on that task to be done first will have to rework their own schedules.
Materials arriving too early can also pose a problem, cluttering up the worksite and causing logistical issues.
If one material is late, it can throw off the entire construction timeline. This is especially an issue for residential projects, because tradespeople may only be scheduled for one or two days at a particular construction site. If their availability window gets missed, it might be days or weeks before they can come back to the site.
From there, the issues can easily domino, creating extra headaches for contractors. This is because other subcontractors who are relying on that task to be done first will have to rework their own schedules.
Materials arriving too early can also pose a problem, cluttering up the worksite and causing logistical issues.
Issue #2 for Contractors: Understanding Different Installation Processes
Additionally, having a building envelope that’s comprised of many different brands’ products means each element may require slightly different installation techniques. This can make it challenging for contractors to be experts in how to install those products, increasing the likelihood of error.
Issue #3 for Contractors: Material Incompatibility
Another concern they face when using products from different brands is ensuring that the products work well together. Two perfectly good products may not be suited to each other, and this can affect performance. For example, they may have different chemistry backbones or have been formulated to withstand different end-use environmental exposure levels.
It’s also impossible to know which products from Supplier A have been tested with which other ones from Supplier B. Certainly, they can do their own testing; however, even in doing so, they still won’t know how the combination will perform 10 years down the road.
Additionally, if something does go wrong, contractors may find that determining the reason is a challenge. When a building envelope is manufactured from products across multiple suppliers and under different brands, they are left juggling questions between two or more manufacturers. This can make it difficult to solve the issue—and know how to prevent it in the future.
It’s also impossible to know which products from Supplier A have been tested with which other ones from Supplier B. Certainly, they can do their own testing; however, even in doing so, they still won’t know how the combination will perform 10 years down the road.
Additionally, if something does go wrong, contractors may find that determining the reason is a challenge. When a building envelope is manufactured from products across multiple suppliers and under different brands, they are left juggling questions between two or more manufacturers. This can make it difficult to solve the issue—and know how to prevent it in the future.
How Offering a Total System Approach Addresses These Issues
By offering a total system approach – i.e., all components come from the same supplier and able to be under your brand – your contractors are able to:
Reduce product logistical complexity
When products such as tapes, adhesives and sealants all come from the same supplier, coordinating lead times and delivery dates is much easier for the contractor.
Additionally, as the brand owner, it helps you streamline your own project management needs and gives you a clear point of contact to ensure all products are on track.
Become installation experts
Further, offering a total system approach can help contractors reduce errors. This is because their teams only need to learn best practices for a single brand, so they can become true experts with the products. This also saves time and improves output quality.
Additionally, when the contractors become installation experts, its help them build trust with you, the brand owner. They feel confident and comfortable that what they are installing will be done properly and that they are set up for success.
Ensure long-term product compatibility
Because the products are designed to be compatible upfront, contractors can rest assured that the building envelope will maintain its performance in both the short and long term.
Likewise, as a brand owner, you know that your products will work with all building envelope materials, which helps build your brand reputation.
More easily resolve any issues if they arise
With a single supplier, it can be faster to determine the cause of any issue and how to prevent it in the future. This improves efficiencies and processes for both contractors and you.
Reduce product logistical complexity
When products such as tapes, adhesives and sealants all come from the same supplier, coordinating lead times and delivery dates is much easier for the contractor.
Additionally, as the brand owner, it helps you streamline your own project management needs and gives you a clear point of contact to ensure all products are on track.
Become installation experts
Further, offering a total system approach can help contractors reduce errors. This is because their teams only need to learn best practices for a single brand, so they can become true experts with the products. This also saves time and improves output quality.
Additionally, when the contractors become installation experts, its help them build trust with you, the brand owner. They feel confident and comfortable that what they are installing will be done properly and that they are set up for success.
Ensure long-term product compatibility
Because the products are designed to be compatible upfront, contractors can rest assured that the building envelope will maintain its performance in both the short and long term.
Likewise, as a brand owner, you know that your products will work with all building envelope materials, which helps build your brand reputation.
More easily resolve any issues if they arise
With a single supplier, it can be faster to determine the cause of any issue and how to prevent it in the future. This improves efficiencies and processes for both contractors and you.
- Improved Overall Aesthetic: This is another benefit developing and offering a total system approach brings. By having all materials from the same supplier, it increases the contractors’ and the public’s sense of cohesiveness when viewing the construction site, which can ultimately build trust in your brand.
Why Choose Bostik to Work with When Offering a Total System Approach
When choosing Bostik as the supplier to manufacture the tapes, adhesives, and sealants within your total system approach, you can experience the following benefits:
However, the top reason to consider Bostik is simple: We are the only supplier to offer the capabilities and infrastructure to do it all under your brand label.
To learn more, read about our Building Envelope Solutions.
Learn More
Legal Dislaimer
- A broad product offering to ensure you’re able to choose the right products for your contractors’ needs
- Products that have undergone component-specific testing upfront on specific substrates to increase success likelihood in the field
- Redundancy in our manufacturing to ensure you’re able to get the products you need when and where you want them
- Testing done on your behalf, given our large, global R&D team, to improve efficiencies on your end and give you peace of mind
However, the top reason to consider Bostik is simple: We are the only supplier to offer the capabilities and infrastructure to do it all under your brand label.
To learn more, read about our Building Envelope Solutions.
Learn More
Legal Dislaimer
©2023 Bostik, Inc. All Rights Reserved
All information contained herein is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication, is provided “as-is” and is subject to change without notice. To review our full U.S. Legal Disclaimer, visit: https://bostik.com/us/en_US/privacy-policy/legal-disclaimer
All information contained herein is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication, is provided “as-is” and is subject to change without notice. To review our full U.S. Legal Disclaimer, visit: https://bostik.com/us/en_US/privacy-policy/legal-disclaimer