GUTTERS: It started with plastic gutters, and expanded to windows and skylights. Innovative plastics manufacturer Plastmo aims to become a total supplier of light roofs in the next five years.
Let the sun in and drain off the rain. Both functions are crucial for buildings all over the world. It is also the guiding principle for ACO Plastmo, which since 1958 has been one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of gutters. Plastmo was the first company in Europe to produce plastic gutters. In whole lengths, without the labourintensive and unreliable joints which form the weak points of traditional zinc gutters, and at prices which quickly outcompeted them.
Plastmo has since developed into far more than a gutter manufacturer. Today the company makes light roof solutions in different plastics as well as roof windows in a distinctive design. In 1995, Plastmo was taken over by Germany’s ACO Group, whose main product is surface drainage systems. Plastmo became the Group’s Nordic bridgehead handling all its products in Northern Europe, the Baltic States and Russia.
Windows
“We had a brand and a sales platform accounting for a considerable market share in plastic gutter systems, which the ACO Group could exploit for its products,” says ACO Plastmo’s managing director Klaus Hadsbjerg. “In return we gained access to ACO Group’s global dealer network. That gave us the muscle to expand the company in Denmark into the entire Group’s competence centre in plastic products.” ACO Plastmo has in recent years acquired two other Danish plastics companies, Hvidbjerg Vinduet, a window company which today manufactures traditional windows in various materials, as well as Multi-Lite which makes rooflights and roof coverings. Plastmo itself has expanded its gutter range to include metal gutters.
Total supplier
“Our ambition is to become a total supplier of light roofs within a few years,” says Hadsbjerg. “It means a considerably expanded product range produced more rationally and at lower cost without compromising on quality, in order to maintain our position with the dealers. My guess is that we will double our size in five years.” The construction market in the Baltic States and Russia will be key contributors to that growth. ACO Plastmo is the first manufacturer of plastic gutters which has started production in Russia.
“In Moscow and St. Petersburg alone there is enormous potential,” says Klaus Hadsbjerg. “Regarding newbuild and renovation, there is an annual need for 20,000 kilometres of gutters in CIS. And although plastic gutters are still considered a luxury product in Russia, there is no doubt that it will become one of the building materials of the future.”
| ACO Plastmo regards itself as more than the traditional production company which makes gutters. “In itself it is a somewhat neutral product,” says Klaus Hadsbjerg. “We want to create partnerships with our customers regarding total solutions which let the sun in and drain off the rain in a far more creative way. We do that by constant product development and by providing attractive and innovative solutions. Ultimately it is about creating added value for our customers. It can be for builders merchants or the DIY stores, or for engineers and architects.” |