Back in April and May of this year, some of our long term European and American customers visited our shower door glass factory. For all of us at APIS glass it was great opportunity to finally meet our clients in person.
Our international clients enjoyed the experience too and it gave us all the opportunity to discuss tempered glass shower door quality details and improvements throughout the manufacturing and despatch process.
The purpose of their visit was to maintain our long term customer relationship as well as giving our clients an insight into our operation. By the end of each visit we had all learned a lot from each other.
Visit 1: The visit from INR, the leading shower brand company in Scandinavia
INR is the largest manufacturer of high end bathroom furniture and shower solutions in Scandinavia, a part of the world known for quality and superb precision engineering. We have been proud to partner with them since 2006. APIS Glass is the company’s only tempered glass supplier in China and we are happy to be their primary glass shower door supplier.
What kind of shower glass do APIS supply to INR?
We supply the company with high quality tempered shower glass, C shape curved shower glass, J shape curved shower glass and premade shower enclosures.
After 19 years of co operation with INR we have become their trusted “go to” supplier of tempered shower glass products and we are deeply involved in their supply chain. INR value our attention to detail, quality control and reliability when it comes to delivery and despatch.
Our achievements in building an environmentally friendly glass factory
INR is a company with high standards of social responsibility. Not only do they achieve a fantastic standard of product quality, they are highly focused on environmental protection and sustainability.
APIS Glass has followed their lead and adheres strongly to environmental principles in the following four ways;
- We operate in strict adherence to the laws and regulations issued by the Chinese government to protect the environment. Sadly, not all Chinese companies do this but APIS are different. We always consider the environment as a primary concern.
- We built a water recycling system in 2018. This means that we save 40%of water throughout the year, adding up to around 3900 tons of water saved.
- We built an air purification system in 2018, meaning lower emissions and a healthier working environment.
- We added solar energy in 2020 which provides 700 kva power supply. This means that 23% of our power is derived from solar energy. We aim to build on this in the future.
How we worked with INR to improve our business
We now submit an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). This important document transparently communicates the environmental performance or impact of our products over their life time.
We also refined our quality improvement in tempered glass production. APIS tempered curvature has been improved from 1.5mm to 1mm within 1000mm.
APIS has strict production process to control glass shower door quality, including raw materials inspection and final inspection. Our new ISO9001 system is in progress, and will be completed within a few months.
Visit 2: The Visit from a Major UK Shower Company
Our second visit was from a major UK based shower solution company which has been in operation for over 40 years. They first contacted us just before the Covid pandemic in 2019 and we started supplying them with a range of shower door products just after the pandemic.
The UK company had tried to find a Chinese glass supplier earlier and had placed orders with another company but the quality from their original supplier was unstable. This had a detrimental effect upon their business negatively affecting their sales plan and adversely impacting on their local business.
Luckily they were undaunted and when they contacted APIS we were able to deliver high quality tempered shower glass products exactly to their specifications and time frame.
Which products do APIS supply to the UK company?
APIS Glass provides the UK company with tempered shower glass, C shape curved shower glass, J shape curved shower glass, and silk screen printed glass.
What has APIS learned from the UK client?
Our UK client has had many years of experience in the shower room industry so they were able to provide us with great suggestions for tempered shower glass quality improvement in production and management.
- Labels in plastic bags
We used to directly stick paper labels on wooden boxes, but the UK Company asked us to put the labels into plastic bags making them waterproof and moisture-proof. All the data on the label is now protected to show clear glass information in the wooden boxes. This small detail makes a big difference for our customers and we now do this for all our shipments.
- We have improved the base structure strength of the wooden box
Because tempered glass is fragile, we always apply maximum care in our packaging and have found that wooden boxes are the best medium. We have played around and improved the structure of the wooden box many times, so that the boxes are not too heavy yet are strong enough to bear the weight.
The UK company warehouse manager gave us great feedback. He said that most of our wooden boxes were very good, and only the wooden boxes containing one or two items had slight shaking because the glass inside was too large and heavy. They asked us if we could improve the design of these wooden boxes.
Our boss Henry summoned the production manager and quality manager to demonstrate the loading and unloading of wooden boxes on site, and found the stress points of the wooden boxes. We worked on these and improved the design. Now the improved wooden boxes can hold heavier tempered glass without compromising on the stability of the glassware inside. And the good news is that these slight improvements have not added to the overall weight of the wooden box.
Visit 3: The Visit from Precision Glass, a US company based in Virginia
Precision Glass Work is a glass shop in Virginia, USA. They mainly provide wholesale and installation services for bathrooms, doors and windows. They have nearly 20 years of experience in the glass industry and have a good reputation locally.
How we got connected
Our first point of contact was when one of our sales team contacted one of the owners, Mr. Majed, through WhatsApp and learned that the company had always purchased tempered sliding shower door from local wholesalers. Majed said the company were hoping to buy directly from a Chinese glass shower door factory as the business expanded but because this was a new step on their business journey they had not yet taken the plunge.
Once we gave them a quote for reference, they were very interested and bought our glass shower door samples. They were satisfied with the quality and then bought a container of glass shower doors as a trial order. Precision Glass found the process of buying directly from us far easier than anticipated.
In April 2024, representatives of Precision Glass came to China to participate in the China Glass 2024 exhibition. Mr. Mounssef came to our factory for an onsite inspection of tempered glass shower door fabrication.
Particle size inspection in the APIS Glass Factory
Precision Glass is extremely satisfied with our quality and they learned a lot about glass production, especially about our process of testing the particle size of tempered glass. After all the in terms of tempered glass quality, the particle size is invisible to the naked eye yet is the most important factor when it comes to safety.
In the APIS glass factory, our team inspects each piece of tempered shower glass. We ensure that the particle size is within the range of 50 – 80 (50 x 50 mm) meaning that it is clear, safe and shatter proof. Safety and quality for our customers lies at the heart of our shower door manufacturing process.
Particle size inspection in the APIS Glass Factory
The International customers all enjoyed their visits to our factory and as well as improving shower door business strategies and plans for the future, there was time for some sight seeing and visits to places of interest.
Our colleague Sara took Mr. Mounssef to visit the beautiful city of Qingdao for example, and he said he would return next year with his wife and combine a business trip with a holiday. China is a fabulous country and all our visitors enjoyed a unique travel experience.
We are looking forward to developing more business together with Precision Glass and with all our wonderful sliding shower door clients who took the opportunity to visit our factory.
