PVD Talks – ATZ Interview
This month we invited Ricardo Cruz, ATZ’s Chief Executive Officer, to talk to us about the application of PVD coating on hardware for doors and furniture.
ATZ – Unlocking Solutions, was founded in 1990 with the initial goal of manufacturing locks for the North American market. With the growing demands of the market, ATZ has been developing and adding new product lines to its catalog, counting today with more than 9,000 references.
Its mission is to offer the market high quality products for commercial, industrial and domestic purposes.
B2COAT: Since ATZ is a company focused on innovation and quality, is it important to ally with suppliers that offer a service with the same values?
Ricardo Cruz (RC): Yes, without a doubt. So we have innovation upstream and downstream. Not only do we innovate, but sometimes we are also dragged by the innovations of our partners.
B2COAT: Considering the markets that ATZ sells to, which ones feel a greater need to purchase PVD coated products? Can you formulate an explanation for that?
RC: The market is asking for new finishes, I think it’s not a matter of being PVD, it’s a matter of aesthetics. The designers and architects have more and more a preponderant role in all the works, whether they are new or renovations. And with their demands in differentiation come the new finishes to break out of the traditional. As we know there are several ways to give color to materials, but being the PVD a more eco-friendly coating and with better guarantees than the old processes gains special prominence.
B2COAT: For the market, are the values “sustainability” and “eco-friendly” important factors to consider when purchasing an ATZ product?
RC: I don’t think ATZ can already be the chosen one in the market for its good economic, environmental and social sustainability practices, but in time we will end up being rewarded for that, or at least that is my vision. The big companies today already place a lot of value on this, but we still have a long way to go before the traditional channel makes these factors the deciding factors.
B2COAT: In your opinion, which products require the greatest need to have a quality finish?
RC: I can’t exclude any product. In my vision all products must be produced with rigor and quality, other industrialists will think differently, but this is my vision and this is how we have been able to grow.
B2COAT: Being the handles a place of high contact with the hands, there is an almost mandatory need to have an excellent finish, in order not to compromise their quality and resistance?
RC: Yes, the handles being a place of high contact and also being the most aesthetic and visible element in the door hardware should be the product where one should pay more attention, but as I say in the previous answer I can’t exclude any product.
B2COAT: ATZ is seen by its customers as a brand focused on growth and fair value. Do you think that the partnership with B2COAT and its PVD coating service has been an asset to intensify this perception?
RC: Yes, PVD has helped in the differentiation of our product, but I think the best is yet to come. The market has to know PVD better and give it its due value. Right now the market asks for colors and they don’t give importance to how to get those colors. With the awareness of what PVD is, the market will start asking for it.
B2COAT: In your opinion, are the benefits that the PVD coating offers to the parts, namely resistance to corrosion and increased durability, an extremely important point when the customer buys ATZ products or opts for another brand?
RC: As I said in previous answers, at this moment I don’t think that the fact that we use PVD is a deciding factor, but as I also said, I think it will become one. That is our vision and that is the path we are on.
B2COAT: One of the differentiating aspects that ATZ offers its customers is the guarantee of product quality. Do you think that the acquisition of the PVD coating service from B2COAT was a driving point to establish this after-sales policy?
RC: Our product quality assurance policy already comes from our genesis and with that every new finish or new product that comes along has to meet our quality requirements and our vision. PVD is no exception. Being a finish with superior characteristics to the others and more sustainable, it was our obligation to have PVD as the primary option for differentiation.
