Designing totally unique, custom made hose reels can be a tricky business. With so many different factors coming into play, rarely can we rely on our own experience alone. We’ve always consulted with customers and other industry experts as part of the quoting and subsequent manufacturing process, but a recent article over at Fast Company got me thinking more deeply about how we approach our design process and the benefits of a design born out of unbiased individual thought.
The article talked about the loss of uncorrelated wisdom in today’s hyper-connected world. The author wrote about how in our increasingly switched on and connected world, constant sharing of information can lead people to reshape their own opinions based on the opinions of others, resulting in a thinning of original ideas and diverse thinking – the very stuff that leads to innovation and creativity in problem solving.
Sharing everything you come across seems to have become the done thing of late – but fast-forward 10 or 20 years, and the increasing relatedness of everything and everybody might just be stamping out diversity, independent thought, and uncorrelated wisdom.
So what’s this got to do with hose reels?
A customer comes to us with a great depth of knowledge in his or her own field, and we come to the table with our vast experience in hose reels.
We gather the raw information from our customer and our technical guys retreat to their cave to design the best possible solution.
This is where the magic happens – of course consultation with our customers is always necessary at the outset, but the process that comes afterward, the quiet to think and sketch and gather unanticipated ideas is what really sets us apart when it comes to designing the ultimate solution for our customer.
So there remains an important place for independent thought within the over-arching team effort that is building a hose reel. And whilst we enjoy collaborating on projects – a little bit of independent thought at the heart of the process is how we ensure that we design the absolute best hose reels for our customers.
How does this affect you?
If you’re looking for a custom made hose reel, you can contact us here. But here’s a few things to keep in mind before you do:
- Give us as much information as you possibly can at the outset. We’ve got an online form to help you out. The more info you can give us, the more accurately we can determine the best reel for your job.
- Leave it with us. If it’s a unique job that we may not have tackled before, we’ll need cave time – we promise we’ll get back to you as soon as we’ve got a preliminary design and price for you.
- Read through your quote carefully. To avoid any headaches down the track, take a good look at your quotation and the drawings and other information we provide to you. Alterations and fixes are easy on paper – not so easy in steel.
