Manufacturing what the frame manufacturer cannot or will not make

Frame manufacturer's invisible friend

"We actually produce for a niche market," Marco van Veen opens the conversation. Marco is one of the three contacts of team Netherlands at Ventana Deutschland GmbH & Co. Based in Vreden, Germany, the company specializes in the manufacture of particularly shaped window frames and in the production of lift-slide doors. We find ourselves at Ventana in Vreden, talking with Marco and with sales and marketing director Daniel Lechtenberg about a unique proposition, which has made Ventana the window manufacturer's "invisible friend.

No time or know-how, then this is the solution

"We make everything here that the frame manufacturer cannot or will not make," Marco opens the conversation. "Think of arched or round frames, windows and doors, or lift-slide doors. When does a frame manufacturer order from us? Simply when there is no time to start working on these kinds of special shapes themselves, or because the knowledge for it is not available in-house. Because Ventana works with well-known profiles from all the major profile houses, our delivery always fits in with the straightforward work that the manufacturer in question can make themselves. Ventana delivers everything without a label. So, to the outside world, the manufacturer in question is itself the producer. The big advantage is that projects with special shapes in them can always be offered and delivered from one source. That prevents the client from shopping around." Capacity utilization and lack of space are also reasons to order from Ventana.

Ventana is thus not a competitor of the window manufacturer, but an extension of its production. "We produce both plastic and aluminum," Marco continues. "To give you an idea of how far we go in helping the customer: we even coordinate the sealing rubbers with the customer, so that our delivery does not stand out from what is produced in-house. This way the customer has no disruption in their own production process, saves manpower, has no extra waste and no production risk. But it does have a pre-agreed price and full warranty. You can't have it any nicer actually." The hardware is also included, per special and is therefore always right. The advantage is that the customer does not have to buy whole packing units of the fittings.

Everything produced in-house

Bending the plastic profiles is specialized work and is done by hot air or with glycerine baths. The aluminum profiles are rolled. "We run in shifts here to get all the orders out the door," Marco outlines. "Both wood and aluminum processors are currently looking at plastic, it's becoming more and more popular." 

It all started some 26 years ago, when the owner of Ventana saw that although bent profiles were being delivered, they were not a complete product. He started with three employees and now employs 250 people in Vreden. "We also have branches in Poland, America and a sales office in Italy and France," Marco said.

Digitizing molds

The desired shapes are delivered to Ventana in very different ways. This can be an already digitized drawing, but mostly molds come in, from plywood or cardboard. Ventana photographs these molds using a process developed in-house and can then pull the calibrated photo into the drawing package, after which an official working drawing is made from it, one suitable for production. "The great thing is that from that drawing we deliver the correct glass order sizes to the customer, so there is no more risk there either," Marco explains.

Removing barriers

Daniel: "We speak the customer's language, both technically and linguistically. We remove barriers that are there, those who order here get all the help and guidance they need. The added value for our customers is that they don't have to sell 'no'. We really do make all geometric shapes and like to be challenged. 'Can't do' doesn't really exist here." The products Ventana produces fully meet all airtightness requirements, regardless of their particular shape. "It may be a niche product, but we have organized production as a serial product. We invest in machinery and proprietary software. This also makes us interesting for the large profile houses themselves, because we can produce small series for them. Our relationship with the profile houses is very good, we exchange a lot of knowledge among ourselves," Daniel concludes.