5 minute read
Blum's kbb installer package
DISCUSSING BLUM’S FULL KBB INSTALLER PACKAGE
Blum’s Senior Technical Advisor David Grant tells The Installer Magazine about the importance of the Installer to the company …
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David Grant Senior Technical Advisor, Blum Over the course of my 18 years of employment at Blum, like my colleagues, I have come to realise how important the kitchen/bedroom/ bathroom fitter is to us as a company. Accordingly, Blum has now put together a full installer package to support you guys at the sharp end.
As a part of this initiative, we now have a fully dedicated technical team of 6, including some ex-fitters, who are on call
64 hours a week via phone to offer assistance when you need it. We recognise and embrace your need to install our product efficiently, get paid & move onto the next job, confident in the quality of product you have used and avoiding the need to go back to do remedial work.
Blum constantly innovates new products and in a fast-moving industry, installers can sometimes find themselves outside of the information loop. Our products are heavily marketed and displayed at retail showrooms and we successfully sell the next new shiny thing to the consumer. So you may arrive on site to be faced with a product you have never seen before, sometimes even without instructions, although we all know no one ever reads manuals anyway!
So here at Blum technical, the aim is to make your days easier & shorter, because modern life is hard enough. Let me give you an example …
I mentioned earlier we have some ex-fitters on our team, I am not one of them by the way, and to be honest my hands-on skills are nonexistent, although I do understand the theory. If my wife asks me to hang a picture at home it causes me stress as I have had no training and I don’t have the correct tools (my eyesight is also very bad). In spite of all this I have on many occasions, successfully fitted Blum products, including SERVO-DRIVE to display cabinets here. I have also retrofitted drawers to existing cabinets, replacing fixed shelves. So how did a half blind, ageing, DIY averse technophobe with ex footballer’s knees complete, if I may say so myself, such an impressive job? Let me run you through the process ...
Planning the job was simple. I used DYNAPLAN. This is a free of charge download from www.blum.com . It is a cabinet planning software, very intuitive. I entered the measurements of the cabinet I was working on into the system & selected the drawers I wanted to install. This gave me the confidence that what I was trying to do was physically possible & that the hinges would not clash with the drawers. It saved my calculating, measuring & guesstimating. DYNAPLAN gave me all the required cabinet drilling points, door/drawer front drilling, base and back sizes, plus a list of all the Blum part numbers I would need to complete the job.
Then, from the Blum catalogue, I chose the appropriate templates and set them up using the parameters displayed in DYNAPLAN. Once this was done it was quick and easy to drill the cabinets/fronts as the templates are firmly located so I could drill with confidence through the template secure in the knowledge the holes would be in the correct place. The templates come with a drill bush so I avoided the fear of drilling through too deep – there is even a gauge on some of the jigs to assist in the quick setting of the bush location.
As the fronts were consistently drilled through the template, the gap alignment was perfect, there was no need therefore to spend time making adjustments. A bench jig ensured that I constructed the drawers perfectly square and with no visible gap between front and base. This is really important as I have heard stories of installer’s customers complaining and withholding payment as some daylight could be seen. Because the base was the correct size & assembled square, smooth running drawers were guaranteed. All these jigs are available for you to buy either via your normal Blum supplier, or directly from us on www.blumkit.co.uk. There is a blog on this website & we would welcome your feedback. Within my role at Blum I speak to a lot of fitters and surprisingly many of them are simply unaware that this assistance is available to them.
I mentioned SERVO-DRIVE before (our electrical support system) and many of you may shy away from it due to a perceived complexity but again, by following the aforementioned process, I promise you, it really is simple, you do not need to be ‘part P’ qualified to fit the product. By becoming confident & competent in these new technologies, you can set yourself apart from other installers who are not BiKBBI accredited. Blum is always trying to help its customers and fitters are no exception.
Apart from our comprehensive catalogues and technical manuals, we have also developed our Blum EA (EASY ASSEMBLY) app, which you can access on site via
your smartphone. There is also a collection of ‘how to’ videos on our website and the EA app which is often easier than reading a manual. The app also simplifies the fitting of AVENTOS lift systems for wall cabinets. Although you can find the formula in the catalogue, by using the app you just key in the height of the cabinet & it will calculate the dimensions for you.
LIVE SUPPORT is another available aid from Blum, it enables installers to have a live text chat with a member of the team whilst on site. There is also the facility to turn the text chat into a video conference which enables us to see what you are seeing on site & advise accordingly. Of course, if you are old fashioned, like me, you could simply ring us on 0800 230 0898 (Mon-Fri 8.00 – 8.00, Sat 8.00 – 12.00) completely free of charge.
With a renewed focus on interacting with our fitters, we have a new syllabus, which can offer a bespoke session completely tailored to your individual needs. All training is held at our Milton Keynes headquarters. We are also investigating on-line sessions and would love feedback as to whether it would be of interest. Click here to see the full syllabus.
www.blum.com
