New Orleans, Louisiana (2/12/2003) --- The Johns Manville Roofing Systems Group (RSG) announced today that it has significantly expanded its new product initiative and will focus on bringing innovation to an industry where products have become commodities. The company has committed itself to developing a new generation of roofing products to meet customer demand and exceed customer expectations.
“We recently completed a series of interviews with roofing contractors, specifiers, distributors and owners,” said Norman Parker, director of marketing. “What we learned is, that with a shortage of a skilled workforce and increasing competitive pressure, roofing contractors are seeking products that will reduce installation costs and differentiate them from their competition.”
The company’s new product initiative also is designed to respond to regulatory agencies that are demanding environmentally friendly and energy-efficient products. Additionally, building owners want long-lasting, problem-free roofs with high energy-efficiency, provided by a company that will be around to honor its warranties.
Parker further explained that customers perceive little difference in roofing products that are currently available. As a result, products have become commodities, subject to extreme pricing pressure. He believes this has stifled innovation and impacted the profitability of the industry. The company said it believes that customers are willing to pay a premium for a truly innovative and differentiated product.
“We are not the only ones who will benefit from our new product initiative,” Parker said. “Our goal is to bring value to everyone involved in the sale and use of our products. We believe we can do that by providing our supply chain partners with an unique selling proposition and by giving them marketing materials, education and training support to use them effectively.”
Ruben Garcia, director of new product development, said that he was not ready to reveal products currently under development. However, he did say new products will be based on proprietary technology.
“The industry already has seen the first results of our new product initiative,” Garcia said. “We recently launched Dynalastic® 180 Quicklap™ with select partners and will quickly follow this by introducing a family of self-adhered products and systems. This is only the beginning of a steady-stream of proprietary new products.”
Garcia also said that new product development is a top priority for RSG and accordingly, cross-functional teams, including customers, experts from the Johns Manville Technical Center, development groups and the company’s marketing managers have been assembled to provide a new level of focus to this initiative.
We have completely reorganized our approach to new products,” Garcia said. “We have shifted from a functional to a multi-faceted team approach. From concept through to commercialization, we are listening to roofing contractors and marketing managers so that our technical staff have the information needed to provide products responsive to industry needs.”
Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building and specialty products. In business since 1858, the Denver-based company has sales in excess of $2 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. Johns Manville employs approximately 9,000 people and operates 46 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China. Additional information can be found at www.jm.com.
