Lifetime Solutions
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Transcript of Lifetime Solutions
WRITTEN BY JACK SLATER
Lifetime Roofing Ltd was founded in 1987 with the registered name of Lifetime Roofing Ltd, however since then the company’s product range has grown from roofing to include, waterproofing, windows and doors, skylights, insulation, guttering, composite panels for external building envelopes skylights and soffits. For marketing purposes the company was rebranded as Lifetime Solutions in 2012. Jack Slater caught up with Sales Director Mr. Kazim Boodoo.
A BUSY2014
Kazim, who joined the company twenty years ago in the
sales department says that over the years, the company
expanded its products and services to include structural
framing,specialty roofing products such as metal and polycarbonate
domes and general contracting works
Lifetime has always been a leader in the roofing industry. It was
in fact Lifetime Roofing that brought in the country’s first on site roll
former which allowed full length roofing panels to be roll formed on
any site. This dramatically improved the efficiency of its installation
service not to mention the improved quality of the finished product as
a result of reduced transport abrasion.
“The company kept a very strong emphasis on contracting,” Kazim
continues, “Over the years we handled very specialized, complicated
projects of a grander scale and we also expanded our contracting
portfolio geographically.having completed projects as far north as
Bahamas and as far south as Guyana“.
“Our retail division now operates from five strategic locations
throughout the country Arima, Caroni, Port of Spain, San Fernando
and Tobago.
A certified contractor for a number of international roofing
manufacturers of the likes of Berridge, Englert, DECRA, and
Firestone, Lifetime Solutions has had to ensure that its standards
are never compromised. Robert Costelloe, one of the founders of
the company (the other being his wife Deborah Costelloe), served
as a director on the board of the National Roofing Contractors
Association. The company is a lifetime member of the Copper
Development Association, The Green Energy Association and the
Metal Roofing Association of America.
Market Coverage And Business ActivitiesLifetime’s primary target market is the construction sector,
however they have been able to make a name for themselves in
other congruent markets including home repairs, agricultural and the
government sector.
Kazim explains that Lifetime Roofing is a full service roofing
company with a contracts, a projects division and a metal roofing
manufacturing division offering roof consultations, quotations and
project management services.
“We have one manufacturing facility which is a full coil processing
centre complete with five in house roll forming panel machines,” he
LIFETIME SOLUTIONS
“The company started off as a roofing contractor,” Kazim explains, “Offering an installation service for products manufactured elsewhere. Gradually Lifetime began to manufacture roofing panels and trims for steep slope roofing applications in both residential and commercial settings. Lifetime currently offers five different profiles manufactured inhouse and an additional seven provided by our suppliers AHI roofing Products out of NewZealand and Decra Roofing Systems out of the USA. Additionally Lifetime offers the most comprehensive and internationally recognised range of flat roof waterproofing products suitable for the most extreme and demanding applications.”
Lifetime Solutions installing a custom made steeple on top of a church in Tobago
Kazim is probably one of the finest examples of Lifetime Solutions’
commitment to employees, as a qualifying geologist in the University
of West Ontario and a stint as a teacher, joined two decades earlier
and has remained ever since. He explains that one of the guiding
principles of the company is to give employees clear monthly targets
to achieve and that performance evaluations are held each year to
assess performance and goals.
“An annual training program is held by the HR department to ensure
that employees are up to date with new products and techniques as
it relates to their respective jobs,” Kazim elaborates, “Employees are
also given opportunities to move around into different departments
of the company to develop new skills and enhance their own value.”
“Because roofing is a very skilled trade,” he goes on to continue,
“The company considers staff development to be a very important
long term commitment and an investment into the company. They
need to be kept on the cutting edge of the roofing industry.”
On the other side of the coin, what specific customer focuses are
in place to keep them satisfied and happy? Kazim explains that they
have service warranties included into their product offering, three day
delivery on orders and a wide range of roofing products and solutions.
They have also increased their locations with four fully
operational showrooms which
allow customers to see products,
samples, receive literature, talk
to a sales rep, get a quotation
and make payments easily and
conveniently.
“We have a full service
department for supply only and
supply-and-install and a fleet
of thirty five vehicles and field
sales reps who visit all parts of
Trinidad and Tobago to view
sites together with the customer
to offer advice and lend their
experience,”
One of the things that
Kazim is quick to highlight is the
importance of after-sales and
customer commitments and with
this in mind Lifetime Solutions
provide a one year service
High Quality Roofing supplied in the Caribbean by
www.Steel-Link.nl
LIFETIME SOLUTIONS
explains, “Three CNC bending
lines, two cut to length lines and
coil to coil slitting lines.”
With a long list of products
available ranging from metal
roofing systems to match any
requirement, guttering products,
water-proofing and all styles of
insulation and skylights they
also work in a full range of metals
including steel, prepainted steel,
aluminium and copper.
Staffing And Customers
With over one hundred
permanent staff and fifty
sub-contractors, Lifetime
Solutions has a responsibility
to set a high standard for them.
installation warranty to ensure that any issues that come up after are
addressed with as soon as possible.
This forms part of the strategies to keep them ahead of their
competition. This strategy is based around building upon their already
established strong reputation and foundation in the roofing industry
It is clear that the only real to win the race is not to focus on what
the competition is doing but to focus intently on how to provide the
customer with the very best and to continue looking out for new ways
to do this.
A Busy 20142014 is set to be a busy year for this innovative, customer
driven company with plans and developments including expansions,
additional certifications and a scheduled rebranding with a significant
investment of time and money being assigned to each to ensure their
successful implementation.
Lifetime Solutions is on the way to being Safe to work (STOW)
Certified. Seen as part of their responsibility to their staff, this
certifies that the company is a safe workplace, free from hazards and
in perfect compliance with the standards, rules and regulations under
the OSHAt act.
“In order to achieve this goal we have retained the services of SCM
Safety Consultants Ltd to assist with accomplishing same,” Kazim tells
us, “This is a huge company investment which will benefit the company
long term as it will allow the company to be eligible to tender projects
with specific safety management system requirements.”
The re-branding to Lifetime Solutions follows a development in
2012, where Lifetime Roofing Ltd merged with TARMET (Trinidad
Asphalt & Metal Roofing Ltd), a company with thirty years of flat
roof waterproofing experience. With these two strong portfolios
combined and with the strategy to expand the business outside of just
roofing, the company rebranded to Lifetime Solutions.
This rebranding exercise required a huge marketing and
advertising campaign to introduce and increase awareness of the new
brand.
“This rebranding will change how the customer perceives the
company as one that is not just focused on roofing but solutions to the
roofing industry.” Kazim concludes.
“Because roofing is a very skilled trade the company considers staff development to be a very important long term commitment and an investment into the company. They need to be kept on the cutting edge of the roofing industry.”
Magdalena Grand Beach ResortLifetime Solutions was nominated for NRCA Gold Circle Award 2013 for this project
www.littlegatepublishing.com
LIFETIME SOLUTIONS
001 868 223 7663
WWW.LIFETIMESOLUTIONSTT.COM