Excellent Usługi Sp. z o. o. (LLC), Kraków, Poland, has been present on the market of building carpentry for 13 years now. “The name of the brand speaks for itself,” stresses Mr Edward Ziębicki, the company’s President.
That is why the business never shrinks from daunting tasks, which include restoration of antique carpentry among others. Its management is keen to stay on top of quality and style: they spare no expense to obtain finest materials and manufacture windows exclusively from timber.
Step by Step
To give a close-up look on the brand and its inception, we have to go back to year 1997, when Excellent Group, a services supplier for the building industry and a specialist in interior furnishings and glass manufacturing, spotted quite a niche in the market of building carpentry too. Prompt action soon followed: to address that new field of activity, a new company was established. Market recognition came immediately afterwards. “Since then we have evolved to become a brand highly regarded by the construction industry,” recalls Mr Ziębicki, “We have been consistent in acquiring expertise; we have also gathered first-rate specialists and improved on processing technology.” This success has come about largely due to the company clearly defining its mission. The mission aiming at the Customer’s ever greatest satisfaction and comfort, the means to achieve it include: top quality, advanced technology and up-to-the-minute design trends and solutions. Inspired by the idea of sustainable development, the business steers clear of unnecessary trouble and keeps steadily reinforcing its position in the industry. People at Excellent Usługi are no daredevils: instead of rash decisions, they prefer to bide their time and take each action step by step.
Tangible Results
Nowadays the business may finally reap the rewards. “Since the beginning of this year, we have been implementing our ambitious investment plan,” elaborates Mr Ziębicki. “This will certainly help us extend our offer with energy efficient products. Thanks to sash profiles that are 78 mm in width, we can finally launch manufacturing sash frames with 3 panes of glass in it. This solution allows us to improve our windows in terms of their energy-efficiency parameters. So far, we’ve managed to reach comparable parameters only by means of expensive technology such as passive windows, for instance.” As for other investments, a 92 mm wide sash profile should be also mentioned, thanks to which it is now possible to reach thermal insulation parameters of Uw = 0.8 W/m2K. „This year in autumn we will add a whole gamut of top quality interior doors to our offer. We manufacture these with finest and natural materials: timber, natural veneers, eco-friendly varnishes and technologically advanced fittings,” adds the company’s President.
Look to Your Laurels
Surely a successful brand, Excellent Usługi would never make it without satisfied Customers and, needless to say, there are no Customers where there is no thoughtful policy. “We are keen on quality and respect. We spare no expense for finest materials and solutions,” stresses Mr Ziębicki. The ultimate objective for the company is that the Client is not only satisfied with the product, but also finds it safe and reliable. The latter is safeguarded by the company’s service centre, which secures warranty and post-warranty repair of already fitted carpentry, including regulation, restoration, window panes replacement and many others. However, at Excellent Usługi they know perfectly well that a satisfied Customer has to feel something more than just security. “For that matter, we treat each and every order individually. We provide tailor-made solutions; we also manufacture carpentry elements commonly used in the building industry. We care for each form and detail. Our specialists assist the Customer with their knowledge already at the stage of design. We do all this because we want to cater for the Customer’s needs in a manner that is comprehensive and prompt,” says Mr Ziębicki.
Looking for Challenges
Excellent Usługi is based in Kraków, a cultural capital of Poland, where there are many historic sites to be encountered, many of which calling for or undergoing renovation work. This kind of work requires a lot of precision and only contractors that boast a proven track record can win a tender: it is up to the Municipal Conservator to decide who to strike a deal with. Excellent is to be found in this company. “With its intricate details, we find it challenging to restore antique carpentry. We are willing to take on such a challenge, though, and we do our best to restore it to its former glory. The job being difficult at times, the compromise is likely to be required on both sides. We find the job worth taking, however. More often than not its results surpass the expectations of the Client: this means that the effort has paid off. To our credit, we’ve completed a number of carpentry projects in Art Nouveau buildings,” says Mr Ziębicki. Many of those buildings can be found on the list of historic sites, including old mansions at Łobzowska St. and Hotel Royal in Kraków or beautiful Art Nouveau houses at Foksal St. in Warsaw.
Why Timber
Many window carpentry producers are nowadays keen on cheap PCV technology. Excellent Usługi is resolved to use timber, though. Why timber? Because it is pure nature and sheer style. Warm and pleasant to touch, timber remains highly resistant to temperature changes and hardly ever deforms. Windows made from timber, if properly cared for, prove extremely durable and, if damaged, can be easily repaired and fitted with additional safety features and accessories. Due to their excellent thermal insulation properties, these windows make the best choice for houses that have been designed with low energy consumption in mind. Timber frames in turn can be painted with paints or stains of every colour. Last but not least, various window forms and shapes put no restraint on the silhouette of the building façade. Windows signed with the Excelent logo are manufactured from three layered and glued together pine and mahogany (meranti) timber. Its grain is arranged in such a way that it prevents the window frame from warping. Manufactured in the DJ 68 system, the Excellent carpentry in available in two profiles: CLASSICAL and SOFTLINE.
Eco-Friendly and Efficient
Excellent Usługi proves that timber carpentry can be eco-friendly, too. “Materials we use to manufacture carpentry are supplied by red meranti timber plantations and do not come from the wasteful exploitation of the areas regarded as the lungs of our planet,” emphasises Mr Ziębicki. The company takes advantage of eco-friendly water soluble varnishes, thus discharging no toxic substances to the atmosphere during the manufacturing process. Excellent keeps on promoting the idea of passive energy too. President explains it in detail: “It is an eco-friendly and energy-efficient action. With a scarcity and soaring prices of conventional energy resources such as oil, gas and coal, the idea of a passive house and the solutions implemented there is the only path to follow for the construction industry. The passive house requires less energy, thereby contributing less to the pollution of the atmosphere.
Comprehensive and Innovative
Now for a few details concerning the offer itself. Excellent Usługi manufactures typical and period windows, windowsills, doors and outside gates, panels for the segment garage doors and internal doors. The Excellent carpentry is fitted with hardware components, locks, glass panes and mechanisms that come from the leading and trusted suppliers. The company’s offer is also featured by many innovative solutions, the most important being the timber profile reinforced with aluminium cover. “This solution is gaining in popularity among savvy Clients who look for something efficient and unconventional. This type of carpentry combines style with the best thermal insulation properties available. Moreover, it makes possible to produce windows which are modern as well as warm and traditional, thanks to the respective use of aluminium and wood. Such a combination yields desired results: our windows are properly insulated against changes of temperature,” remarks Mr Ziębicki. It should be also added that all the components of the system have been tested in the Centralny Ośrodek Badawczo-Rozwojowy Przemysłu Elementów Wyposażenia Budownictwa Metalplast Poznań, and carry the Technical Acceptance Certificate [Aprobata Techniczna]. The Rosenheim Institute also issued an attestation and the windows have been positively verified by the Instytut Techniki Budowlanej too.
Shape of Things to Come
This year the business is going to launch a state-of-the-art line for interior doors manufacturing as well as to improve on the exterior carpentry production. These steps have been taken with a view to expanding on foreign markets, the process of which is already promising and well underway. “We strike while the iron is hot. Hence the idea to reinforce our export figures. However, it is still the domestic market which proves the most important and most challenging too. In the coming years we plan to develop a network of distribution, setting up our own as well as franchised sales branches in the largest Polish cities and smaller towns respectively,” declares Mr Ziębicki. These steps prove absolutely vital because, as he suggests, the carpentry market is very competitive and even smaller producers of regional range can make a worthy opponent for businesses focused on massive production. The Clients also tend to change over time: they have grown savvy enough to discard any pig in a poke. Once these improvements are made, the Customers of Excellent will be safe in the knowledge that they are not buying one. The name of the brand has to speak for itself, after all.
Written by Bartosz Sowiński
