Many years ago I was caught in the middle of a disagreement between two manufacturers of a small component for a window. One manufacturer sourced its products from the Far East; the other manufactured its products in Europe. The issue the European manufacturer had was with the quality of components from the Far East. Despite talking in purely generic terms, the manufacturer who imported from the Far East assumed the European manufacturer was talking about the former. It was a rather tedious affair and after claims and counterclaims the situation ended in a retraction that actually benefited the European company. As a consequence, I am now very reluctant to print suppliers' letters as I refuse to be a sounding board for companies' grievances against their competitors. Itís counterproductive and has possible expensive legal consequences. This happened over 15 years ago, and at the time I remember thinking, why doesnít the manufacturer importing from the Far East invite me out there to see how great it is. I asked, but never heard anything from them ever again. Move forward 15 years and I have just returned from a trip to Taiwan to visit Distinction Doorís Far East supplier Nan Ya. If manufacturing techniques 15 years ago were as they are today, I donít know what all the fuss was about. What I witnessed at Nan Ya was a world-leading facility that any European manufacturer would be hard pushed to rival. The finished product is testament to the unbelievable work ethic in Taiwan. Add to this the high regard they hold British companies in and you have a match made in heaven. The British Empire has long gone but in Far Eastern countries we still have an incredible reputation for integrity.

I think the prejudice for non-European sourced components is long gone. A great deal of pressure is placed upon the shoulders of UK distributors to source high quality and innovative products. From what I saw in Taiwan, Distinction is one distributor winning on all counts.

John Cowie - Editor