In history, the Aztecs were known for their creativity and complexity when it came to problem solving and a pioneering approach to everyday issues. For a group of people that lived more than 500 years ago, the technological advancements they made helped pave the way for modern civilisation, so much so that even just the name ‘Aztec’ is synonymous with innovation and inspiration. Now Aztec Glass director Gareth Eyers, is proud to introduce Clarity Air; the software solution that could potentially revolutionise the glazing industry’s approach to electronic ordering, stock control, pricing, and more, ahead of its official launch at May’s FIT Show…
“I promised my father I’d never work in the glazing industry,” begins Gareth, “but after nine years training to be a civil engineer, I knew within 18 months that it wasn’t the career for me. As a student, I had helped him in the ‘family business’ – of designing, building & maintaining glass furnaces – so I had experienced many different parts of the sector already and made many contacts. I found fenestration fascinating, even if I hadn’t found a role for myself in it yet.”
It was, in fact, a stint as an outsourced IT Director at Firman Glass where Gareth learnt about the machinery and processes that are required day in and day out for a glass company to run smoothly. Then, after the buy-out of a software company that many in the industry will be familiar with, he set to work streamlining the whole package; removing all the unnecessary – and costly – bolt-ons, to hopefully create something that would make every day processes easier, and more effective, rather than making any time spent on a computer at work, another job to add to the daily list. Most importantly, it was imperative to Gareth that people could benefit from all Clarity Air software has to offer without costly and cumbersome hardware that is so often associated with a new computer system. By hosting Clarity Air remotely, Clarity Air requires just 2MB to run, boots up in seconds, and can be easily accessed on-site from a “five-year old laptop” as long as there is a Wi-Fi connection and a Windows 7 operating system.
“I went into every glass company that I walked or drove past, went in and introduced myself, and asked them how they work on a day-to-day basis, to build software that was a true representation of what they needed,” continues Gareth. “Fenestration can be seen as a very flat industry with flat thinking. At Aztec, we wanted to think about things differently and do things differently. Clarity Air has already been tried and tested by lots of different companies, and its ‘organic’ nature means that companies can use as much or as little of it as they need.”
When it comes to products, for example, the software has been designed specifically so that rather than a user having to scroll through endless lists of sizes and specifications, they will only have the ones they need and nothing more. A product is only added to a company’s own version of Clarity Air as and when they need it; your bespoke list continually evolves with every order. But that is only one part of the puzzle. Clarity Air can be used to order remakes, control and monitor stock levels, manage accounts, monitor productivity; pretty much every ‘cog in the wheel’ when it comes to the manufacturing and distribution of glass.
The icing on the cake for many however will be Beat-a-Quote, which allows the user to instantly reprice any quotation or work order, while showing potential profits or projected losses, by working out the cheapest price you can sell glass at based on cost, stock, and even how many staff you have and how busy they are at any given time.
“It is actually impossible to fully describe Clarity Air as a piece of software, as everyone who uses it will experience it differently. This is perhaps its biggest and best USP though; it really is anything and everything you’d want it to be. And, if you come across something that doesn’t quite work for you, or you need another aspect to be added to your platform, the team can create the code you need to get the job done. It’s this type of communication and collaboration that is – and will continue to be – the driving force of everything we do at Aztec.”
