Dirickx has also put a lot of effort in the installation activity with the creation of "Espace Cloture". The success of the group is based on its strategy consisting in a close contact with the customer and on its unique know-how: high adhesion plastic coating on galvanised steel wires. A global answer to site protection Dirickx is the unquestionable specialist of peripheral protection. Its range of over 3,000 products - the largest on the European market - offers an efficient and quality solution for any kind of security problem, on all markets: industrial, residential, agricultural, high security, sports equipment, local communities and administrations.

Jacques Dirickx, President and CEO

Since July 1999 the company has been marketing "ALLIA Plus", a clip made of slate manufactured with a new zinc and aluminium alloy coating and offering an exceptional resistance to corrosion. In order to better satisfy the market requirements and to be ahead of future needs, Dirickx has also invested in a unique manufacturing tool in Europe: AXIS and AXOR lines for welded panels. An additional site of 4,000m2 located at Congrier is specialized in the manufacture of metal window and door frames and automation. This production potential is handled by a factory located in Slovakia that is specialized in the construction of welded hexagonal mesh allowing to guarantee part of the supply to the eastern market.

Finally, in February 2001, Dirickx further strengthened its position by investing in a new factory located near Roanne (France) that has allowed the company to continue the development of a new line of welded panels that is rapidly growing.

A unique know-how: High Adherence Plastic Coating

For over 30 years High Adherence Plastic Coating has been the symbol of the Dirickx image, which is today a European leader (as far as volume is concerned). Thanks to this technique, the products offer a considerably high quality and lifetime that are acknowledged worldwide.

In order to obtain High Adherence, 3 inseparable stages are required:

• Treatment of the steel surface, i.e. the preparation of the product to be plastic coated (for example galvanisation);
• Creation of a linking area, indispensable for a perfect adherence of the plastic coating. This can be obtained either by the "primer d'adhérence", a product acting as an actual glue between the support and the coating, or by phosphatization.
• Powder or plastic coating depending on the type of product.

A true forerunner in this field, Dirickx is the only company that, thanks to its know-how and its cutting edge technology, is able to assure plastic coating of all types of products: wires, meshes and welded panels, posts, post clips and gates.

Figure 1: The secret of quality: high adherence plastic coating by means of fluidisation

The secret of quality: fluidisation

A mild steel wire
The diameter and tolerance of the steel wire used for the mesh are set by the NF A 47305 standard. The steel grade used for Dirickx plastic coating - DT PLAST - is FM9 B. Featuring an external diameter equal to that of a conventional sheathed wire, the DT PLAST wire offers a larger section "steel" and therefore its tensile strength is 40% higher.

Galvanisation
Galvanisation consists in coating a steel wire with a cold deposited zinc layer thus guaranteeing protection against corrosion. The NF A 91-131 standard establishes the optimal conditions for galvanising mild steel wires as well as the minimum zinc loads per dm2 in relation to the wire diameter. In order to be really effective, the zinc layer must be sufficient, regular and adherent. The life of a wire depends on the steel-zinc alloy quality, the evenness of the coating and on the weight of the zinc deposited per surface unit.

The "Primer d'adhérence"
A protection sheath formed by depositing a simple plastic film on a wire, may be subject to peeling off and becoming rusty due to wear and collisions notwithstanding the galvanisation process. Therefore, in order to assure a perfect adherence of the PVC coating to the steel wire, it is necessary to create a linking area. Dirickx has implemented it thanks to the "Primer d'Adhérence", a product acting as a real "glue" between the support and the coating. This is the secret of the High Adherence, a Dirickx exclusive, that guarantees the superior quality of the DT PLAST wire.

High adherence plastic coating by fluidisation
The galvanised steel wire brought to a very high temperature passes through a fluidised PVC bath. Kept at ambient temperature, the thermoplastic particles melt at the simple contact of the heated wire and accumulate at a thickness of 0.25mm. This technique allows real adherence (hence the definition of High Adherence) of the plastic coating to the galvanised steel thus eliminating any risk of peeling and corrosion penetration. The superior quality of the DT PLAST wire is limited to two main parameters that Dirickx technicians have been able to master: the wire temperature and its uncoiling speed along the line.

Research and development

Constantly looking at the market requirements, the marketing service and the engineering and design department analyse the needs of the customers. Since 1922 over 25 innovative products have been launched on the market. These exclusive models fully meet the demands concerning quality, safety, aesthetics and installation ease as required by users.

AXIS® DESIGN and AXOR systems, the ready-to-install fencings designed without accessories, AXUR modular mesh and the new range of OPPIDUM® DESIGN gates are among the most outstanding demonstrations of the company's creativity. The latest Dirickx innovation is represented by the company's engagement in an approach to design products, an innovation on the market of fencings and gates that in 2001 has been awarded the Janus, a unique label in the design world.

Dirickx design and engineering department

The design: an achievement to confirm the lead

Since 1999 Dirickx has been engaged in the design of products that represents an innovation on the market of fencings and gates, and reflects the will of the company to take into account the needs of users and channel experts, offering products that have been redesigned both from an aesthetic and functional point of view, by launching on the market products meeting not only technical requirements but also cultural, aesthetic and ergonomic expectations.

The first products concerned with this approach have been the AXIS® DESIGN post and the OPPIDUM® DESIGN gate, that is products characterised by convex shapes, new aesthetics, ergonomic functions, operation flexibility, tested technology. Therefore, various points have been highlighted regarding what represents a fencing or a gate in order to create a visual coherence in the assembly of a complete enclosure that increases the value of the site:

PROVENCE - woven wire fencing in rolls

• Culturally the fencing includes the expression of property and acts as a structuring element (delimitation, defence);
• Its effectiveness is intrinsically linked to the quality of access (doors, gates and other locks);
• The market endeavours to harmonize the built structures (connections between buildings, civil parks and gardens, road networks, boundaries and security);
• Fencings and accesses show the mark of the factory's environment.

These first two products have recently been awarded the Janus 2001 (national label in the design sector). Organised by the IFD Design Institute, Janus is a quality label representing, on an equal footing, the best products of the year. Janus gives products a distinctive quality mark and stands out as a unique reference in the world of design.

Success of a strategy and of a philosophy

The strategy of the Dirickx Group is based on customers' expectations: innovation, productivity, adaptation, differentiation and global quality. Innovation is not a chance result but it derives from the work carried out in synergy with the marketing service and the engineering and design department. Not fewer than 25 innovative and high performance products have been launched since 1992; exclusive models that meet with the user's requirements (quality, security, aesthetics, easy installation, etc. …) and with the concept of ready-to-install fencings such as the AXIS and AXOR systems.

AXIS system -welded panel fencing

AXOR system - welded panel fencing

Furthermore, the satisfaction of the customer depends on the services offered that have been adapted and customized. The French company adopts a specialization logic of its services at a merchandising and professional level thereby offering a set of customized and complete services: technical and commercial assistance, from the estimate to the after-sales service.

A policy of quality

Ever since its establishment, Dirickx has endeavoured to put into practice a policy of quality regarding both its products and associated manufacturing. The French company is therefore ISO 9002 certified in the field of fencing production (welded fencings in panels as well as rolls, posts and gates) since 1999. This certification issued by BVQI ("Bureau Véritas Quality International") has been pursued up to 2002 after the follow-up auditing held in September 2001 and that has been successfully concluded without particular remarks.

The certification shows the company's will to evolve in a progress approach and to commit itself to the everyday application of a quality system in order to better meet the customers' demands. Constantly inclined to innovation and to creating increasingly efficient products, Dirickx has seen its efforts crowned with a number of awards such as "Laurier d'Or de la Qualité et de l'Innovation" (Golden Laurel for Innovation and Quality), "Trophée International de la Qualité", (International Trophy for quality), "Trophée International du Prestige Commercial" (International Trophy for Commercial Prestige).

Zoom on the plastic coating of welded fencings in rolls

The French company is also based on evolutionary logistics within a triple objective of reliability, traceability and reactivity:

• An optimisation of stock and order management through a quality approach, based on the use of modern technology such as portable terminals and radio-frequency;
• A forecast upstream the order line guarantees reliability of delivery to sites and meetings in mass distribution;
• The contact with the customer is privileged at every phase: information and confirmation before expedition, tracking during transport phases.

The spirit of conquest, to enlarge its horizons…

Leader from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic Sea
Today the company's ambition is to overcome frontiers and to introduce itself in other countries, in seller's markets in order to gain a leading position.

As a result, Dirickx is quite present outside France through various subsidiaries offering a wide range of quality products: DIRICKX UK in England, DIFA TRADING in Slovenia, DIRICKX POLSKA in Poland, DIRICKX BOHEMIA in the Czech Republic and DIRICKX KERITES in Hungary. In the Slovak Republic, the BC TORSION branch is specialized in the production of simple torsion, triple torsion welded fencings, and gates in a production unit covering 3,265m2.

Dirickx's subsidiaries throughout Europe

Espace Clôture: the first French network of fencing manufacturers
Besides manufacturing, it is of basic importance to entrust the installation of a fencing to true specialists who master all the required parameters: accurate analysis of the project, advice in the choice of products and materials, installation and supervision of the site, after-sales service, maintenance etc… This job is fully structured by "Espace Clôture", the first French network of fencing manufacturers. With its 13 agencies, the network "Espace Clôture" assures an efficient presence in France and overseas.

Conclusion

Established in 1921, Dirickx is the first French producer of fencings and gates. The company stands out as the main interlocutor on the market of access global management, through a wide range of products and associated services. The mission that Dirickx has committed itself to has required the integration of all activities, from design to after-sales service, carried on thanks to a constant quality and innovative policy as well as to the development of customized services. A fast growth has made it necessary to reorganise the company. Therefore, in 1996 Dirickx was transformed into a holding and bears the trade name of Dirickx Groupe ever since, controlling the activities of its French and foreign subsidiaries. The strength of Dirickx Group is also linked to its presence on all markets: industrial, residential, agricultural, high security, sports equipment, local communities and administrations.