Affordable decorative faucets for today’s market

BY MARY JO MARTIN

Editorial director

From its start in 1974, Banner evolved into the faucet manufacturing and supply business at the request of several key customers seeking a quality, value-priced faucet line with quick shipping and a healthy U.S. warranty and service program to support their customers. At the time, Banner was importing products such as high-end decorative moldings, ceiling fans, tools locksets, and other building/home improvement products. Initially, the Banner brand name became known in Texas and surrounding states as an affordable alternative for these products sold through lumberyards and hardware stores.

Banner and its parent went to great lengths to make contacts with manufacturers in Asia and Europe to ensure the high quality of their imports. The company also enlisted agents in these countries to help source products and the best manufacturer for those products.

Banner’s management responded to their customers’ requests for a quality --but affordable -- faucet line and went to work on sourcing just the right products. According to vice president-sales Noel Peterson, the key word during this process was “value.”

“A lot of companies had cheap import faucets at that time and we didn’t want to be one of them,” he explained. “What we wanted to bring to the market was a great quality product at an affordable price. That is exactly what Banner brought to the market then, and still does today.”

During those early years, the Banner faucet line consisted of just five items -- two acrylic-handle lavatory faucets in chrome, polished brass and antique brass, and two acrylic-handle kitchen faucets with and without a spray. The company deliberately chose not to expand upon the line until they were certain that the quality was at the level they desired. They continue to believe they made the right decision with this “slow upbringing,” as Peterson calls it.

“We worked hard on getting the initial product offering perfected before we expanded into other areas,” Peterson noted. “Once confident in our product, we started to expand the offering first with decorative lever handles and then with a line of single-handle faucets. As market opportunities grew, we expanded even further.”

In 1988, Banner developed and registered the name Castille Collection. This more decorative line of solid brass faucets -- at affordable pricing -- brought Banner even deeper into the showroom market.

Expanding its offerings

“When launched, the Castille Collection products had specific handles for each model,” noted Peterson. “Over the next two years, we developed a unique handle option program. With this program, customers do not have to order faucet and handles separately; instead they specify what handle they want by a simple handle code and the faucet is shipped to them complete with the chosen handles.

“As an example of how this program works, our customers can now order a kitchen faucet with metal lever, ceramic lever, oak lever, cross, white cross or euro rope handles. The handle option of choice is installed on the faucet at our Plano facility and shipped to our customer or a consumer as directed. While tough to manage, we’ve found this handle option program to be unique in the industry and well liked by our customer base -- especially with our shipping with no minimum order. Our customers stock core products but the entire line is available on a special order basis.”

In addition, Banner expanded its product offering to include specialty faucets that are branded with the Liberty Brass name for wall-mounted kitchen, basis cock and bar/laundry tub faucets. They also added a line of non-metallic faucets marketed under the Liberty brand name. According to Peterson, “We’ve devoted the same quality-first mind set with all of these product introductions.”

Banner’s latest decorative launch is the Vintage Series, a classic Old World look that offers two handle kitchen and lavatory faucets as well as a single handle pull out spray kitchen model. The line has been a big hit in both the new home and remodeling markets. As with all Banner faucets, they’re available at the value the company is known for.

Banner has also added rainfall showerheads, hand-held shower massage sets and handheld showers for the tub. “These new additions have taken off tremendously in all avenues of the industry,” Peterson said. “New homes, remodels, manufactured housing, r/vs -- they are all picking up on the classic looks and value pricing that Banner has to bring them.”

Quality sourcing

The core group of Banner and Castille Collection faucets have continued to be produced in the same facility in Taiwan that the company has partnered with since day one. Banner’s agent/laison office in Taiwan directs quality control personnel in the factory daily.  Production reporting and engineering directions are first handled by Banner’s Taiwan satellite office, then channeled up to Banner’s senior management at the Plano, Texas, headquarters before implementation. Banner has also partnered with factories to handle its specialty brass and non-metallic faucet, bath accessory and showerhead product needs, continuing to work with them on an ongoing basis.

“The factories we utilize are all iso 9001 compliant and work hard on quality production,” Peterson noted. “Again, while we could have products made for less, we’ve opted to remain where quality comes first. This business plan has provided our customers with a high-quality, consistent product through the years and we intend to keep it going.

“The factories work one to three shifts, depending on our order file. One of the difficult things about imported product is the lead times. Typically, we will not see product until 90 days or more after a production request is given. This is not only due to production time, but also our stiff quality control prior to shipment. These lead times make it very important for us to project our inventory needs well in advance and we have an excellent system in place to handle that. With more than 650 faucet models, 300-plus bath accessory items and related products, we’ve been able to maintain an order fill rate over 95%.”

A team effort

Banner runs a lean and very efficient office and warehouse. Peterson is assisted by sales manager Ron Weaver, eastern wholesaler manager Rick Bane (working out of an East Coast office), inventory/customer service manager Steve Mueller, inside team lead Lisa McLaughlin, and customer service/order entry India Eger and Valarie Arnett.  Invoicing duties are headed by Kristin Hayes, who is backed by a strong accounting team.

“It is key that our employees can handle multiple responsibilities efficiently,” Peterson said. “This is why we call ourselves the Banner Team. All of us jump in to handle business situations as needed, when needed.”

The Banner team is assisted by independent sales rep firms to bring its product to market. “We’re proud of the job they do for us,” Peterson noted. “As a cost-efficient supplier of value-priced faucets and accessories we are not able to have our company employees face-to-face with buyers on a regular basis and we count on our reps to do this. We find that the reps that are out knocking on doors and grabbing opportunities when presented reap the benefits in commissions. As with any rep or company, we cannot wait for the business to come to us. At present, we’re looking for some good hard working rep agencies in territories not yet covered.”

In addition, Banner greatly benefits from a dedicated warehouse staff that accurately and timely handles shipments. All Banner warehouse shipments are made from the Plano facility, along with numerous shipments made to customers on a direct-from-factory basis.

“Having moved to our Plano facility in 2003, we felt we’d have more than enough space to carry us well into the future,” Peterson said. “However, within less than a year we found ourselves at capacity. After careful examination, we re-racked the warehouse, going from 108-inch aisles to 72-inch and went with a vna (Very Narrow Aisle) system.  Wire is embedded into the center of the aisle, allowing our equipment to ‘Lock On’ to the wire path to eliminate side-to-side movement. Along with this, we invested in a swivel lifts that allows the operator to pull pallets from either side of the aisle while being at eye level with the product at the top tier, 24 feet to 28 feet up. We’ve also gone with a bin system of stocking and incorporated this into our system-generated pick tickets. When a ticket goes out to the warehouse, it shows the bin locations where the product will be found to save time pulling orders. Orders are date and time stamped when they go to the shipping office and are logged out to the person in charge of pulling the order for accountability in keeping a timely and efficient flow.”

Since its formation in the 1970s, Banner’s motto has been “Expanding Your Market...Exceeding Your Expectations.” That simple phrase continues to guide the company’s direction.

“We believe in this still today and do all we can to help our customers achieve success and profitability,” Peterson explained. “In past years, we saw many large orders from customers. In today’s economy, we find customers buying smaller orders but buying more often as they work to improve inventory turns. At Banner, we’ve adapted to this and do our best to make sure we have the product needed, when needed, while maintaining our own inventory turns.

“The kitchen and bath industry is as competitive as it gets. Our focus has been on bringing value-minded products to the market and we will continue to do so. We define value as the best quality product at an affordable price. Are we the cheapest in the industry? No. Are our products the best value? Absolutely!”

To learn more, call 800/346-8435, e-mail banner@bannerfaucets.com or visit www.bannerfaucets.com.