In the panel sector, after-sales support is not just answering the telephone. Most problems that appear after a panel reaches the site are not even installation errors but the consequence of a detail not discussed at the order stage. The concrete meaning of support is five headings.
1. The loading plan is known before dispatch
How many vehicles will arrive, which panel is stacked on which vehicle and in what order they will be unloaded on site is known in advance. A truck loaded in the wrong order leaves the installation team restacking pallets.
The vehicle count and the layout come out of the loading quantities calculator before the order; the result can be printed and sent to the site.
2. Undamaged delivery starts with the packing
The edge profile and the interlock geometry of a panel are sensitive to impact. A crushed edge does not only spoil the appearance, it breaks the seal of the joint; that panel cannot be cut down and used on site, it has to be replaced.
Three rules are therefore written at the time of the order: the stack height, that the ground must be level, and that the protective film is removed as soon as possible after installation. Film left in the sun bonds to the steel and leaves a mark.
3. The joint detail is the drawing that counts on site
The performance of a panel is lost not in the catalogue but at the joint. A joint left open takes away the insulation gain expected from the whole section; in cooled spaces the continuity of the vapour barrier breaks and condensation begins.
The detail to be applied is not guessed but read from a drawing. All the joint details stand product by product in the Library section; the installation notes are on the installation page.
4. Maintenance after installation is a small but continuous job
The annual inspection is the single factor deciding the life of a roof panel: the condition of the screw gaskets, cleaning of the gutters and downpipes, and checking the joint tapes. That job is small, and it does not stay small when it is postponed.
5. The document file is asked for at the end of the project
What is asked for at the permit and completion stages is not the panel but its documents: CE, the declaration of performance, the EN 13501-1 classification report and the ISO certificates. Because they are looked for at the end of the project rather than at the time of the order, they often go missing.
Nuhpanel's documents stand open in the Library section; they can be downloaded and put in the file.
Satisfaction is built at the quotation stage
None of these five headings begins after the sale. When the loading plan, the packing rule, the joint detail, the maintenance interval and the document list are discussed with the quotation, after-sales support usually appears as "no problems arose". Support given after a problem is always dearer than the support that prevented it.