THE door industry journal summer 2025 12 Industry News Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk Beyond the Tick Box: Why Training Is Our Industry’s Strategic Superpower By Andy Collett, Managing Director, GfA UK Limited The term “training” gets thrown around a lot in our industry. Too often, it’s something you do to tick a compliance box or to make sure engineers are signed off for insurance purposes. But at GfA, we’ve come to see training in an entirely different light—and we’d like to encourage the rest of the industrial door sector to do the same. Training, in our view, isn’t just an obligation, it’s a competitive advantage. It’s one of the most powerful tools we have to drive growth, innovation, and customer loyalty. That might sound grand but let me explain why it’s true—and why now is the time to act. From Product Training to Business Enablement Historically, product training in our industry has been narrow in scope. Come in, learn how to wire a drive, maybe a quick tour of the manual, and off you go. That’s fine as far as it goes. But what if training did more than that? What if it created confident salespeople, technical experts, and customer-facing ambassadors who could differentiate your business in the field? That’s the approach we’ve taken at GfA over the past few years. We recognised early on that there was a vacuum in the market—an absence of structured, forward-thinking training. Apprenticeship pathways were patchy at best. Companies were relying on informal methods, or worse, not training at all. So, we stepped in—not just to fill that gap, but to redefine what industrial door training should look like. Our programmes now reach far beyond installation and connecting. Yes, we still teach engineers the practical nuts and bolts. We also cover compliance, new standards, value-added selling, and how to spot commercial opportunities. We help them understand where the industry is going and how to align with it. In short, we don’t just teach people how to install our products—we empower them to make better business decisions. Training for the Real World One of the things that makes our training different is that it’s grounded in reality. Customers tell us that as well as referring to a trade or certification body, they come to us for clarity around the interpretation of new standards and regulations. We don’t sit on the fence. We talk about how regulations apply in practice, what industry officials are really looking for, and how to meet standards in a way that’s commercially viable. Take fire shutters, for example. When the standards changed, we didn’t just release a new product—we ran sessions explaining what the changes meant, how to adapt, and how to support end-users in the transition. We demystified the jargon, unpacked the risks, and gave customers the confidence to navigate change. That’s where the value lies. Training should remove friction. It should remove fear. And it should give businesses a clear roadmap for success, even when the landscape is shifting. A Strategic Imperative, Not Just an Option Let’s be clear—training isn’t a “nice to have,” it’s a business-critical activity. The pace of technological change in our sector is accelerating. Whether it’s IoT, AI, or advanced safety integrations, we’re entering a new era. And companies that fail to keep up will fall behind fast. At GfA, we’ve made it our mission to be the bridge between emerging technologies and practical implementation. We don’t just understand new developments—we actively interpret them for our customers. We explain what IoT really means in an industrial door context. We talk through how IoT might enhance diagnostics, maintenance planning, or safety systems. Then we train customers on how to apply these technologies in the field. Often, these innovations don’t even originate with us. But we make it our business to learn, adapt, and support our customers with integrated solutions. That’s the kind of value people remember—and it’s what builds long-term loyalty.
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