October 18, 2023

Amarr Steps Up with Reliable Product Availability and Shorter Lead Times for 497-Home California Residential Community

Challenge: Due to several factors along with ongoing supply chain issues, the garage door manufacturer originally chosen for Williams Homes’ 430-acre Williams Ranch master-planned residential community could not deliver on the builder’s required lead times.

Solution: A planned total of 497 Amarr® Hillcrest (carriage house) and Lincoln (traditional) collection garage doors in the following sizes: 16' wide x 8' high and 8' wide x 8' high that include either horizontal or vertical windows as well as a select number of optional 12' wide by 14' high RV doors with vertical obscure windows.

Results: After smoothly transitioning to Amarr as a reliable garage door supplier that could meet schedule needs and other requirements, the successful installation of 125 Amarr Hillcrest and Lincoln garage doors (to date and counting) among four distinct Williams Homes home collections.

Application: Williams Ranch – Santa Clarita Valley, California

Environment: Four-Collection Master Planned Residential Community

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, home builders throughout the U.S. have become all too familiar with dreaded supply chain issues. They’ve produced a wide range of major stumbling blocks as contractors across the country have attempted to keep their projects moving forward.

For Western-states builder Williams Homes, what began as an ambitious blueprint for a new four-collection master-planned residential community involving 497 homes (nestled between the Sierra Pelona Mountains and Castaic Lake Recreation Area in Los Angeles County’s Santa Clarita Valley) ultimately ran into an unexpected snag.

Due to several factors, the builder’s original garage door manufacturer for the development and the company’s dealer were unable to follow through on the required lead times for door delivery and installation.

That meant Williams Homes’ purchasing team had to work quickly to identify a workable approach to obtain the garage doors they needed for Williams Ranch.

Based on a long-term 20-year history with garage door dealer TruTeam of California, Williams Homes reached out to Jason Brewer, Sales Representative, for a viable solution. Brewer then turned to Amarr’s Grant Wheatley, Sales Manager (Inland Empire, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas), for much-needed help.

According to Brewer, as soon as Williams Homes began making plans for placing product orders and setting up a garage door installation schedule for Williams Ranch’s initial models, it quickly became apparent that the builder’s original garage door manufacturer and dealer were not going to be able to deliver as expected.

A smooth transition
“Unfortunately for Williams Homes and the Williams Ranch project, the original door supplier couldn’t come through,” Brewer explained. “As a result, TruTeam of California stepped in to take over the contract and smoothly switched the garage door manufacturer for Williams Ranch to Amarr.”

Michael Hall, Purchasing Manager for Williams Homes commented, “TruTeam of California is an excellent trade partner and is on the majority of our projects. They were instrumental in helping us transition to Amarr.”
Hall further stressed that communication and visibility were also important benefits as a result of the transition adding that “the original door manufacturer simply couldn’t provide product in anything resembling a reasonable lead time.”
He continued, “Even if we did work with the original door manufacturer's unreasonably long lead times, the manufacturer would still fall short based on not hitting projected dates and not effectively communicating so that we could make the proper adjustments. Amarr, on the other hand, has provided generally reasonable lead times as well as dependable reliability and communication.”

After reviewing Amarr’s wide selection of residential garage door models and styles for the builder's distinct Vineyard, Meadow, Orchard, and Ridgeline home design collections, Williams Homes ultimately decided to offer their home buyers choices from the company’s Hillcrest (carriage house) and Lincoln
(Traditional) garage door collections in the following sizes:

•    16' wide x 8' high and 8' wide x 8' high that include either horizontal or vertical windows
•    select number of optional 12' wide by 14' high RV doors with vertical obscure windows

According to the Williams Homes sales team, “Our home buyers really like the RV garage doors and how they look on their new homes.”

Brewer said that the transition to Amarr happened quickly and has been going very well, adding that due to annoying supply chain challenges, lead times and performance came to the forefront as the top priorities for Williams Homes.

“Once we decided to convert so much business over to Amarr, it didn’t take long to become very comfortable with their lead times and product availability,” Brewer pointed out, whose company’s in-house crews are handling all of the Amarr door installations at Williams Ranch. “TruTeam of California did look into another door manufacturer, but we couldn’t find a company that could handle our projected volume, plus another manufacturer’s product was severely inferior to what we were used to working with.”

Brewer concluded by further emphasizing, “I can’t say enough about Grant and the whole Amarr team who have helped us convert all of the garage door business for Williams Ranch to Amarr. They really stepped up to provide a seamless transition.
“And because Williams Ranch is not featuring just your common, everyday type of doors, for Amarr to be able to handle everything has been a real blessing. Based on the company’s exceptional performance, TruTeam of California along with Williams Homes look forward to continuing working with Amarr as our preferred garage door supplier for future residential developments.”

Builder Resources Available
Our commitment to the new construction industry is second to none. Amarr’s garage doors are affordable, engineered to exceed most industry standards, and offered with a variety of designs to architecturally complement any home design.
All Amarr steel, aluminum, and composite overlay garage doors are designed, engineered, tested, and manufactured in the USA. Amarr also participates in both regional and national builder programs and offers a competitive model home program, where applicable.
For more details and to learn more about Amarr’s residential garage doors — including the Hillcrest and Lincoln collections mentioned in this case study — visit Amarr Collections. If interested in learning more about Amarr programs for home builders, contact [email protected]. You can also download our informative brochure, New Construction Market – Amarr® Residential Garage Doors here.

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