yes, I think the component business is
probably going to be a larger and larger
part of our overall sales numbers.”
As for its rapid ascent to status as an
industry leader, Mullet said QMotion’s
secret is its creativity.
The company developed the first
motorized shade with a patented
manual override system, which allows it
to be operated by hand while causing no
damage to the interior mechanisms. It’s
been a particularly popular feature
within the hospitality industry, where
guests would often enter a room and
pull on shades not knowing that they
were automatically controlled – which
often resulted in strippedmotors.
Another advance centers on the
batteries, he said, which are housed
within the shade tube and therefore
much easier to access at changing time
by simply pulling the shade to expose
the tube. Additionally, the battery life in
QMotion devices is typically around
five years, as compared to some existing
products whose batteries expired after
as little as sixmonths of use.
“That’s probably our primary differentiator,”
Mullet said.
In-house investments were made in January in
anticipation of the 2014 launches of both a
motorized venetian blind and a system to move
draperies back and forth – and Mullet expects a
continued rapid pace of innovation in a
motorized shading industry he labels as still “in
its infancy.”
In fact, he said a saturation rate that now sits
May 2014
| BusinessWorld | 155
