Positive signs of success for Corada

Signs are vital for branding, delivering information, and helping people to find their way - but are too often an after-thought in a big building project ,  which results in huge pressure to get them done on time, says Jude Conroy, Sales and Marketing Manager of Porirua-based signage company Corada.

In order to deliver the highest possible quality, knowing about upcoming projects early is a huge advantage, says Conroy, and that is where the ICN has delivered for Corada, giving the company early notification of large projects where signs will be needed.

"Being able to get onto a tender with enough time, and knowing the right people to go to, is very important," says Conroy.

Early in the Wairau Hospital project, in Blenheim the ICN's Ian Mallett let Corada know that very specialised signage would be needed. "As soon as I find out who the architects are, I try to give the appropriate local companies the nod so that they can prepare," says Mallett.

Timing is especially important when only invited companies can tender. Mallett also put Corada's name forward to be considered for the tender to supply the Hospital's signage. His pro-active role provided the company with the "foot in the door" it needed to land the signage contract, and Corada was then also awarded the contract to supply signs for stage two of the project.

The fact that Corada does both design and manufacturing of all signs in-house gave them a big advantage, Mallett says - it is easier on a big project for project managers to deal with a single supplier rather than a lot of smaller ones.

Corada describes itself as working with "the architecture of signage". Its employees include architects, industrial engineers, designers, and wayfinding researchers, and they are backed by state-of-the-art visualisation and production technology.

With its sister company KTL Technologies, Corada is now moving into Australia and the United Kingdom.