SAM'S and the
media

The ability to foresse market needs, to embrace new challenges and the dedication of the entire team have ensured the company a strong and sustained growth.

From a very young age João Mousinho grew a fondness and a special affection for the door and window frame business. But the passion did not arise by chance. His father also worked in this area and the leader has always accompanied his work.

“I followed my father’s and the assembly teams’ work in the factory. That’s how I began to learn and this fascination started to grow inside of me”, he tells.

From observation to practice, João Mousinho took over the management of SAM’S in 2002, a family business that had been born four years before. “We are a company that develops its activities around the commercialization, budgeting, transformation and installation of aluminium, PVC and composite panel frames systems”, explains the entrepreneur. Besides the windows, the company also offers a huge variety of hardware and handles, segment in which customers are very selective and demading: “We have thousands of references to suit different tastes”, he confirms.

As the company’s leader, João Mousinho made several decisions that proved to be crucial for the growth and expansion of the organization, such as the option to expand the facilities – located in Alhos Vedros -, which became an excellent business card of the company: “We moved to the new premises five years ago, as we previously had an area of only 720 square metres and now we have 3100 square metres, not to mention the visible improvement in production and working conditions.” The production unit also has a showroom.

Know-how, rigor and quality

In addition to the vast experience in the area, SAM’S differentiation is based on its focus, research and investment on the latest developments and innovations in materials and equipment that are emerging on the market. Nor has quality ever been left to chance: “We have always sought a top quality service, with the use of machinery and the modernization of the equipment we have improved the final quality of the product, efficiency and efficacy, as well as meeting delivery deadlines. We have been ISO 9001 certified for approximately 12 years.”

The team, characterized by João Mousinho as young but endowed with an enormous know-how, is composed of about 60 employees and is able to embrace any type of project, of aluminium, PVC or composite panel frames.

“Our employees are the key to our success and customer satisfaction. I insist on giving them all the conditions they need to do their jobs perfectly and we have a great relationship. The facilities are designed to make everyone feel good. The HR department creates plans to provide a better quality of life at work and promotes social activities to increase motivation.”

And as we should “never change a winning team”, part of the staff has been working in the company for more than a decade, and there is a strong commitment towards the respective training component: “One of our main investments is precisely in the training of our staff. We do internal training and also through our main partner brands. Every quarter we receive technicians at our facilities who provide training for groups of 5/6 employees.”

Tailor-made solutions

The detail and thoroughness they put in the production of each product means that the team has the preference to make the respective application itself – in order to guarantee the excellence of the whole service. When this doesn’t happen, SAM’S has long-standing and reliable partners, who, in any case, are backed up by in-house staff.

It is also part of the company’s DNA, the rigorous study of products and customer needs in order to be able to offer greater quality and durability: “We make a correlation between the size of the material and its damage resistance and I can say that our windows are lifelong, which is why we have an after-sales service that is rarely requested.”

“As a priority, we analyse the capacity of machinery in terms of quality and its several functionalities, since we are dealing with CNC machines, which are very precise and really have to be very effective, because they are put to the test with very demanding working pace. Cutting and welding machines are also essential. These are expensive equipment, but whose investment pays off in the short/medium term.”

SAM’S has some of Portugal’s leading construction companies as its clients and has participated in major projects both inside and outside the country. The path of internationalisation began during the most recent world economic crisis and has further enhanced the elasticity of the company’s operations. “In countries such as France, special features are required, namely in terms of thermal and acoustic insulation and energy efficiency. We are able to fulfil these demands and French customers have become loyal to our work, as is the case in the other markets where we operate”, confesses the manager.

Besides, the entity has already done very interesting projects in Angola and Cape Verde – where motre than seven thousand windows have been made for social housing. João Mousinho mentions other examples: “In 2015 we did one of the largest works in the company’s history, which consisted in the construction of 12 hospitals in the Republic of Congo. This was another great challenge that we were able to overcome successfully. In 2016 we were invited by Cortizo, one of our renowned suppliers, to join a project in which we produced 18 thousand square metres of composite panel. In that same year, we carried out a major project, this one in Lisbon, of 8 thousand square metres of glass, destined for a hotel all covered in glass and frame.”

High-quality equipment

SAM’s focus on having state-of-the-art machinery and equipment has been one of its main areas of investment. In this sense, a careful analysis is made in terms of performance and quality, an attitude that has currently earned them a machine park in accordance with the highest technology and that allows them to present a highly distinctive work. “As a priority, we analyse the capacity of machinery in terms of quality and its several functionalities, since we are dealing with CNC machines, which are very precise and really have to be very affective, because they are put to the test with very demanding working pace. Cutting and welding machines are also essential. These are expensive equipment, but whose investment pays off in the short/medium term”, he justifies.

In order to always be at the forefront when it comes to the renovation of production materials and machinery, the team regularly visits national and international trade fairs of the sector.

As for other features that may seem like minor details, but actually do make all the diffrence, SAM’S also has the ability – and strives – to make a difference: “We have a very own and careful method of packing, which ensures that the windows don’t get any scratches. All the measures are rectified by us to avoid the slightest possibility of error and we still work on the window design in Autocad to present the customer the closest possible way of how the work is going to look.”

The success and growth of the company, not only in terms of capturing major works, but also in increasing resources and invocing, resulted in the winning of the PME Líder 2019 Award. “All this was possible with a spirit of sacrifice, dedication, mutual help and commitment of the whole team”, concludes the entrepreneur.