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Quality is Top Reason Customers Choose Interface

In our latest customer feedback survey, we asked those that rely on Interface why they buy from us. The overwhelming top response was product quality. One of the trademarks of Interface is ensuring that our products meet not only the demand of what is needed in the market for measurement sensors, but that the precision, accuracy, and quality of everything we build is market leading. Best in class.

Our customers drive Interface innovation. We are continuously looking at trends, special requirements and future outlooks to determine what solutions can meet today’s requirements and those in the future. It was noted in the survey that customers depend on Interface for this expertise and experience. That is why it is central in our business strategy and key for Interface’s success to ask, listen and learn from those that rely on our force measurement solutions in their businesses.

A hallmark to our semi-annual survey is the Net Promoter Score (NPS) question that is designed to measure loyalty. We asked again in this latest Spring 2021 survey, “How likely is it that you would recommend Interface to a friend or colleague?” Respondents are then asked to rate their response by selecting 0-10 with 10 being extremely likely and 0 not at all likely. The percentage of those that select 9 or 10 are considered promoters of the Interface brand. Anyone that scores 6 or below is considered by NPS standards to be a detractor. The percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors are gives you an NPS score.

We are very excited to announce that Interface’s current Net Promoter Score is +73.

The founders of NPS note that outstanding companies in their class average between a +30 to +50. We are honored by the recognition coming directly from our customers.

“This is a great result! We appreciate the recognition of our team member’s hard work to generate such customer satisfaction and loyalty. Global brands recognized around the world and who are famous NPS power users rarely report scores as high as Interface. We are honored to have such loyal customers, as seen in an outstanding +73 NPS. Remarkably, this came during a period where the customers’ most recent experience likely was influenced by the pandemic strain.” Greg Adams, CEO

We learned from our customers when we asked, “What are the most important reasons why you choose to buy from Interface?”, that product quality matters most, followed next by calibration and repair services, accuracy specifications, experience working with Interface and brand reputation. We also looked at trends in future product demands and the ability to buy online through our QS48 online shopping service.

Our customers were very forthcoming in their preferences for technical support, with phone and email taking top positions. This was followed by using our technical library, video demonstrations and numerous product and technical manuals.

We also gained great insights from our customers when we asked, “How can we improve your overall experience working with Interface?”  All feedback matters to us. It’s what we gain through this transparent and open process that we know where we can look to improve. In fact, we are determined to look at every opportunity presented in the survey to make operational improvements that benefit our customers in all areas from design to shipments.

“Our team performance demonstrates the winning position we are all committed to at Interface. Customer experience is central to what we do and it’s our focus to continuously exceed expectations. As great as this score is today, the better news is that we have the opportunity to improve further and define our future as the market leader by delivering the best for our customers.” Greg Adams, CEO

Our last question in the survey, we asked, “How satisfied are you with Interface and your customer experience?” and we learned that 98% of our customers are satisfied and 83% are very or exceedingly satisfied. We appreciate all those that provided their candid responses in our Spring Customer Satisfaction and NPS Survey. Our work continues to make sure what we do goes above and beyond and delivers on our promise to exceed expectations.

 

Interface Differentiator is Proprietary Strain Gage Manufacturing

Interface products have been heralded for their accuracy, reliability, and quality for more than 50 years. We credit our vertically integrated approach to manufacturing as the most significant factor in our development of industry-leading force measurement products, meaning we control every part of the design, manufacturing and testing of our products before they are shipped to our customers.

The process for how we differentiate ourselves begins with Interface strain gages. By manufacturing our own proprietary strain gages here at our headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, we can optimize our load cells to a quality level very few providers can match.

Think of strain gages as the heart and soul of a load cell. These components power every aspect of the device and their quality dictates a significant portion of the load cells’ overall quality. In addition, customization of the strain gages is a critical factor in ensuring the load cell is meeting the specific requirements of a customer’s project.

The last point is critically important because Interface does not just provide one size fits all products. Yes, we have a large standard product line ready to ship. There are many times when we collaborate directly with our customers to understand their application and the challenges that may be present during a force measurement testing program or OEM design. This allows us to offer modified and custom products that are engineered to order.  Whether that comes in the form of an off-the-shelf product within our catalog of more than tens of thousands of options, or a new model using our strain gage technology to meet the needs of a unique application.

An example of our commitment to meeting customer needs is the way we develop our strain gages to compensate for temperature, an environmental factor that can drastically affect the accuracy of force data. Our strain gages are designed and manufactured to counteract the temperature characteristics of the modulus of the load cell structural material.

The benefit to this is that our load cells are temperature-insensitive and do not require modulus compensation resistors, ultimately producing a simpler and more reliable circuit with higher output signal. It also means no dynamic thermal mismatch errors from modulus compensation resistors which cannot be thermally connected with the load cell’s surface at the strain gage location.

In addition, our proprietary strain gages provide several key benefits. Included below are a few of the differentiators available with Interface strain gages:

  • A higher output of 4mV/V, while competitors provide 3mV/V or less, which provides superior performance, flexibility, and accuracy.
  • The ability to perform hot and cold thermal compensation, from 15˚ – 115˚F, while competitors typically only provide heat compensation (60˚ – 160˚F).
  • Eight strain gages per load cell compared to our competitors four gages, which provides superior compensation of eccentric loads to further minimize resulting errors.
  • Our strain gages also offer:
    • Higher signal-to-noise ratio
    • Higher resolution in precision measurement applications
    • Superior fatigue life

Another factor in the development of our strain gages is our expertise and knowledge of the manufacturing process. We have always developed our own strain gages going all the way back to 1968. Therefore, we have learned everything there is to know about it and can guarantee the quality of our load cells in any environment based on this tenured expertise and having manufactured and calibrated millions of force measurement devices.

To learn more about our vertically integrated manufacturing process and the various forms of product and system customization we offer, contact our specialized application engineers.