Subsidiary of the specialist in resin and fiberglass products Bourbon Composites, Dolo Piscines is the only swimming pool manufacturer in Reunion. Stamped Nou la Fé, Dolo Piscines owes its success in particular to its best-selling model, Phénix. A highly symbolic name since it celebrates the rebirth from the ashes of the Bourbon Composites factory after the fire which destroyed it in 2015.
Silo manufacturer, septic tanks and boat hulls, In 2005, Bourbon Composites turned to the growing swimming pool market.. After supplying other pool specialists, the company has chosen to exploit its know-how internally by launching its own brand and specialized subsidiary, Dolo Piscines, in 2014. Production, delivery, installation : Dolo Piscines quickly acquired a reputation for solidity and reliability thanks to a process developed by Bourbon Composites. “We manufacture our own fiberglass-reinforced polyester hulls from our own molds. Our “plus” is a process reinforcing the resistance of the pool and making it self-supporting. That is to say, the pelvis stabilizes on its own, he does not need additional reinforcement”, describes Aurélien Surjus, sales and marketing director of Dolo Piscines. A notable advantage in terms of cost given the terrain of Reunion Island – particularly the slopes – which complicates the construction of swimming pools. Nowadays, eight models of swimming pools that can be buried, semi-buried or above ground are in the Dolo Piscines catalog (delivered with filtration and maintenance equipment), i.e. 24 possibilities in total. A ninth model should see the light of day shortly. On the other hand, Dolo Piscines puts its know-how at the service of swimming pool maintenance and renovation, including concrete swimming pools. A growing market too. Finally, the company, which until now did not include the covering and decoration of swimming pools in its offer, plans to extend its service to tiling of copings.
The advantage of proximity
The swimming pool specialist based in Saint-Benoît loudly asserts his Reunion identity through the Nou la Fé label, which applies to all Bourbon Composites resin and fiberglass production. The raw material being imported, the pools are manufactured in the factory from original molds designed and shaped by the team of around twenty Dolo Piscines employees. “Our philosophy is to be as close as possible to our customers. Also the Nou la Fé brand is a very important commercial argument for us. It proves that we are capable of doing just as well, or even better, than elsewhere. When a customer comes to see us, we show him around the factory. He sees how his swimming pool will be made, by whom and with what materials”, specifies Aurélien Surjus.
Phénix, the best-selling model from Dolo Piscines.
Swimming pools co-designed with customers
But just as much as industrial know-how, the way in which the models are chosen distinguishes the Reunion manufacturer from imported swimming pool brands. Dolo Piscines directly questions swimming pool enthusiasts via social networks (some 50,000 contacts !). This is the case again at the start of the year to design the ninth model in the catalog. “We start by asking those who are planning to equip themselves with a swimming pool what they are looking for. What do they think is the ideal swimming pool? ? Following the answers, we submit to them several shapes and dimensions. There is a vote. From there, we design a 3 D model. We ask our employees and customers for their opinions and, when the project is validated, we move on to manufacturing the mold. » This next Dolo Piscines model should see the light of day within four months.
