A wood professional with innovation fever

Lower Austrian Helmut Jilg already has twenty-five successful years of business behind him. What continues to drive him is not only a passion for parquet flooring, but also the constant desire to create something new, implement innovations and transform experiences into visions. Jilg is now putting this to practice with fp floor protector GmbH, proving how imagination and expertise can benefit an entire industry. Innovation grounded in reality: That is Helmut Jilg’s specialty.

“I could continue to live happily managing my company and concentrating on my core business. But there is something in me that urges me to try new things, to make improvements and to implement them”, explains Helmut Jilg, whose parquet flooring company of the same name in Altlengbach has been known for the quality of its craftsmen for more than a quarter of a century. His many years of experience and genuine interest in analysing the product of parquet flooring led the entrepreneur to constantly think one step further ahead. This intensive work found its first expression in the year 2008 when it won the Karl Ritter of Ghega Award for innovation and was then nominated for the special Econovius Award within the framework of the National Award for Innovation. Jilg became an award winner thanks to the development of the “fidbox”, a measurement device installed in the parquet flooring. The data stored within it can be read via radio and uses vertical measurements to determine the humidity of floor screed and wood. “This information is not only interesting in terms of the room climate; it primarily provides a clear case in the event of damages”, says the 45-year-old. Parquet flooring professionals are familiar with the problem: “If, for example, the floor is damaged because the floor temperatures in the wood are too high or because of an increase or loss of humidity in the wood, the parquet flooring installer is usually put on the spot, since this error is generally ascribed to the workers. The fidbox brings this to an end and allows the question of the liability to the clarified”, says the Lower Austrian.

As a result, the fidbox not only provides measurable advantages for the parquet flooring installer, but also for owners, inhabitants and builders. “Damage cases can be cleared up more quickly thanks to the results of the measurements, which also accelerates the procedures straight through to the clarification and remedy. This means greater clarity and fewer costs for all participants and reduces lost time”, says Jilg. “The fidbox is a product that addresses a real problem and is intended to offer greater security”, Jilg emphasised. The relevance of this topic can be seen alone in the fact that some damages can threaten the very existence of parquet flooring installers, under certain circumstances. “The fidbox offers results which are accepted by the assessors and which thus also bear weight in a case before a judge”, says the parquet professional.

The desire for truth and fairness

fp floor protector GmbH has set its goal for an all-round approach to service and added yet another innovation to this comprehensive service. In the future, the fidbox will be bundled with an insurance benefit which will offer the workers additional relief and provide greater financial security against various damage claims. The new offer is comparable with comprehensive insurance from the automotive industry, whereby the parquet floor installer also profits from coverage of the labour and material costs for damages they are liable for themselves. The requirement for this is an installed fidbox which, as Jilg is convinced, “has a good chance of becoming a standard product for parquet flooring”. This new type of insurance is just as unique as the fidbox itself and thus proof of how practical Helmut Jilg is in his approach to research and innovation. “I am a practitioner, who strives for progress. My ideas should not only help me, they should help the entire industry”, says Jilg, displaying his selfless side. “Even if the entire matter has now taken on a greater business scope for me, the fidbox is definitely about the desire for truth and fairness among colleagues”, says Jilg.

The next hits are already in the pipeline

Even before the new company was launched, the fidbox proved to be a winner far beyond the Austrian borders. Alongside Helmut Jilg, a sales associate is employed in Germany and the orders are steadily increasing from other European countries as well. But before fp floor protector GmbH began to grow, Helmut Jilg had already introduced another innovative hit: a new type of wooden flooring for the bathroom is already successful as a licensed product of an Austrian company. The secret behind this: the flooring, similar to the deck of a boat, is installed on site and then sealed by filling the joints with polyurethane. “The realisation of parquet flooring for the bathroom has always been a dream of mine”, says Jilg, looking back on a project that was quite special to him. “But there is still lots more to develop. I guess this awareness will keep me active for the next 25 years!”