ABC Building: From 2 lei to 4 million euros from the production and marketing of sofas

Ciprian Dumitru, the administrator of ABC Building, Sibiu, has had a full and interesting life. He has gone from accountancy olympiad to theology, from bank manager to selling mattresses, from two lions to a turnover of four million euros. He told us about his journey so far.

Let's start from the beginning. How did you get into this field?

In short, I finished the Faculty of Theology in 2004 at the insistence of my parents. But then I worked as a bank manager. I attended the economic high school and I came second in Romania in the accounting olympiad. That's how I got a scholarship to ASE Sibiu. However, my parents were stubborn enough to make me take the exam for the Faculty of Theology. I went and with great luck I got 14th place. My parents told me that I had to work and support myself if I wanted to go to ASE, but that they would support me if I went to theology.

I started with my younger brother and wife, hence the name ABC: Alexander, Bianca and Ciprian. And we wanted to call it Building, thinking we'd start building if the furniture didn't work. But it did work out, even though no one gave us any chance of success in 2010, in the crisis, when nothing was being bought or sold.

At that time my brother and my wife were students. My brother had won the engineering communications session and was planning to go to study at NASA. So I suggested that we make the company and a furniture store, and if it worked, he wouldn't go to America. And it worked, and now it's a good business. Last year (2016) we had a net turnover of almost four million euros, and this year (2017) we hope to reach more than 5.5 million euros. Everybody is happy with the quality we offer and that is due to Felder Gruppe machines.

How did you get into selling furniture?

In 2006 I was a manager at HBB Bank in the savings department, but due to the stress in the bank and the sedentary lifestyle I chose to go into mattress sales. I worked there for three years and then went to a sofa factory in Sighetul Marmației as sales manager. In nine months I managed to sell one hundred and ten billion (in old lei) worth of sofas. Then I went to a furniture factory as a recoverer and from 2009 to 2010 I didn't work at all.

After a break of six months, I had only two lions left and I thought of starting my own business. So I went to the landlord of a space in town and told him I wanted to rent it to set up a furniture shop. He asked me what my company was called. I told him I had no company and no money. And then he asked me how I wanted to rent a space and make a furniture shop with nothing. I replied that I thought he would give me the space for free for a month and help me with the money to set up my firm, and I would pay for the furniture when I got it. He liked the idea so we hit the road. It was hard at first, but after two weeks the furniture started selling and I managed to pay the rent and the goods.

How did you get into production?

In 2015 we decided to do production. I had no vague idea about production. So, together with a colleague, I went to Bucharest, on the recommendation of a friend, to Felder Gruppe Romania. There I met Paul (Paul Nastase - Area sales manager for classic machines Transylvania and Maramures) and I told him I wanted to buy machines to make furniture, sofas.

We went to the showroom like to the market. I said I wanted a woodcarver, a circular, another smaller wooden circular, a hearse. He made me a package and I ended up with them here. I set them up and left them that way from August 2015 to February 2016. I had bought a lot of machines, with a lot of value (all of them had reached almost a hundred thousand euros), so I had to start production. But produce what? Sofas. That's it, we're making sofas!

It was very hard until we got the cars tuned, but we finally did it. Of course, the Felder Gruppe Romania team supported us. They always supported us. They actually taught us how to make furniture.

We searched for raw material supplier and got for a batch of 50 sofas. Me and two other guys worked for about a month and after another three weeks the first sofa came out. But it wasn't complete because there was no specialist, we didn't know how to pull fabric. After two months we hired five more people and worked for eight months continuously. Then we drew a line and discovered we were on a pretty big, big minus. We had no yield in production. So we stopped, we calculated, we rethought how we were producing, how we were putting it in, what else we needed to get both yield and productivity. More than a year ago we were working on 50 sofas a month, and now we make 35 a day with only twice as many employees. And we have become a good supplier of sofas to the Romanian market. Our sofas are normal, we just made them differently and went for quality.

 What is your market?

We produce more than 8,000 sofas/year in two sizes and five arm models. We have 60 companies all over the country with whom we collaborate, we have our own transport vehicles, we have hired a driver and we send them all over Romania. Felder Gruppe machines have helped us a lot by improving the quality of our products. With a new and good machine you get quality. We are talking about a large Format-4 circular, for cutting wood, with a large capacity, it doesn't heat up, it doesn't stop and it has a high output. We're talking about a Felder milling machine that works great; all the operations are perfect and that's how quality comes out.

How many of you are now in total in production and marketing?

We started with two people and now there are 60 of us. At the moment we have six stores in and around Sibiu and we are opening a seventh in Râmnicu Vâlcea. We have more than 7,000 square metres of display space, and we started with 300 square metres of production space and now have 800. We have 10,000 square meters of land and buildings on a total area of 2,600 square meters.

What is the next step? Have you considered exporting?

We want to increase productivity and purchase new models of equipment and an additional shrinking machine. In addition, we hope to buy a CNC.

We had requests from Hungary. But we can't export because we don't even have enough to cover the domestic demand. The demand is very high. In the beginning it was very difficult, we made the products, put them in our own shops, then we tried to find partners in the country. People didn't trust our quality. It was very hard to convince them. But now the demands are high and we can't cope anymore.

 What matters most to you when purchasing factory equipment?

His power. Its capacity and to be a high-performance machine. You can buy second-hand machinery, but it doesn't do you any good. New, good ones with high production capacity help you a lot and you don't need maintenance because a new machine doesn't break down.

 How did you get to Felder?

I have a friend who makes wooden furniture and has worked with Felder Gruppe equipment and is very happy with it. He recommended Felder and I'm glad I took his advice. I thank the guys at Felder Gruppe Romania for supporting me with ideas and teaching me how to use the equipment. It was very hard for us then and their help was vital.

 How much does service matter when buying equipment?

Exceptionally so. It counts to be fast too. If I have a problem, within 24 hours someone has to be with me to fix it. If the whole stream sits for a day it's a big enough loss. One evening the tanning machine had a small problem and the operator told me we had to call Felder. I told him I'd teleport them right away and they'd be here in 15 minutes. The guys from Felder were passing through Sibiu and said they were coming by to say hello. So they fixed it quickly. That's very important. They are great people and the service is extraordinarily good. They are professional and know exactly what they have to do.

 I noticed that you have a nice atmosphere in production. People are joking, having fun, relaxed, helping each other. How do you do it?

First of all, the equipment helps us because, if it works well, the operators are not nervous. They don't get upset. Secondly, I don't like scandal. You have everything good, new, beautiful, so you work correctly, well and don't argue. Like a family. I don't push them. I tell them we have to do 35 units in a day, so we start in the morning and leave when we finish. Simple. We're like a football team. We have to support each other.

You canfind and read the full story of Ciprian Dumitru, from ABC Building andhere.

This interview is part of the Felder Gruppe Romania customer stories series. Discover moremany storieshere.