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

Ciprian Dumitru, manager of ABC Building, Sibiu, has had a full and interesting life. He has gone from the accounting 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 at the beginning. How did you get into this field?

To cut a long story short, I finished Theology in 2004 at my parents' insistence. But then I worked as a bank manager. I went to economics high school and came second in Romania in the accounting olympiad. That's how I got a scholarship to ASE Sibiu. However, because of my parents' stubbornness, I also took the Theology exam. I got 14th place. My parents told me that I had to start working and support myself if I wanted to go to ASE, but that they would support me if I went to theology.

We started with my younger brother and his wife, hence the name ABC: Alexandru, Bianca and Ciprian. And we wanted to call it Building, thinking we'd start building if the furniture didn't work. But it worked, 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 paper session and was planning to go to study at NASA. So I suggested to him that we should 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 over 5.5 million euros. Everyone is happy with the quality we offer and that is due to the 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 sedentary life 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 ended up in a furniture factory as a recuperator and from 2009 to 2010 I didn't work at all.

After a break of six months, I had only two lei 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 didn't have a company and no money. And then he asked me how I wanted to rent a space and start a furniture store 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 business, and I would pay for the furniture at the end of the term. He liked the idea so we set off. It was hard at first, but after a couple of weeks the furniture started selling and I managed to pay the rent and the merchandise.

How did you get into production?

In 2015 we made the decision to do production. I didn't have even the slightest and vague notion 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 director for classic machines Transylvania and Maramureș) and I told him that I wanted to buy machines to make furniture, sofas.

I went to the showroom like at the market. I said I wanted a carving machine, a circular, another smaller wooden circular, an abric. He made me a package and I found them here. I set them up and left them like that from August 2015 through February 2016. I'd bought a lot of machinery, a lot of big-ticket items (all of them had reached close to a hundred thousand euros), so I had to start production. But what to produce? Sofas. That's it, we're making sofas!

It was very hard until we got the cars set up, but in the end we did it. Of course, the Felder Gruppe Romania team supported us. They supported us all the time. They actually taught us how to make furniture.

We looked for a 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 one specialized, we didn't know how to pull fabric. After two months we hired five more people and we worked for eight months straight. Then we drew a line and discovered that we were on a pretty big, very 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 doing 50 sofas a month, now we're doing 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, but we've made them differently and focused on quality.

 What is your market?

We produce over 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 transportation cars, we have hired drivers and we send them all over Romania. The Felder Gruppe machines have helped us a lot by improving the quality of our products. With a good new machine you get quality. We're talking about a Format-4 circular, large, for cutting wood, large capacity, it doesn't heat up, it doesn't stop and it's efficient. We're talking about a Felder milling machine that runs great; all the operations are perfect and that's how quality comes out.

How many are now in total in production and marketing?

We started with two people and now we are 60. We currently have six stores in and around Sibiu and we're about to open a seventh in Râmnicu Vâlcea. We have more than 7,000 square meters of display area, and we started with 300 square meters of production area and have now reached 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 thought about exporting?

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

We have had requests from Hungary. But we can't export because we don't even have enough to cover the demand on the domestic market. The demand is very high. At 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 difficult to convince them. But now the demands are high and we can't cope.

 What matters most to you when buying factory equipment?

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

 How did you come to Felder?

I have a friend who manufactures wooden furniture and has worked with equipment from Felder Gruppe and has been very satisfied with it. He recommended Felder and I am glad I followed his advice. I thank the guys from 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 much. It's also important to be quick. If I have a problem, within 24 hours someone has to be with me to fix it. If the whole flow sits for a day, that's a pretty big loss. One night the car was having a little 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 to say hello. So they fixed it quickly. It makes a big difference. They're great people and the service is great. They are professionals and they know exactly what to do.

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

First of all, the equipment helps us because, if the equipment is working well, the operators are not nervous. They don't get upset. Secondly, I don't like scandal. You've got everything good, new, nice, so you work correctly, well, and you don't argue. Like in a family. I don't pressure them. I tell them we have to do 35 units in a day, so we start in the morning and leave when we're done. Simple. We're like a soccer team. We gotta stick together.

You can find and read the full story by Ciprian Dumitru from ABC Building and here.

This interview is part of the Felder Gruppe Romania Customer Stories series. Discover more many stories here.