Flexible production line has supported rapid business change

Front-painted is a relatively recent arrival on the painted furniture door market. At the beginning of 2019 the management team decided to move away from furniture production and focus on the production of fronts. They discovered a shortage in the furniture door market for customized fronts. The collaborations they had with architects and interior designers during furniture production helped them to discover this opportunity and notice that the demand was high. We met Alexandra Panfil, Strategic Consultant at Painted front, who talked about customizing furniture with painted fronts, the long-standing partnership with Nika Machinery, which made the transition to front-end production simple, about customers and online sales, and about plans for the future.

The need for customised fronts

They started years ago with the production of customized furniture and frequently collaborated with architects and designers. They targeted a market segment of people who wanted furniture that represented them. They quickly realized that "the secret to beautiful and elegant furniture that transforms furniture into a unique piece of furniture is personalized doors".

But at the same time they discovered the Romanian market was lacking these doors and were often forced to resort to foreign imports. This is how the idea of producing them came about. They knew the market, they knew that there were big manufacturers of painted doors in the country, but they wanted to go for a niche production, basically to start from what their customers wanted.

"We are one of the few who do custom and 3D models. That is, if a customer has seen a door pattern somewhere that they would like for furniture, they contact us and we tell them whether or not it can be done. So far, though, we haven't had any situations where we couldn't fulfill a request. We have oriented ourselves, in terms of the capacity we had in production, that is human force, technology and machinery, towards this niche of custom, 3D, in a word, personalized. Our customers are mainly architects - architectural offices and interior designers." 

What gave them courage was the impact they had on potential customers right from the start and the flexibility of the production lines designed together with Nika Utilaje.

"Last year (2019, editor's note) we attended Design Hub with 3D door samples and the feedback was very good. Two architects came and told us that they were happy that finally there is someone in Romania who can do what they only saw at furniture shows in Italy. That doesn't mean we want to make an expensive, unattainable product. Our goal is to make a quality product, otherwise, to meet the designer, the architect, the end customer so that everyone is satisfied."

Quality fronts require high-performance machines and trained people

To obtain doors that meet both quality and customization requirements, he relies on the team in the factory in Drăgănești, Olt. The factory manager, with more than 15 years' experience in furniture manufacturing, and the CNC engineer, also known as the Wizard (the wizard). He is the "culprit" for customizing the fronts with special and diverse patterns. The 'Wizard's' skills and the performance of Nika Utilaje's Masterwood CNC Masterwood result in unique fronts.

Very important is also the team of women who are in charge of the perfect sanding of the MDF or the processed wood, as well as the sanding between the coats of primer. Their attention to detail makes the doors look and feel great in the end.

For the application of primer and paint, they did not want to use experienced people. They were afraid that this experience would do more harm, that they would have learned some operations wrong and that they would have to put them into practice. They chose to train young people eager to learn a trade. With all the inherent problems with labor in Romania, they have managed to find people in the area with whom to form a team they are very proud of.

A long-standing partnership that has allowed the transition to another business and its development

It is also to the team's credit that it has managed to make optimal use of the processing equipment, thus further increasing the quality of the fronts produced. The painted fronts and Nika Utilaje have a long-standing partnership, working together on projects designed together so that they can maximize the benefits.

Their first project was back when they were producing furniture in 2013. The requirement was for a furniture production line as flexible as possible to allow the business to develop in different directions. This helped a lot when they decided to switch to the production of furniture fronts. They bought a Masterwood CNC by Nesting, with C-axis and aggregates that allows horizontal machining even if it has a nesting table, a thermoforming press with integrated composite heating furnace, edge banding machine and a circular. They took smaller cars - drillsof applied cant on curb - for the production of wooden furniture, wood-based panels or composite materials. The equipment was quite advanced for the time and they made furniture that was appreciated. This endowment made the transition from furniture production to the production of custom CNC CNC front ends effortless. Only the backing machining machines were not enough.

As the collaboration with Nika Utilaje was very good from the very beginning, when they had another investment project, they turned to them as well. The second project they worked on together involved spray booths. They thought of a manual spraying, with pumps and guns, because you need human touch in this kind of business. They took a 2-place suction front with dry filterfor applying primer and a front with a spray post and water curtainfor applying the final coat of paint. They solved the dust problem by pressurizing both booths, a de-dusting airlock before entering the spray area, and proper quality equipment for the operators. And when a stray speck of dust ends up on the painted surface, it is solved by polishing.

I am now on the threshold of my third project - mechanical sanding equipment. Intricate patterns milled on the surface of panels are sometimes very difficult to sand by hand. They concluded that in order to deliver the quality their customers have come to expect, they needed to invest in sanding. They contacted their partner again and started setting up the project. They hope to finalize this investment by the end of the year. That doesn't mean they won't need the existing people. The team is very good, the projects for the future are also many, so the tooling will not mean redundancies.

Online orientation - fast delivery and satisfied customers

One of the company's projects was to develop the online sales side, to make it accessible and easy. They have also been supported and backed by Nika Utilaje, with whom they are now discussing the software solutions on the factory side.

"What we want to do with this business model is also to educate the market, to show them that it is possible for them to measure their own fronts and order them. It saves a lot of hassle and they can even get a better price."

They have developed a very simple and easy to use online form. Once it is filled in with the panel dimensions, the price is automatically calculated and the proforma is sent according to the chosen payment method. The system then generates an email which is analyzed and the order quickly goes into production. For regular orders the lead time is 10-15 days, and for atypical orders it can reach 20-25 days. Delivery is made by own transportation or by courier, after the order is carefully packed and palletized in the factory. The courier was chosen very carefully, after they found out that they have among their customers one that processes and transports glass.

They have customers that, despite having received over 10 orders so far (substantial, not just a few doors), they have not met. The online collaboration went so well that they didn't need to meet to work out the details of the contract.

Future plans

In addition to the project to implement mechanized sanding, they have another project this year, one related to the front collections. Next to premium fronts they will prepare a series of furniture fronts dedicated to children. For them they will use special finishing products and a new series of pastel colors, especially for this project.

For the future they want to expand abroad. They know what the requirements are because they have participated in international fairs. They are also convinced that they can deliver quality products at a better price. They want people who want special furniture not to have to go to other countries to find what they want. They know that here in the country there is the will and the ability to do anything and their partners, such as Nika Utilaje, are there to help them get quality products.

With what they have achieved in less than a year since the transition to a new production direction, I am convinced that they will be able to do everything they set out to do.