Success story: a young salesman passionate about woodworking opened his own furniture workshop through Start-Up Nation

Claudiu Sucaciu got into the furniture manufacturing business through a conjuncture. After working in a woodworking factory for a few years, he decided to make furniture himself. In 2017 he opened his own business through the Start-Up Nation. It now manufactures custom wood and chipboard furniture and provides cutting and cant application services for a partner company.

Production: wooden and chipboard furniture made to order
Processing machinery purchased through Start-Up Nation:

• • Felder CF 741 S Professional universal 5-operation joinery machine with support table, for straightening, planing, cutting, milling/planing, drilling/roughing
  • Felder FD 21 PRO multi drilling machine
  • Felder G 360 professional straight edge application machine
  • Schneider UniMaster UNM 660-10-90 D mobile piston compressor
  • Felder AF 22-200 professional stationary exhaust system
  • Felder AF 22 Mobile professional mobile exhaustion system
  • Felder F-38 8-speed mechanical feed device

The secret of their business success: product quality and timeliness

INTERVIEW Felder Gruppe Romania - Claudiu Sucaciu, Anaira Art Mob, Cluj

How did you come to produce furniture?

Claudiu Sucaciu: Before I had contact with the woodworking industry, I worked as a sales agent. At that time, my boss took over a carpentry company and asked us at a meeting who wanted to be part of the team that would take over the new furniture manufacturing business. Myself and another colleague said "let's get in, let's see what we can eat". Especially as he had just bought some solid wood machinery at the time, and I was passionate about wood. I was always surprised to see what could be made out of a piece of wood. This was around 2009, 2010. The processing machines were purchased, production started, and we were responsible for customer relations, the tendering and measuring side.

Gradually, I developed a passion for furniture production and decided to try my own hand at it. At first it was harder because, unfortunately, not many craftsmen were available. On the production side, I basically stole the craft from my former colleagues. I used to sit next to them to see how they worked, I would ask them all sorts of questions and they would answer me surprised why I was asking them. That's how I stole the job and in 2016 I started on my own. Then I set up the company Anaira Art Mob and bought the processing machines from Felder Gruppe Romania through the programme Start-Up Nation.

What exactly do you produce?

Claudiu Sucaciu: We make custom furniture for individual and corporate clients and average 2-3 complete kitchens per month, depending on size. Since we have the machines, we are independent, we manage ourselves and do all the production in-house without depending on others. Moreover, we also do cutting and moulding for a local furniture company that we also help.

What do you think customers appreciate most about you?

Claudiu Sucaciu: The quality of our products and the respect of production deadlines are the main things that our customers appreciate and recommend us for. Once we give a deadline, we stick to it. Even if it's not ready the day before delivery, we stay on schedule and complete the order so that we can deliver within the deadline we agreed with the customer. There have been exceptions, of course, but those situations have not been up to us. For example, the partners we work with did not send us the materials on time. In such situations there is really nothing we can do.

Read the full interview HERE.

The interview with Claudiu Sucaciu is part of the Felder Gruppe story campaign that you can read here.