Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
E & SW Knowles, are continuing to bolster their business after significantly investing in their processes, equipment and workforce as part of wider expansion plans.
The Birmingham-based business has just spent £ 250,000 on a brand new State of the art coating line, which will improve the quality of the lacquered finish of their doors as well as reducing their lead times by 2-3 days.
It’s anticipated that the new line – which meets the latest health and safety standards, is cleaner for the environment and designed to help reduce waste – will enable E & SW Knowles to increase their door volumes, production quality and drying times. The lacquer that’s used is also known to contain enhanced fire and scratch resistance properties.
“This new investment forms part of our long-term plans to grow and increase our turnover to £10million a year. It also means we’ll effectively be able to double the number of doors we can lacquer in a day,” said Steve Horner, Managing Director. “These latest changes all add up to a significant increase in productivity and output, which is crucial as the UK’s manufacturing sector becomes increasingly competitive. It will also help make sure we can compete on a global scale too.”
In addition to introducing the new line, the family-run business has invested an additional £25,000 in automated handling systems, which are designed to help factory floor staff work smarter, safer and swifter.
Horner added: “We want to be able to continue to provide our customers with quality products without them being impacted by long lead times, particularly for bespoke products.
The new equipment means we can run the new line, using just one member of staff rather than three. However, this doesn’t mean we’re putting people out of jobs by automating our production process, we will be redeploying our production staff and investing in retraining them to work within other areas on the factory floor.
“We’re focused on improving manual handling and increasing job functionality, as well generating more jobs in Birmingham, which historically, has had higher unemployment.
“We’ve been established for 95 years and we’re confident that this investment in our processes, equipment and workforce will stand us in good stead to operate for another 95 years, if not longer.”
