There is a modest confidence allied to a creative zeal which underlines many a successful business - one such star in the furniture industry’s firmament is the Austrian fittings firm, Julius Blum GmbH. John Legg recently spent time touring some of company’s Austrian manufacturing base to understand how it continues to define a market sector with some of the world’s most resolved functional furniture fittings ever created.
Well known for its open great winter outdoors’ activities, Austria is also an entirely agreeable place to be in the summertime – where the air is clear, the valleys are as lush as the mountains are dramatic – it is here that the innovative fittings firm Blum has made its home since 1952, in Vorarlberg near Bregenz on the eastern shore of the impressive Lake Constance.
As readers of this magazine will know, Blum is very much part of the furniture. The company has been at the forefront of the furniture fittings market for many years and is currently enjoying year-on-year growth of 8% with a worldwide turnover for 2014-15 of €1.5b. Around half of what it produces in sold directly to the EU, 15% in the US and 35% to the rest of the world. With 6600 employees and subsidiries in 27 countries, this family-owned business supplies over 120 companies worldwide.
Of course, the company is rightly famous for key milestones, including in 1985, its CLIP tool-free hinge and in 1993, its box system drawer and in 1999 for the beautful high-performance CLIP top hinge. Into the noughties, company kept on delivering oustanding products – Blumotion made its debut, the Aventos lift system followed in 2005 and then Servo-Drive came along in 2010.
At last year’s Interzum, the latest Blum innovations made their debut to the attending throngs. Among these, a new design for Blum’s Space Tower using the Legrabox system featuring glass elements for the drawers sides impressed visitors with its practical and aesthetically-pleasing look. For wall cabinets, Blum introduced the Aventos HK-XS lift mechanism for cabinets ranging from 240-600mm height and from only 125mm depth.
Tip-On Blumotion was featured heavily as a response to the pletora of handle-less drawer and door fronts providing furniture designers with the optimum of opening and closing ease. Elsewhere, Blum further optimised all three Tandembox options with better opening feel, stability and smoother running characteristics.
What becomes clear when you spend any amount of time with Blum personnel is the spirit that defines the business – it’s difficult to be specific, but the positive, long-term thinking pervades everything they do. Take for instance, Plant 3 in Höchst, Austria, home to R&D, design and the apprentices’ training centre. The design centre is a generous, multi-functional space which welcomes guests and furniture manufacturers who can gets hands-on with all the company’s products and see how how they complement their design thinking.
It’s here that visitors can asses the ramifications of a chosen specification and seek advice on a fittings’ appropriateness.Next door, the R&D facility is sadly off limits, but glimpsed through a door left ajar, serious types were clearly focused on the the next generation of innovations. In both the design and R&D departments, elements which Blum clearly takes very seriously.
At the time of my visit, the rear of Plant 2 was where the apprentices trained gaining the skills they need to become fully-fledged Blum staff – and training is another part of the being Blum – all very thorough and well-resourced. Since then, more space is being created in a new building next to Plant 7 in the shape of The Apprentice Wokshop. When complete, there will be enough space for 60 apprentices and seven instructors. Ensuring it has the right calibre of staff to help take the company forward into the next generation – another example of Blum’s clear, progressive outlook.
Following on from the design and R&D team, another key asset for Blum ihas to be its manufacturing intergity. Years ago the company could have reacted in the same that many manufacturing companies have done by sourcing its manufacturing to a cheaper labour-cost country. As it stands, Blum has manufacturing sites in Austria, Poland, Brazil and the US. In Austria, the quality and cosistency of the manufacturing facility is outstanding. The machinery that Blum uses to create its fittings has been carefully developed and honed over the generations – this type of operation cannot easily be reproduced by the myriad firms wishing to create products with similar performance. Without the manufacturing heart, Blum would not be the Blum we know today.
Here at home, we will soon see a newly-enhanced UK headquarters in Milton Keynes, replete with its recently updated automated storage and warehouse facility. At the moment, Blum is on the final fit-out of the new-look showrooms.
Blum behind Foundation Degree in Kitchen Design
Blum is well known as a long term investor in apprenticeships and training schemes, not only for its own business, and David Sanders, Blum’s sales and marketing director, had long been aware of the need for more training in the area of kitchen design, the wider kitchen, bedroom and bathroom industry. Consequently, he played a key role in the development of the new Foundation Degree in Kitchen Design launched by Bucks New University.
The launch of the Foundation Degree in Kitchen Design is the first of its kind in the UK, became reality after two years of discussions with individuals from key companies in the kitchen industry. The age range covered by the successful candidates is from 22 to 45 years old.
It is a three-year blended learning Foundation Degree and includes three long-weekend residential sessions per year where students have the opportunity to meet fellow students, tutors and industry supporters and be introduced to key concepts and theories. Students also learn online and benefit from working with lecturers via the Internet. The course is aimed at giving students an in-depth under-standing of how to undertake design projects from start to finish with a great-er understanding of client needs and design influences
David Gillett, course leader at Bucks New University, says: “We exhibited at the recent KBB Birmingham exhibition thanks to the generous support of our industry partners and our activity there showed that the course is being welcomed by increasing parts of the industry, who see it as a necessary and important requirement in assisting the professionalisation of their kitchen design businesses.
“I believe our course is now viewed as valuable personal development by individuals, including those in studios aiming to gain an edge as formally-qualified designers, for people within the industry’s supply chain wishing to broaden their understanding, those involved in installation wishing to move into design, and for people wishing to enter the industry either from another career path or as school leavers.
“We are offering a programme of education that is informed by the industry for the industry that provides a breadth and depth of knowledge which seeks to challenge the students to think imaginatively in producing technically adept design solutions anchored in pragmatic scenarios. Our aim is also to make the programme an enjoyable experience for the students while demanding high standards in their assignments.
“Our ambition for our innovative course is that it will become a benchmark qualification for the kitchen industry and that our graduates will fill important roles within it in the future.”
Well supported by the kitchen industry, scholarships to cover or contribute to the £5000 annual fees come from BSH, Hettich, Blanco, Miele and Mereway Kitchens. Further sponsorship for employees comes from Blum, BSH again, Denmore Kitchens, Farnham Furnishers, Four Seasons Interiors, Round-house and Sensio. Additional support has been offered through visits, lec-tures and materials from many industry supporters including an input from Egger.
David Sanders enthused about the Foundation degree course, saying: “At Blum we have a culture of sponsoring apprentices and this course is another way of investing in the future of our industry.”
David Gilette, course leader at Bucks New University
