Hawk Furniture is a privately-owned family business established in 1988 by Glen Lincoln. In this article, Glen gives us an insight into how his business has evolved and why software has been so instrumental in Hawk’s success.
As a manufacturer of office and residential furniture, Hawk Furniture has grown consistently and now employs 60 staff with a turnover of £5m per annum, selling products to over 100 furniture dealers all over the UK and Ireland with some exposure as far afield as the Far East.
The company prides itself on everything being manufactured in-house, both metalwork and woodwork, at its manufacturing plant in the heart of East Yorkshire.
The goal has always been to outsource as little as possible in the hope of increasing reliability to its customers, and that is why investment in machinery and manufacturing processes have been crucial in gaining a reputation for being one of the most reliable manufacturers in the industry. Hawk aims for zero damages and 100% of deliveries on time, with actual figures being within 0.05%.
Milestones for the company have been the installation of various machines in the factory, with the introduction of the first BAZ machine in 1999 – machines that automate the making of shaped desks cutting down production of one top from 30 minutes (when done manually) to six minutes, and the powder-coating plant in 2006, allowing freedom and flexibility to produce metalwork in any colour.
The most recent machinery investment was in 2012 with the installation of the laser machine and press brake; two machines that have been vital to the R&D department helping with prototyping new components and producing new products while saving costs. The latest investment in 2014 was the introduction of Imos which has improved the efficiency of the design process and allowed Hawk to present more professionally.
Responsible for the growth of the company is commercial director Johnny Medd, a 32-year-old with a passion for marketing and most adrenaline-based sports such as snowboarding, rock-climbing and cycling/downhill mountain biking. Originally starting out with a career in sales, the move to marketing was made after the creative process was found to be more appealing.
Gaining a degree in the field together with the experience in sales, allows for a solid understanding of how the business process works and innovative marketing campaigns are now a fundamental part of Hawk’s success.
“Recent product developments have been the release of two new height adjustable desk systems,” explains Johnny, “covering the mid-range and higher ends of the market and using world-renowned Linak actuators.
“These products have only been released May 2016 so the decision was made to exhibit this October at one of the world’s biggest office furniture exhibitions, Orgatec, in Cologne, Germany. With the release of new ranges and the exhibition, Hawk is expecting significant growth in 2017. A showroom in Clerkenwell, London, is also being discussed as a possible expansion strategy for 2017.”
In terms of being distinctive among its competitors, how does Hawk set itself apart? “The company doesn’t have just one USP. A combination of service, quality, value and reliability are all critical aspects that contribute to Hawk’s success.”
Hawk’s furniture is made using a combination of CNC machines. Orders are collated using optimisation software to get the least wastage. Packs of MFC board are loaded onto the saw and cut as per the optimisation programs, where they are then taken to the edgebanders and drills.
The production line then takes the drilled panels to insert any required fittings or to the assembly line where products are built, checked for quality, then sent to the warehouse ready for despatch. All orders are made for delivery and there are over 50,000 product variations.
Hawk has a minimum of two or three of every stage of woodworking machinery. This is done for reliability so that if a machine breaks down the order is not delayed to the customer.
Currently Hawk has the capacity to expand by another 40% without the need for additional machinery, however, with the upcoming expansion plans this may change as soon as 2018.
Looking at developments in the market, Hawk says that economic uncertainty is the biggest threat to the manufacturing industry, and it has seen repeated temporary dips in business at political crossroads such as a change in Government. So whilst Hawk might be bucking the trends by being extremely busy at the moment, the general theme at the minute is that the office furniture industry was very quiet in the lead up to the to the EU referendum.
Asked whether software had been a positive influence for creating the optimum link from the design to the machine, Johnny emphatically agrees: “Yes, massively! imos has also allowed the company to grow without the need for additional staff. It provides more professional and more detailed drawings which is essential in reducing problems with the customer understanding exactly how their product will be made.
Hawk realised fairly early on that imos was ideal for its requirements: “The imos representative, Adam Bumpsteed from in3D Software, visited Hawk and demonstrated its capabilities. The attractive features and also the payback period were decisive factors, as imos saved the need for a product designer and a product programmer, and allowed the product designer to concentrate on other parts of the job,” explains Johnny.
In terms of how the business utlises imos, Hawk has CAD and CAM modules to produce drilling patterns for the machines in the factory. “It receives an enquiry for a bespoke product from the customer and a drawing is produced for the customer to sign off. If and when the customer places the order, it is processed into our system and the relevant drilling patterns are sent to the drills. A costing module would be beneficial in future as it would allow for greater accuracy which is important especially on larger jobs.
Johnny says Hawk took a steady, phased approach to bedding in the new software: “Initially the product was used for simple, non-standard items, such as a bookcase at a specified height. When the software – and user programming – was known to be correct, more items were gradually added and eventually more and more complicated products. By the end of 2014 the programmers were up to speed and now, can undertake most work with ease.”
Of course, new software tends to create a number of questions and issues as company’s adapt and refine processes. “To begin with, the support service was used very often in both ironing out bugs and help with using the product, via telephone with online remote control support,” says Johnny. “but the service is great and was vital in ensuring a smooth transition.”
In terms of how Hawk uses imos today, every order or enquiry received for non-standard products is completed with imos and eventually the company expects imos software will be used for all standard products, too.
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