Klaussner Home Furnishings’ 51-year history has been underscored by growth and vision – seeing the company become a leading furniture provider on an impressive scale. In manufacturing tems, the success of the business today relies on Gerber Technology's sophisticated cutting systems to facilitate an awe inspiring variety of products.
Based on strategic acquisitions, domestic and overseas partnerships, state-of-the-art manufacturing, inventory control and distribution, Klaussner has created a vertically-integrated furniture powerhouse capable of producing multiple product lines sourced from around the globe. The company provides furniture to several major retailers, including Bloomingdales and Macy’s.
Klaussner’s headquarters are in Asheboro, North Carolina, with showrooms in High Point and Las Vegas. The privately-held company’s recent expansion into worldwide sources for leather, upholstery, bedroom, dining room, occasional and memory foam bedding, has allowed it to become a full-line product provider for the entire home.
Offering more than 500 styles, 600 fabrics and over 75 leathers, plus new lines like the Carolina Preserves Collection, inspired by the art and travels of noted North Carolina artist William Mangum, Klaussner not only offers consumers more choices than ever before, but gives its retail partners the tools to maximise the potential of their stores
Klaussner employs 1500 people and produces its products in house, from design, frame construction and cutting to sewing and assembly.
“Our furniture says made in the USA – and it truly is,” says Henry Delk Jr., an engineer at Klaussner.
The company achieves some of the fastest turnaround times in the industry.
“We fulfil a lot of orders that consist of one or two pieces,” says Henry. “That’s just the way the business is these days. And, we have to be able to fulfil these orders quickly and generate a profit.”
Klaussner manages nearly three million patterns that have been created over the years. At any point in time, the company warehouses nearly 950,000 yards of 600 different fabrics.
“When you consider the number of styles we offer, it was challenging to store, maintain and create hard patterns for all of them. We needed help.”
Klaussner’s manufacturing facility houses multiple automated cutting systems, including three conveyorised cutters, primarily for matched upholstery, as well as four Taurus leather cutters that cut, on average, 20,000 sq ft of leather, per shift, each day.
According to Henry, “In the past, Klaussner employed 150 individuals cutting leather by hand.” Shoulder, neck, back, wrist and hand injuries were common and very costly. Along with high costs for medical treatment, the company also experienced lost worker productivity. To date, there have been zero Taurus leather cutter-related injuries.
Klaussner also operates seven DCS 2500 single-ply cutting tables, each capable of cutting 50 to 85 complete units of furniture in an eight-hour shift, compared to only 10 complete units when cutting manually.
“The DCS 2500 cutters have saved us yards and yards of material over the years. In fact, we were so impressed with the performance and speed, we bought seven cutters in a single year,” adds Henry.
Prior to automating their upholstery cutting, Klaussner spent 45 minutes to manually cut a marker. With the DCS 2500 cutters, it takes about 15 minutes to cut, pick and kit a complete marker.
In addition, Klaussner’s CAD design room is equipped with Gerber’s AccuMark pattern design software, AccuScan pattern digitizing system, and two GERBERplotters. Recently, the company purchased Gerber’s AccuNest automated nesting software. With improved material yields, the company expects to see a return on investment in just three months. AccuNest enables Klaussner to generate a marker automatically in seconds for maximum material utilisation – a process that used to take as much as an hour when done manually.
“The knowledge and experience of the sales and service staff is one of the primary reasons we’ve been with Gerber for so long. What’s more, the equipment just works.”
Henry Delk Jr, engineer, Klaussner Home Furnishings
Klaussner’s upholstery lines comprise 500 styles, 600 fabrics and over 75 leathers
The four Taurus cutters produce 20,000 sq ft of leather, per shift, each day
Klaussner’s bundling section
Klaussner runs seven GT DCS2500 single-ply cutters
