Selecting the right skilled and experienced employees is good for business, but choosing the correct tools is also a key benefit for any new company.
For one of the leading South-west fabrication companies, which produces solid surfaces including Corian and LG HI-MACS worksurfaces and counters for healthcare, domestic kitchens, sinks and cladding, being equipped effectively was a fundamental priority when it was founded six years ago. Furniture & Joinery Production spoke to Tim Nicholls, one of the founding partners of Simply Solid, about the investment decisions they made from the outset that have made sound business sense over the long term.
“For the first year we were looking into products that our company needed to take on and how they could assist the business,” says Tim. “This was quite a long process as we work in the solid surface sector and there are only a handful of companies that offer the products we require to do our job.
“This led me to have an in-depth look into each company and weigh up the pros and cons of its products in terms of how they align with the jobs we are doing, their ease of use and the overall cost to the business. In the end, after much deliberation, we decided to take on Mirka’s Deros and Ceros sanders, its Abranet ACE and Abralon abrasives as well as its polisher and Polarshine range, and we have been using them ever since.
“After purchasing the Ceros and Deros, which we use every day, there are a number of features, including their ease of use, that impressed us. The first are the brushless motors in both sanders, which, even though we produce a lot of abrasive dust when we use them, are not affected by it and always perform at their optimum levels.
“The second is how well built the sanders are. They are so hard wearing and can deal with the rigours of continuous usage,” explains Tim.
“An example of this is that in the five years we have used the Ceros, and in the past year we have been using the Deros, we have only had to replace one Ceros sander. This is no mean feat considering how hard the surfaces we work on are and the amount of hours we have subjected them to since we bought them.
“The final benefit is the lightweight design of the sanders, which makes them easy to handle when they are being used on any solid surface fabricated item, from work surfaces to cladding and sinks.
“The abrasives, like the sanders, do exactly what they say on the tin. The impressive Abranet ACE offers us high quality dust extraction combined with the sanders which allows our employees to work in a safe dust-free environment, whilst the Abralon gives us a high quality consistent finish, which is paramount in our industry and for the products we produce.
“Now, I definitely pat myself on the back for taking the plunge with my partners and choosing Mirka’s products five years ago. It was one of the best decisions we made as a business and our investment has more than paid for itself. The products have become an integral part of the team, as they make hard jobs easy and can be pushed harder and still produce a consistently high quality finish,” concludes Tim.
