Established over 35 years ago, Mark Finn Laboratory Furniture is a family-run business based in Keighley, West Yorkshire. It has grown into one of the leading lab furniture manufacturers in the UK, offering high quality British-made products. The Mark Finn Group has expanded to include brands such as Lab Tables, UK Lab Chairs and UK Toilet Cubicles.
“Our track record shows that we have become the leading expert in all aspects of the manufacture and installation of lab furniture,” claims company director, Tom Finn. He continues, “The philosophy of the business has always been based around quality and service. The lab furniture we make is handmade in Yorkshire and designed to last a lifetime.
“The company has a policy of continuous improvement in our manufacturing processes. Last year we were looking at ways to increase efficiency by improving the production throughput speeds of the plant. It became clear that we needed to improve the dowel edge boring, hinge drilling and routing, as these processes were creating somewhat of a bottleneck.
“With this objective in mind we set out to find the best solution. I researched a lot of machines in the market and from an initial five that looked promising, we whittled them down to three before making our final choice.”
Black Trespa worktops and cabinet doors from Mark Finn Lab Furniture
HOMAG DRILLTEQ V-200 CNC: The versatile solution
“I spoke with representatives from all the companies that had machines which met our manufacturing requirements,” Tom continues. “From the outset, the HOMAG team was very responsive, particularly with detailed information about the machine’s performance. They went the extra mile to provide us with all the data we needed to make a truly informed decision.
“At the time, HOMAG also happened to have an Open House at its Castle Donington headquarters. This enabled us to see the machine in action. In addition, we visited another furniture manufacturer that already had a DRILLTEQ V-200 CNC in its production facility. The visit enabled us to get a more ‘warts and all’ unbiased opinion of the machine’s performance in a real working environment.
“The capabilities of the DRILLTEQ V-200 are impressive, but our decision to invest in one was helped by the popularity of the model in the marketplace. Compared with our other two top choices, the V-200 had already been selling in large numbers. The fact that so many companies had invested in one gave us real confidence in opting for the HOMAG solution.
“Another benefit is the popular woodWOP control software. Once you gain confidence using it, woodWOP helps extract the best out of the machine. The more our operators use it, the higher productivity we will attain with the V-200 as we learn what can be achieved with this advanced piece of equipment.”
Significant time savings and more functionality
“Since commissioning the DRILLTEQ V-200, it has been doing the work of three machines – dowel edge boring, hinge drilling and routing. Whereas before we had to move each workpiece to three different machines in different locations, the DRILLTEQ V-200 carries out all three operations quickly, accurately and with an excellent finish quality.
“When we were evaluating the various machines, there were four key advantages we wanted the machine to deliver. These were the flexibility of the drilling head, a compact footprint (mainly governed by how jobs are fed into the machine), the build quality and hence the reliability of the CNC and, of course, its functionality.
“The HOMAG DRILLTEQ V-200 CNC has delivered on all these criteria and it has resulted in a significant increase in our ability to process workpieces through our facility. Not only does it help us process higher volumes of work, but it also enables us to handle more ‘last minute’ jobs.”
“It’s early days, but given the benefits we have seen to date, we would estimate the return on investment for the V-200 to be within five or six years. This is the first time we have purchased HOMAG equipment, and given the performance of the machine alongside the professionalism of the HOMAG team, it’s unlikely to be the last investment we make with them,” concludes Tom.
For a demonstration or further information on HOMAG woodworking machinery or software, contact Adele Hunt at HOMAG UK on 01332 856424 or email: [email protected]
