DAMS Furniture began life in Liverpool in 1967 as the Dictating & Adding Machine Services company repairing business machines. The company then started selling filing cabinets which led to an opportunity to supply office desks to Liverpool Council. Unable to find any suitable products, DAMS made the decision to manufacture the desks themselves!
“From this acorn,” explains DAMS Furniture’s managing director, Chris Scott, “has grown a £44m turnover business employing just shy of 300 people and occupying a quarter of a million square feet of manufacturing and storage space. As the company continued to grow and became more successful, we began investing in top end woodworking machinery to enable us to produce high quality ranges of office furniture.
“Our relationship with Homag began over 30 years ago and has developed into a strong and extremely successful partnership. As the leading global woodworking machinery brand, Homag sets the benchmark for the rest of the industry. Its heritage shines through its products; German engineering skills are world renowned and you can clearly see how this manifests itself with Homag equipment – it really is in a class of its own.”
Edgeteq D-610 with feeding table and rotary system
The need for a new edge bander and beam saw
“Over the years we have made a considerable investment in Homag equipment which has all, without exception, performed reliably and delivered excellent quality results. Consequently, when it came to changing our 15-year-old edge banders, Homag was top of our list for a suitable replacement.
“Despite our faith in the Homag brand, however, it wouldn’t have been prudent if we didn’t carry out due diligence to ensure we get the right solution for the business. After all, advanced equipment like this is a significant investment.
“The choice for high performance double-sided edge banders is fairly narrow and after researching the market we opted to order an Edgeteq D-610 double sided edge bander from Homag with a feeding table and rotary system. This new edge bander underpins quality and capacity for DAMS.
“We elected to have a semi-automatic feeding table that queues up the panels and a rotary system that rotates the panels to the correct orientation as required. This helps the operators keep up with the speed of the machine and delivers maximum throughput capacity.”
Making sure the new saw cuts the mustard
“The decision on which beam saw to get was less straightforward. We evaluated a number of brands and carried out site visits around the UK to see various solutions in action. The requirement for a new saw came about because of a shift in customer demand towards a wider choice of products and smaller batch size production. This meant the need to cut high volumes of different-sized panels quickly and accurately using a variety of different board types."
Homag Sawteq B-400 - a high performance saw for processing large volumes of panels
“Long-term, we not only wanted the right beam saw, but one that would also integrate with an automated storage system that could manage a large stock of boards and deliver them to the saw automatically as and when required. This need narrowed down our search and after visiting Homag in Germany and carrying out site visits there too, we were convinced that the Sawteq B-400 with an integrated lifting table was the ideal solution for DAMS.
“Not only is this model a high quality and extremely efficient beam saw, it will also integrate seamlessly with the new automated Homag board storage system that we will be installing soon.”
Edgeteq D-610 double-sided edge bander from Homag
The Edgeteq D-610 profiLine edge bander formats, profiles and edges furniture workpieces on two sides in a single run. It is ideal for producing medium to large series at a high performance level with few changeovers.
The precise edge processing produces first class results which are enhanced by the enclosed frame design that delivers vibration-free operation with optimum trimming patterns.
In terms of edging technology the Edgeteq D-610 is extremely flexible, offering the use of hot melt glue, PU or zero-joint technology. It also features optimised chip and offcut disposal which helps minimise machine downtime and reduces servicing requirements.
Sawteq B-400 with integrated lifting table
The Sawteq B-400 is a high-performance saw for processing larger volumes of panels in finish cut quality. The saw works reliably and precisely at high speed and delivers high throughput.
It features a high saw blade projection which provides flexibility for cutting books or individual panels. With this model a high degree of customisation means the saw can be configured exactly to requirements.
DAMS Furniture specified the model with an integrated lifting table which automatically feeds boards thus speeding up the production processes by a considerable margin. This is particularly beneficial for frequently cut panels made from the same material or those cut in books.
Even in standard trim, the Sawteq B-400 offers the full range of technical features and can be used either as a standalone machine, interlinked with other machines or as part of a production line.
Equipped with the latest CADmatic 5 control software, the Sawteq B-400 is extremely energy efficient thanks to intelligent ecoPlus technologies and is intuitive to operate, ergonomic and low maintenance.
Support and training that deliver results
Chris Scott again: “Throughout the specifying and purchasing processes we were supported extremely well by both Jon Lawman (Homag’s area manager) and the entire Homag team in the UK and Germany.
“Homag’s after-sales service is first class with excellent technical support which has developed considerably in recent years. Their external diagnostics, spare parts service and engineer support for maintenance are excellent, mirroring the superb German engineering of the machinery.
“Training on the machinery was very thorough. For the edge bander it was all done on site. For the saw, however, we sent three of our team to Germany for several days’ training two weeks prior to the installation of the equipment. In addition, the Homag UK engineers trained our operators onsite to ensure that we maximise the machine’s potential going forward.
“In terms of the impact the new edge bander and saw have had on the business, we’ve seen a significant uplift in output, a reduction in direct labour costs, lower wastage and a general overall efficiency improvement. We’ve also seen a quality enhancement, as we’re achieving a much better edge quality using the new Homag machine,” concludes Chris.
For a demonstration or more information about Homag edge banders or beam saws, please contact Adele Hunt at UK on 01332 856424.
