"We tried everything to fix what we thought was an issue with our beam saw. The melamine-faced chipboard kept chipping and we were sending five sets of beam saw blades out for sharpening every week; that is, until we found Leitz Tooling,” says Neil Wade, owner of CJ Kitchens in Cambridgeshire, explaining problems the company had as recently as 2012.
As designer and manufacturer of high-quality kitchens, bedroom installation and furniture, CJ Kitchens prides itself on providing quality and craftsmanship to the highest standards.
The company was also a contractor on the 1960s’ ambulance-to-campervan episode of Channel 4’s programme: George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, where CJ worked with the Norfolk-based family of six and TV production team to convert the tiny ramshackle ambulance interior into a small scale design dream. The company also manufactures and supplies carcassing to building contractors for large scale residential, commercial and education projects.
“We had a real problem,” recalls Neil. “The rectification and board trimming alone was taking up serious time, time we needed to do the work coming through. We had six sets of blades for the beam saw but were always running out of them and sending them out to be sharpened.”
The previous saw service returned the blades sharpened and wax-coated but the MFC would still chip and the blades’ edge would not last.
CJ Kitchens turned to Leitz Tooling, which visited the workshop near Huntingdon. Neil says: “It was a very helpful visit. They looked at what we were producing and how we did it and took away a couple of blades for sharpening. Once the first one was back on the beam saw, we didn’t change it for four weeks and the MFC cut more smoothly than we’d ever seen.”
At its workshop, CJ Kitchens manufactures full production of one complete kitchen every day, using up to nine sheets of 2.8m x 2070mm x 18mm melamine faced chipboard. From sending five sets of beam saw blades per week for sharpening, with Leitz, it now sends8 one set every three to four weeks.
After the success with Leitz sharpening service, the company decided to invest in Leitz RazorCut saw blades. “Some of the slightly cheaper MFC used to chip badly and the time needed to rectify the work and check – and even replace – the saw blades wiped out any marginal cost saving on the product. But we are finding that with producers of MFC working to improve their product and using Leitz saw blades and servicing, our work is a whole lot easier.”
The word soon spread, and local fitters now drop their saw blades at CJ Kitchen’s workshop to be serviced by Leitz. “I know first-hand how good Leitz service and product is, and the fitters we work with tell me every time that their Leitz-sharpened saw blades come back much sharper and last much longer. That’s all we need to know.”
Brian Maddox, Leitz Tooling sales manager says: “We know our RazorCut saw blades are the best available, and a trial with our saw blades can make a huge difference in down time and setting time, duration and quality. Like CJ Kitchens, we want more manufacturers to talk to us about what we can do to transform their production lines. The time and cost saving potential in downtime is huge, particularly when combined with our expert sharpening services.”
