BA Part Of The Ferwood Philosophy

BA Components is a renowned kitchen and bedroom manufacturer with over 30 years in the industry. With exciting new projects underway, new routes to market rapidly emerging and unprecedented demand for its existing portfolio that continues to require batch size one and batch size one thousand manufacturing, the Doncaster-based business needed to increase its edgebanding capacity – fast. But with demand for panel processing machinery soaring and lead times on new machines increasing rapidly following the pandemic, it was reconditioned-machinery supplier, Ferwood that offered an unbeatable solution. 

“Growth is behind the majority of our machinery purchases,” begins Martin Towler, Manufacturing Operations Manager at BA Components. “Our latest investment, a third IMA Novimat, was no exception. We predicted a surge in demand following the first lock-down and we needed to be in a position to hit the ground running when it took hold. We were already using two edgebanders at our Doncaster site – an IMA Novimat Compact single-sided edgebander and a fully reconditioned IMA Novimat single-sided edgbander that we purchased from Ferwood six years ago – but this set-up didn’t offer us enough capacity or flexibility to move forward and safeguard ourselves and our customer’s demands.”

What BA needed was a third, high volume, low batch, single sided edgbander in order to maintain its profitable production processes. With the original reconditioned IMA Novimat single-sided edgbander performing simple 1mm edge work and the second IMA Novimat Compact single-sided edgebander applying a 2mm chamfer and different edge profiles, they were both running at full capacity.

Martin explains, “When it comes to corner rounding our five-piece shaker door range, we use one finish on three sides and a different finish on the fourth side. This requires specific trimming and isn’t easy to perform when the machine is running at full speed. We also use the edgebander to trim our J-pull door handles – a process that, if done incorrectly, could easily damage the surface edge. To get an identical machine built to our required specification would have taken 12 to 18 months. We didn’t have that kind of time to wait, so we started to explore used machinery suppliers.

“Ferwood hold hundreds of machines in stock. They are then put through a rigorous refurbishment programme – I’ve never seen another used machinery supplier go to such lengths to refurbish their machinery. They quickly found us a like-for-like IMA Novimat Compact that was less than a year old and was modified to our requirements and was installed within three months.”

It’s this quick and easy approach to selling machinery and the company’s unique 10-step reconditioning programme that has seen BA Components and its sister company, BA Clic, continue to buy used machinery from Ferwood. Martin explains, “With any second-hand machine purchase, there is an element of risk but that can be said for a new machine, too. Ferwood stand by their customers and support them every step of the way. They even offer a warranty on their Ferwood Approved range.

“They also price sensibly. There’s no game-playing. There’s no heavy sales pitch and there’s no inflated list price that can be slashed by 30% at the drop of a hat. It’s straightforward and honest. That’s what appeals to me. I know I will see a return on this machine within 18 months. A return on a new machine could take more than 24 months and we could easily have been waiting up to 12 months for it to arrive. These are figures that will make any manufacturer sit up and take note.”

Martin adds, “There’s a lot to be said for Ferwood’s willingness to help. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve asked them how would you do this? or could we do this better? We learn from Ferwood’s experience and we work together to find new ways to solve challenging production requirements. This is evident in our latest purchase.

“By investing in an edgebander from Ferwood, we have been able to spread the workload across our machines, multi-stream production and future proof against market changes. We predict a further 50% increase in production in 2022 due to the launch of new initiatives and, with our new edgebander in place, we’re ready and raring to go.”