Established in 2002, CPA Bespoke Joinery combines the knowledge and skills of traditional cabinet making with state of the art machinery and innovative products. The bulk of its customers are in the office interiors, shopfitting and building trades.
This year the company will turnover around £4.2m from its two units comprising 10,000 sq ft in Bolton, Lancashire.
“Our policy has always been to invest in the best woodworking machinery we could afford” explains CPA managing director, Craig Ashton. He continues, “HOMAG was the name that always seemed to rise to the top when we first started looking at buying an edge bander and a CNC machine. German engineering has a great reputation and we are very glad we made the decision to purchase those machines from HOMAG.
“The quality of the machines, along with the service and support we have consistently received from them meant that last year, when the time came to invest in a beam saw, we looked no further than HOMAG.
“We have known Jon Lawman, HOMAG’s area manager, for over ten years and during that time he has not only built up an intimate knowledge of our business, but also his candid approach has demonstrated to us that he always has our best interests at heart.”
Replacing two table saws
“Previously our cutting had been done on our two table saws and the CNC. The problem was, as we grew the table saws just couldn’t keep up with the volume of work we need to process through them. Another issue was the quality and accuracy of the cut itself which wasn’t giving us the high standards we aspire to.
“This led us to talk to Jon about the best solution for our business going forward. As always, Jon came back to us with a proposal that was perfect for our needs; he didn’t try to up-sell us with unnecessary options or higher spec models. He recommended the HOMAG SAWTEQ B-130 with the module45 which means we no longer need a sliding table saw for bevel cuts.
“The module 45 has a stationary saw carriage with a tilting saw blade that can be seamlessly adjusted to angles of 0 to 46 degrees. Effectively, this now means that we have two machines in one. Not only that, but it can be operated easily by one person and delivers a higher quality cut with less waste. Given we produce a lot of bespoke counters, this feature is saving us a lot of time and money.”
Consistency and quality with increased capacity
“The SAWTEQ B-130 has taken our production to a new level. We can now produce the same parts to a consistently high quality and much quicker than before. We’re probably looking at a tenfold increase in capacity with less people.
“The saw has provided a far superior cutting setup to our old system. Also, with the pneumatic lifting arm we’ve bought it means it’s a one-person operation to handle the processing of jumbo size sheets on the saw.
“The quality and accuracy of the cut is outstanding too and when customers come to visit our manufacturing facilities, you can see how much confidence it gives them in our ability to produce first class products.”
Smooth installation and training
“Whenever you have a new machine installed there is always a concern about disruption. The HOMAG team, however, are fantastic. The install was planned really well; the machine arrived when they said it would and was fully installed and commissioned within four days.
“The HOMAG installation engineers also provided a day’s training on the saw to get our operators up to speed. Our people are used to working with MagiCut software so it didn’t take them long to become proficient on the B-130.”
Exceeded expectations
“All in all, the SAWTEQ B-130 has exceeded our already high expectations. It has freed up labour, significantly increased capacity and will, we believe, pay for itself within 18 months to two years maximum.
“Working with HOMAG UK is always a pleasure. They are a thoroughly professional team and their aftersales service and support is second to none. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them or the HOMAG machinery and software solutions to any company looking to raise its game,” concludes Craig Ashton.
If you’d like a demonstration or more information about HOMAG beam saws, please contact Adele Hunt at HOMAG UK on 01332 856424.
“The quality and accuracy of the cut is outstanding too and when customers come to visit our manufacturing facilities, you can see how much confidence it gives them in our ability to produce first class products.”Craig Ashton, CPA managing director