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Ellis Furniture builds for the future with significant investment

British manufacturer Ellis Furniture continues to go from strength to strength, investing substantially across the business to further enhance its service and product offering to both trade customers and consumers. The investment, which is completely self-funded by the family-owned business, includes the installation of state of the art machinery and up to the minute technology, as well as an expanded worforce at the Huddersfield site.

Investment has been made in new machinery including a radio frequency press for the production of a new range of handle-less timber doors, a multi-rip saw and a profile moulder which help to create complex furniture shapes and also keep quality levels to very high standards. This equipment, in addition to new machinery installed during 2011, has increased production capacity in the critical areas of manufacturing and ensures lead times and responsive service are maintained, even at times of peak demand, which has occurred this summer.

Not only are Ellis customers benefiting from shorter lead times, they can also look forward to a more frequent programme of NPD, thanks to two new additions to the purchasing team and the successful installation of Autodesk Inventor.

Autodesk Inventor is a 3D CAD system that links fully with Ellis Furniture's ERP system to offer greater levels of product customisation in significantly less time. Design concepts become finished product within a matter of days, reducing time to market by half in many cases.

Ellis Furniture can now enjoy a far more rapid route to market with new products, maintaining the edge in what is a very competitive marketplace; and in turn, Ellis customers maintain an extremely competitive offering of their own.

In addition, other less obvious changes have taken place that have long term benefits. A new voiceover IP system has replaced the previous telephone system after 25 years' service - and with a host of new features provides critical everyday benefits to Ellis customers.

Furthermore the ceiling lights across the 200,000 square foot factory have been upgarded to low energy sensor operation, ensuring no areas of the factory are lit when not in use, increasing long term sustainability and reducing unecessary energy use.

A new lorry has also been added to the company's fleet of vehicles in response to high demand and in a bid to maintain the outstanding service levels for which Ellis is renowned.

These recent and significant investments take the total invested in the last 12 months to £1.5million, demonstrating the commitment from the company to improving its offering to retailers and consumers.

"We have a passion to be the very best in our industry, and our recent investments will ensure we have an incredibly desirable product offering, supported by an extremely competitive service to all our customers whilst improving our own efficiency and sustainability," says Ellis Furniture director Tom Ellis. "The fact that we are able to self-fund all investments is testament to the hard work and wise planning of the Ellis team in creating such a solid business and a trusted, desirable brand.

"We look forward to seeing the fruits of these investments, securing our future at the forefront of the industry and building a secure business for our customers."

T: 01484 514 212
W: www.ellisfurniture.co.uk

5th October 2012