Piper Products (Ashford, Kent) Ltd is one of the UK’s leading joinery companies – designing, manufacturing and supplying a wide range of standard items but specialising in bespoke work.
The quality of the company’s services was recognised last November at the Timber Industry Awards 2001 – previously known as the Carpenters’ Awards – which celebrates the use of timber in architecture and draws entries from around the country. Piper Products was highly commended in the Smaller Projects category for the American white oak, European cherry and Douglas fir joinery it provided for a prestige house extension in Kent.
That success comes at an exciting time for the company. Following its investment in a CNC machining centre from Biesse UK, Piper Products now has the capacity to accept additional work from its wide range of clients in order to spearhead the next stage of its growth.
Established in 1960 by current chairman William Piper, the company is still very much a family-run business that remains © ß committed to the traditional values of service and attention to detail. In addition to Piper Products the Group includes two subsidiaries – Woodline Building Products, which was set up by William Piper in 1974 to produce timber frame housing and now specialises in the manufacture of bespoke fire doors; and WP Veneers which handles all the laminating and veneering work for Piper and Woodline as well as offering contract services to selected customers.
The task of guiding the Group through its future expansion rests with managing director Beryl Piper and works director Royston Cobb, supported by the skilled 50-strong workforce.
Liaising closely with the architects and specifiers of a project, Piper Products can design products from scratch for the client’s approval or work from existing designs. The company then prepares the production drawings ready for manufacturing the joinery – including cabinets, doors, windows, counter-tops and stairs – at its 27,000ft2 factory in Ashford, Kent. Major markets are banks, hotels, hospitals, colleges, restaurants, leisure facilities and prestige domestic properties. The company’s proximity to the Channel Tunnel proves ideal for clients exporting joinery for European projects.
A variety of raw materials are used – including hardwood (especially oak, cherry and beech); softwood (Douglas fir and cedar); and panel products. Until recently much of the work was done manually. Now the craftsmen’s expertise is complemented by the Biesse machining centre – Piper’s first investment in CNC equipment.
Moving forward
‘We recognised that in order for the Group to move forward we had to invest in technology,’ said Beryl Piper. ‘For example, customers were increasingly asking for apertures to be cut in doors – for glazing, locks and hinges. All this work used to be done by hand but it was difficult to achieve this at a competitive price so we began looking at machines that could help us.’
After talking to various equipment suppliers, William Piper, Royston Cobb and Woodline manager Darren Whiting visited various installations in the UK. Meetings were then held with key members of Piper’s staff in order to review the pros and cons of the different machines and the list was narrowed to a choice of two.
‘Biesse came out on top for a number of reasons – not only because its Rover machining centre offered the most versatile solution to our needs but also because of the back-up,’ said Ms Piper. ‘Biesse UK has a large team of engineers and we can’t fault the service we receive.’
Piper currently runs the Rover on a two-shift basis from 5.30am until 8pm. In addition to machining doors it is increasingly used for general joinery work – including raised and fielded panels for cabinets.
‘The repeatable accuracy of the Rover means that making units has become more of an assembly job than a skilled cabinetry task,’ said Mr Cobb. ‘It’s a highly versatile machine that we use for a variety of products, from stringers for staircases to plywood packing rings used on train carriages.
‘In addition, we recently won a contract to supply polystyrene roof insulation panels which are routed to produce channels that prevent condensation problems. Before we bought the Rover we would have had to sub-contract this work, but we now have capacity in-house to handle the most complex machining on wood-based and other panels as well as solid wood.’
