Stairway Joinery says it has transformed its staircase manufacturing operation with SCM CNC technology.
The Westbury-based company invested about £150,000 in two Record 132 TVN CNC machining centres and is now considering purchasing a third CNC unit.
Stairway, run by Darren Smith and Rob Houkes, decided on the CNC route after experiencing problems recruiting skilled labour and seeing the need to replace older traditional machines such as Pickles and Ryburn units.
The company says CNC machining has brought it advantages in terms of quality, accuracy and fast assembly times, with 70 or more stair flights now produced every week. Strings, winder treads and newel posts are also machined on the Records, though handrails are still made the traditional way.
Stairway is looking to buy a third SCM CNC unit to nest winder treads out of 8x4ft MDF sheets.
