Watson Furniture Group, the industry leader in function-first design and respectful manufacturing, has completed a multi-million-dollar business expansion and process enhancement that includes a 10,000-square-foot warehouse addition, and new precision tooling on the factory floor.
According to Watson President CK McKenzie, these upgrades will improve capacity, reduce waste, and safeguard the supply chain, without compromising the refinement and reliability that Watson customers have come to expect from their best-in-class lines of office furniture.
“While the market is slower, we’re taking the time to invest in more space, equipment, and employee training,” McKenzie said. “We’re ready to run when the market bounces back.”
Watson has always put customer satisfaction at the center of its expansion planning, and these changes build upon earlier supply-chain protections and production efficiencies that allowed the company to come out ahead after pandemic-caused scarcities in material and manpower.
The new tooling focuses on process-critical equipment with “do-it-all" impacts – faster, more precise, while being less wasteful. This includes BLM Group’s LT7 Lasertube Cutter, which delivers knife-edge cut quality with the flexibility to meet the aesthetic needs of small-batch customer demands.
The LT7 works in concert with BLM’s Elect 52 Steel Tube Bender to increase manufacturing accuracy and efficiency, even when engaged in bending special profiles. The Elect 52 achieves even the most complex and pleasing multi-directional bends by monitoring variations in material quality at each curve and making constant adjustments for dimensional accuracy (results you can see in the footrail on Watson’s Haven tables).
Innovation also reaches Watson’s woodworking process. The Black Bros. Panel Express Heated Laminator System allows Watson to move from laminating into production without the need for additional curing or press time. By using environmentally friendly PVA adhesives, it eliminates the hazards and waste related to solvent-based contact adhesive methods.
When building the new warehouse addition, Watson considered not just the amount of new space, but how to use that new space in service of customer needs, especially with a surge in return-to-office initiatives. So raw materials share the floor with finished products, reducing lead times from assembly through delivery.
The goal, according to McKenzie, is to fulfill one of Watson’s core beliefs, “To do our best in our office so you can do your best in your office.”
“We’re investing in our customers and our employees,” McKenzie said. “At Watson, we’ve always been about the product, process, and people.”
