As part of a large scale factory expansion and to meet the needs of our customers, Kingstown Furniture has invested heavily in a new prototype shop, based at the 11 acre site in Hull, East Yorkshire. It seemed the obvious thing to do with customer orders increasing and the business organically growing. With an emphasis to build for the future, Kingstown is investing in both the factory and its people.
To cater for a quicker new product turnaround it was felt that the new prototype shop with its new equipment will ensure faster, more accurate and high quality samples. Kingstown want to see the benefits before the manufacturing takes place.
Dave Frampton, design director, says: “This new shop will save time and reduce overall cost in the product development process. The new machinery in the prototype shop along with the skilled workforce with 40 years’ experience makes the design idea reality. The prototype is always the focal point for discussion with the design and engineering team.”
Kingstown's factory managers and design manager travelled across the country looking at modern machinery and equipment, and after a consultation period with the prototype team, new machinery was bought. An increased workspace was also created for the prototype team to enable them to be at the forefront of prototype production.
Richard Sharp, Kingstown MD, says: “The state of the art prototype shop ensures that all products meet and indeed exceed our customer expectations as a computer generated plan is developed into a real product.”
