MACHINERY
Biesse transforms stair business Slattery & Acquroff Stairs is renowned for making distinctive, high end staircases. Its 25-year partnership with Biesse has seen the company implement the first five axis CNC machines in Australia and master the technology in the years that followed.
T
he story of S&A Stairs is about family and craft. It was established in 1920 as a small, local stair builder that serviced a market for the exclusive areas located primarily in the eastern. Today it is Australia’s only national stair builder, making and installing
stairs in more than 9000 homes a year. It is a business that has a culture of learning and invention. In factories around the country, S&A Stairs are doing things that many furniture makers and stair builders have not imagined, taking mere minutes to make pitched handrails,
cappings, scrolls and wreaths that would have taken weeks just a generation ago. The company’s approach to innovation means it always invests in the latest machinery and more importantly, people with the ability and dedication to program those machines.
Valuable people In the programming area, S&A Stairs have excelled, carving out an idiosyncratic design and manufacturing process that has set a benchmark for other stair builders around the world. According to director of operations, Tom Acquroff, S&A’s entrepreneurial DNA and a desire for innovation is a “lived culture” rather than something the company has enforced. It all began with Tom’s forefathers. “When the Great Depression came along, my great grandfather and his business partner would pack up a wheelbarrow and then walk Just a few of the talented staff working the Biesse machines at S&A Stairs
S&A Stairs has been making high end stairs since 1920
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A Biesse machine in use at S&A Stairs