DOUBLE-CLICK FOR SUCCESS
Unilin is a European leader in the development and manufacture of fibreboard finished flooring products and panels. Philip Yorke talked to Lode de Boe, the company’s president of its panels division, about the launch of a new range of unique ‘click’ board products and strong growth in its furniture and DIY sectors.
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nilin was founded in south-west Flanders in Belgium in 1960 by a group of families involved in the flax industry, who began producing flax-based chipboards. They called the new company Unilin. The business grew very quickly and the company soon needed to source an alternative raw material product as demand had exceeded the supply of available flax. Therefore in the 1970s they decided to use wood as an alternative raw material, resulting in the production of wood-based chipboards. A major decision was made in the late 1980s to move into the manufacture of laminate flooring, and yet another milestone was reached in 1997 when the company developed and marketed the world’s first glue-less, integrated ‘click’ system. Today Unilin is a major global player in its three core areas of operation: boards, decorative
panels and finished products, and forms a significant part of Unilin’s American parent company, Mohawk Industries Inc., which is listed on the New York stock exchange.
Pioneering ‘click-furniture’ and ‘click-wall’ systems Unilin’s highly successful Uniclic® system represented a revolutionary departure from the traditional fixing and assembly of panels when it was first launched in 1997. Unilin’s unique ‘click’ system was the world’s first, glue-less, integrated system and was special because Unilin’s new panels could be joined securely together by either using a rotary movement, or simply by tapping them together on a flat surface. Today continuous innovation forms one of the pillars of Unilin’s success and is pursued throughout its three key operational divi-
sions. This continuous commitment to innovation and quality has resulted in a number of new engineering break throughs for the company, including its revolutionary ‘clickfurniture’ and ‘click-wall’ panel products. Unilin’s latest contribution to the world’s furniture markets is its revolutionary ‘clickfurniture’ range which offers extremely easy and quick assembly without using any tools. Dismantling this furniture is also very simple, which makes it an ideal solution for a speedy and efficient house move. Mr De Boe said, “We are also launching our exciting new range of ‘click-furniture’ products at the upcoming industry trade fair ‘Interzum’ in Germany and these products offer toolless connections for today’s modern furniture assembly lines, thus saving our customers both valuable time and money. This latest ‘click’ technology is being launched in a com-
Industry Europe 153
