Streamlining stair manufacture

Tauranga company Top Flyte Systems have been making stairs for more than 45 years under the ownership of the Beetham family. They recently purchased a 6 metre SCM Accord 25FXM flat table 5-axis CNC from Machines R Us which moved the stairmaking business from a largely manual set-up to one with a high degree of automation. JOINERS Magazine spoke to next generation family member Quentin Beetham about the changes to their manufacturing process.

“We previously used a Ryburn double headed trencher to manufacturer most of our stair components, time consuming work that required the timber to be dressed and planed before machining.” says Quentin. “Now all the components, including all types of stringers are done by the SCM Accord in a single pass.”

“After working through the options we settled on the Accord 25 because it had the best flexibility of features for our type of manufacturing. The length and width of the machining bed suits our operation and is a big plus. It allows us to do all stringer types and run multiple sets of stringers together. It also allows us to cut all our treads and winder steps, which was done by manual operation before.

“The machined has performed very well, from the day it was commissioned, it has run without a fault and has increased our production capacity without increasing any overheads. Our component manufacturing time has also decreased remarkably.

“One of the best features we have found is the accuracy of the finished products. This has made the final process of assembly a breeze and any kitset products we supply to our customers are a lot easier for them to handle.

“The back up from Machines R Us has been very good. We have known Rodney Skinner for around 30 years and he has always been a knowledgeable person regarding woodworking machinery and always helpful with any queries or questions. Once the order was confirmed the process was very smooth, the SCM factory kept everyone in the loop as the machine was made and then shipped directly to our premises in Tauranga. Their professional teams looked after everything, from unloading the containers to installing the machine and commissioning it. Overall it was a great effort by all involved.

“As is often the case, you look back and wonder why you didn’t change or do it earlier. This is certainly so with the SCM Accord 25, it has streamlined our processes, given us accuracy, and taken out a lot of the manual labour which has been a big benefit to our staff and our customers.”