the advantages of good partnering

“If I had to summarise what’s got us to this point I’d say to partner with the right people, get good advice and measure your success.”

So says Stu Martin, of SMJ Ltd (Stu Martin Joinery) in Taupo. He goes on: “Jacks are the right partners for our machinery and have been since day one. Blum are proving to be so for our hardware. And our business advisor has certainly helped get us where we are today.”

SMJ have changed their edge banding processes, moving from a hot-melt to a pre-glue machine from Austrian manufacturers Felder. It may seem an odd decision for a company that has grown to now employ four full time staff, as well as a part-time office and accounts person (Stu’s partner Sarah). But a pre-glue edge bander was entirely in keeping with their business model. “We’re all about quality, flexibility and meeting the customer’s needs,” says Stu, “and our new Felder P200 fits these goals perfectly.”

Some context. Established in 2007, Stu Martin Joinery started with Stu working from his home garage. But after a year he decided he needed a bigger profile. With support from friends and family he moved to an industrial area behind Taupo and has been there ever since. During these 10 years SMJ has grown their customer-base and now their work is split into 85% complete refit renovations and 15% new builds/house lots. “We’re not chasing the lower end of the renovation market,” explains Stu. “We’re interested in customers who are ready to upgrade to the kitchen they’ve always wanted – and we’ll work with them to achieve that within an appropriate budget.”

Perhaps the most interesting way SMJ has been so successfully able to satisfy such discerning customers is Stu’s focus on design. “A few years ago the business was solid, but flat-lining,” he says. “I had one of those moments where you think to yourself, where to from here? Should we grow? New machines, more people, bigger premises? Or is there a different path?” Stu decided to concentrate on design – and specifically kitchen design. An investment in Cabmaster software and many years study since and he’s about to achieve level 5 certification as a kitchen designer. It’s with Stu’s design skills that SMJ differentiate themselves from their competition. Stu is also on the advisory board of the BCITO, and heavily involved in design training for apprentices.

SMJ’s business model is to manufacture where they can and have time, and to outsource where they can’t, don’t want to, or are too busy. Hence Stu’s opening comments about finding good partners. “To be flexible and offer our customers a complete range of styles and products we need good partnerships with a range of suppliers. And we have plenty of these. Sage Doors and their laseredge products. Top quality stone, ceramic or stainless benchtops in Rotorua, Tauranga or locally. And for our carcasses, when we’re busy we use a local business who are CNC based to cut and clash for us. But when we have the time we’ll do the carcasses ourselves. Such an arrangement means we can be taking on new work as it comes and then send it down the manufacturing channel that best suits us and the job requirements. And because we assemble everything here then install, we’re totally in control of the quality. That quality control is what’s key for us, and our customers.”

It’s SMJ’s need for flexibility that led them to move from an old hot-melt glue edge bander to the Felder P200 machine they run today. “Why heat up a pot just to run a small job? We could go days without needing an edge bander. With the P200 it’s a switch on and switch off machine. It’s ready when we need it. It’s reliable. It’s like a fancy Janssen - another machine we rely on and that hasn’t missed a beat in 12 years. And with pre-glue then we get a huge variety of tape and colours and that fits our requirements”.

Business remains strong for SMJ. Repeat customers such as the glass blowing business - Lava Glass bring interesting and varied work, while Aucklanders setting up holiday homes bring their big-city style and budgets. Stu is totally in control of SMJ’s numbers and therefore the workshop schedule. He needs to be so he can quickly make a call about whether to manufacture in house or outsource. “It’s key we manage our workshop carefully” he says, “because we don’t want to outsource everything - or the team would be standing around waiting for work. We’d rather have two or three jobs on the go here, another couple at install stage, and two or three being manufactured by our partners then flat-packed to us.”

Stu and partner Sarah maintain a strong website, Facebook and Instagram profile, and word-ofmouth rounds out their marketing. As a result of their efforts the average value of their kitchen projects has doubled in five years, reflecting their targeting of the mid-to-top end of the market. “It’s not new thinking, our business model” says Stu. “But everything we do is focussed. Our new Felder, our design-led process, our high level of outsourcing and our focus on the numbers. They all lead to one thing: working smarter, not harder.”

 NZ Panel Group ... chose Airtight

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 Hostess Kitchens ... chose Airtight

 Hume Pine ... chose Airtight

 Carters Truss & Frame ... chose Airtight

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 Woodlands Shopfitting ... chose Airtight

 Rosenfeld Kidson ... chose Airtight

 Munns Joinery ... chose Airtight

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