The Very Best Investment

22 Oct 2019

With a goal of becoming the biggest and best flat pack cabinetry producer in Western Australia by 2021, if you haven’t already heard of Flat Packs WA, you will certainly know them well very soon. For a company that is only 3 years old, it’s an impressive feat to grow so quickly, but it’s certainly a dream that’s within reach.

Established by owner Brendan Menner, Flat Packs WA run with a staff of 12 to supply kitchens, vanities, furniture and shop fit-outs, amongst other projects. “Our focus is on quality, reliability and strength,” says Brendan. “We’re proud of our ability to offer both ends of the spectrum with complicated one-off designs right through to mass-produced package solutions.”

And it doesn’t get much more complicated than their masterpiece, the City of Perth Library. An award-winning building in the middle of the state’s capital, Flat Packs WA were the brains behind the production of every curved bookcase throughout the six storeys of the curved building. 

To help focus on their commitment to providing the best product possible, Brendan knew he needed the best equipment possible. After researching machine capabilities and costs, he selected SCM Group’s K560HPTER2 edgebander. “We had been working with an older edgebander that was proving to be very slow and inadequate for our needs, so choosing the K560 for its compact design, better finishes and great reputation was an easy decision,” states Brendan. 

Since moving the K560 into the warehouse, Flat Packs WA have seen a significant increase in production speed and quantities, a decrease in cleaning time and the added benefit of being able to move the finished product straight from the machine on to the pallet. 

“The wide range of edges and finishes that the K560 gives has been of huge benefit to our production line,” says Brendan. “We have roughly 50 cabinetmakers on the books who rent benches in our warehouse. We adhere to specification standards in their outputs, but the ingenuity we see from having so many different perspectives on cabinetry is a real point of difference for our customers. The K560 really makes this design flexibility possible.”

“It’s not our first SCM machine, nor will it be our last,” says Brendan. “We’ve moved from the worst edgebander we could have right up to the very best. I couldn’t be happier with our investment.”