Custom classroom furniture
Staff at Furnware
Cutting and drilling of the panels is done automatically by computer-controlled cutters on a large flat-bed machine. (Click to enlarge)
Furnware has staff with roles in: procurement; drawing design; programming the CNC (computer numeric control) machines; dispatch and finishing of job cards; general office administration; health and safety staff; team leading – one each for the steel department, the panel department and for planning and final assembly; manufacturing at different skill levels – tradesman in the joinery department, welders in the steel department, people who cut and process steel, and who run the robots.
"As a company we're getting more flexible," says Steve. "We don't want manufacturing staff who can only do one task – that can trip us up badly – so we get them to sign off on more than one process."
Furnware also has new employees who come to us with no previous skills, who, with experience on the job, can move up to doing anything in the factory. "We try quite hard to give school-leavers a good chance, but at the moment our staff retention is very high so there aren't many opportunities.
The best way for students to get into Furnware is by taking a holiday job. Furnware employs up to 15 students – either university students or school-leavers over their busy period. "In school-leavers we're looking at attitude. Employers tend to employ on skill and knowledge – the things you can see – and for a school-leaver it may be about marks. But you tend to dismiss job seekers with the wrong attitude – you can work on developing skill sets, but it's very hard to alter a wrong attitude. We're looking for people who can come in and take ownership of the task, feel that its theirs and see it through to completion."
RSS Feed
