Four years ago, Randolph, VT, high-end corporate furniture manufacturer WallGoldfinger put Winston Churchill’s philosophy of “never let a good crisis go to waste” to the test.
In August 2011, Tropical Storm Irene brought inches of rain to Vermont, causing rivers and streams to leave their banks. WallGoldfinger’s factory in a historic mill near the Dog River in Northfield suffered devastating flooding. Equipment, supplies and tools were lost to river water that raged through the factory, leaving inches of silt behind.
After 35 years in Northfield, VT, and 40 years in business, WallGoldfinger was in need of a new home. Following months of cleaning, displacement and temporary quarters, the company found a solution in the former Ethan Allen furniture factory about 20 miles away in Randolph, VT.
We last checked in with WallGoldfinger in May 2012, just before the company would transition into the new factory following the flooding. Three years later, the now 44-year-old company is in a 60,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, showpiece factory filled with the latest technology, enviable efficiency models, and innovative new designs and products.
WallGoldfinger’s skilled handling of its flooded headquarters demonstrates how a jarring crisis can benefit companies and the people who work for them if guided in the right direction by the right leaders.
But make no mistake, changing a company’s existing state of affairs, whether intentionally or not, is a very tough job. Factory spaces become sentimental places for many companies that have experienced years of growth and transition in them. It can be difficult to recognize what’s possible.
“We often say that we thought the Northfield factory was great,” said John Wall, the company’s owner and CEO. “Now we know what great really is. Today the quality of furniture, and our furniture makers, is represented in the quality of our factory.”
WallGoldfinger is best known for making large, custom boardroom tables for the nation’s, and the world’s, biggest corporate and government entities, including the White House, New York Stock Exchange, International Monetary Fund, the United Nation’s and many Fortune 500 companies. But the company’s products are diverse, providing a full complement of corporate office furniture from credenzas and lecterns, reception and administrative desks, café and conference tables, Arbor and Summit reconfigurable table product lines, and even moot courts for large law firms.
“If it is needed in an executive space, we can build it, and with integrated technology, the finest craftsmanship, and the most diverse materials,” said Mr. Wall.
The new factory provides even greater opportunity for the already renowned company to hone those skills.
In its former space in Northfield, furniture makers built large boardroom tables often literally around columns, before disassembly and shipping. The building spanned two stories, required moving furniture between floors on a freight elevator multiple times before completion, and had uneven concrete floors as well as wood floors so weak that cart wheels would break through – all leading to inefficient practices.
The new factory is on one story with a smooth, even floor. It’s open, bright and clean; is heated with biomass fuel, namely renewable woodchips; and is filled with the latest technology. It boasts two CNC (computer numerical control) routers that were added new with the factory, all new hand tools organized by department on what LEAN efficiency practices call shadow boards, and a refurbished sander so coveted and unique that the company shipped it via boat to its manufacturer in Italy for repairs following the flood and then tracked its progress back to the U.S. and the new factory.
“Once it went on the container ship, we could watch it cross the ocean back to us,” said Mr. Wall.
Since opening in 2012, the new WallGoldfinger factory and its employees, who stayed with the company through the flood and displacement, have created many hundreds of pieces of furniture for clients throughout the nation.
The company has standardized processes so that a square table base, for example, now requires just half the labor costs to build. New efforts to reduce clutter and cross-train staff to perform multiple duties if needed are also in place.
“Efficiency isn’t exactly glamorous, but it does make for both an improved working environment for our furniture makers and provides advantages for clients, including better pricing and faster turnaround times,” explained Woodshop Supervisor Will Francis.
At the same time, WallGoldfinger has seen growth in its Northeast and Midwest sales representative force to South and North Carolina in the Southeast and now California on the West Coast.
The company has also used its expanded space to develop new technologies.
Today’s corporate furniture industry demands integrated technology – monitors and microphones that extend and retract with the push of a button and plug-ins for power and data. Power and data options include fixture boxes with hatch lids and apron power that is exposed or concealed.
WallGoldfinger provides solutions for the majority of today’s tech needs, but unique to the company is a brand new system called the Covert Glide. Created in-house by design engineer Chris Howe and set to be revealed at First LOOK at 200 Lexington Avenue in New York City on July 21, the Covert Glide is an under table power solution that includes a small power/data box installed out of sight under a table. The user pulls it out, plugs in, and it automatically retracts back under the table.
The advantage, explains Vice President of Production and Chief Operating Officer Mike Spencer, is that apron power requires a bit of thickness to a table edge; the Covert Glide lets the customer choose a thin edge and still have easy access to power and data ports.
And WallGoldfinger is interested in table edges; it has recently developed four table edges – with more in the works – that focus on both style and protection.
“Metal edges are popular with clients because they not only look good, but prevent damage to the table. But if you push a chair into a metal edge, there is the possibility of damage to the chair’s arms,” said Mr. Wall. “Our new edges incorporate options like resin under the metal and bevels that allow chairs to slide safely underneath while still protecting the table.
“They’re also capturing designers’ attention because of the edges’ aesthetics.”
At its heart, WallGoldfinger is a custom manufacturer. Known for tackling difficult projects and unique designs, it is a problem solver. Increasingly, however, it is making a name for itself by way of its product lines.
The company has spent considerable effort over the last six months refining its Arbor table line, which features removable legs and one of the industry’s most compact storage solutions in the form of custom, upright carts.
“We’ve refined a corner leg option that further improves the Arbor’s already stellar leg room and is abundantly popular with clients,” said Vice President of Sales Kate Beal. “We have a new edge that overlays solid wood over our metal pan frame that in and of itself is revolutionary for its rounded bottom edge and welded corners.
“And we’ve created even more compact storage solutions, namely a cart that holds 42 legs when our previous model held just 24.”
The Summit line is WallGoldfinger’s tilt-top table popular in board and conference rooms that rolls for easy reconfigurability and storage. It features power and data boxes and more above a center base, is available in a large variety of materials, and is part of an exclusive WallGoldfinger bridging system where Summits are placed between fixed tables to create one long table and then removed to engage an operable partition to create two conference room set-ups.
The company also has new product lines currently in development, including a credenza line and a fixed conference table line.
“We’re also doing a better job of telling people about the WallGoldfinger brand,” said Mr. Wall. “We’re creating new brochures, have an e-newsletter seen by thousands and have a new website that we’re updating daily to make as user-friendly as possible for our clients.”
All of these improvements – new equipment, new products, new technologies, and increased efficiency – are a result of a company driven by change. WallGoldfinger’s achievements provide an excellent roadmap for positive company evolution at all levels, from ground level manufacturing processes to customer service, and everything in between.
“Were these possible in the old factory?,” said Mr. Wall. “Maybe. But here, everything is new and fresh from our office to the factory floor to the loading dock with its lift and collar. And we’re inspired by that progress to move continually forward.
“Tropical Storm Irene literally could have wiped us out. It nearly did. But because of our commitment, our remarkable people and this stunning new factory, we’re moving forward. We’re building for the future.”
WallGoldfinger regularly invites clients to its new factory in Vermont. Call 802.483.4200 to schedule a visit or take the company’s new pictorial factory tour. Learn more about WallGoldfinger at www.wallgoldfinger.com.