Software makes round shape design easy 

Working more efficiently and much faster

For over a year now, F&W Furniture has been working with a CNC machine in combination with the Topsolid software program. Owner Egbert Verheij: "This allows us to work one and a half times faster and the margin of error is considerably smaller, everything just adds up."

Verheij was already working as an interior decorator when he and his wife started their own business. Under the name Flowers & Wood, they started a flower and interior design store, also offering custom furniture. The store featured tables and small cabinets that were custom-made by Verheij. This proved to be a golden move, as demand soon increased for larger furniture and even entire interior design projects. The furniture branch now operates under the name F&W Furniture from the workshop in Ridderkerk, while the shop/showroom has moved to larger premises in Barendrecht. This is still the company's business card. Here customers can view the products and see the materials and colors.

Growing further through automation

The interior builder now employs three staff members. "In order to continue growing, it was necessary to invest in a CNC machine. Given the shortage of personnel in the labor market, this is the way to still expand. A then employee already had good experiences with Topsolid, so we immediately looked at this package to combine it with the machine. It also played a role here that Topsolid offers a lot of flexibility, for example to produce popular round shapes in
sign."

The combination of software and hardware allows F&W Furniture to work more efficiently and do more work with its existing staff. "Of course it took time to learn how to work with this. Sometimes the machine just did something different than expected. Fortunately, we could always call the Topsolid help desk then. There was always someone available to find a solution. By now it works very well, the drawing work and the preparation of the CNC files goes smoothly."

F&W Furniture can now complete many more projects in a week. Verheij: "Especially kitchens with round shapes used to take a lot of time by making shingles. Then we had to outsource this work or do it by hand. Now we can make and assemble it in-house. Of course a CNC machine is expensive to buy, but in the long run it's going to make money because you gain in convenience and speed. It can do things in an hour that would take a craftsman a day to do."