Stair Supplies
Stairway to Productivity
The Client
StairSupplies, which employs over 230 people at six production facilities in Indiana, is a leading stair part manufacturer and vendor for high quality treads, railings, handrails, wood and iron baluster and newels. It boasts a unique capability to produce thousands of stairway designs and styles in over twenty wood species and, in recent years, has invested heavily in technology to help it increasingly move into supplying metal and glass products.
After extensive trials, it was agreed that the best performance came from the Flowdrill and the ability to use friction drilling to create a threaded hole in 7ga steel tubing that will attach itself to stringer brackets.
The Situation
The company was experiencing rapid demand for its Viewrail range, which specialises in metal stair parts and systems for customers all over the US. Orders were rising and the firm needed to come up with an autonomous process to satisfy the volumes required and this also involved finding a new way of attaching treads to a single support staircase.
The Solution
Welded nuts and other forms of connections were not deemed a possible solution, so the production team at StairSupplies explored a number of new technologies that might present a way forward.
After extensive trials, it was agreed that the best performance came from the Flowdrill and the ability to use friction drilling to create a threaded hole in 7ga steel tubing that will attach itself to stringer brackets.
Operatives working in production have been impressed with how the technology delivers enough strength to bolt straight to tubing and removes the need to nut the back side for secure connection.
More than 1700 Viewrail systems are manufactured every year using the Flowdrill technique and the consistent quality and performance means the business has the perfect platform to more than double these volumes over the next twelve months.
The Flowdrill difference
StairSupplies has been working closely with Flowdrill for more than five years and has enjoyed benefits including:
- Reduced labour time taken to complete the drilling process
- Increased capacity in production to take on new customers
- Improved aesthetics of the product thanks to a smooth finish on the tubing
- Easier to assemble for the customer on delivery
“StairSupplies is a fantastic example of how you can achieve a host of operational, capacity and customer service improvements by using Flowdrill. It has really embraced our process and is now working with our technical specialists to explore ways in which we can get even more out of our drills.”
Flowdrill is trusted by
Changing the way the world achieves stronger and quicker fastening connections.
Flowdrill is a tungsten carbide friction drill that provides a cost effective and reliable connection alternative to traditional fastening methods such as rivet, insert and weld nuts.
