YPIE Blog-week three,day one-Axminster Tools and Machinery

We were greeted by Alan Styles who gave us an overview of the work Axminster currently do with the Furniture Makers’ Company. Charlie Cross then told us all about the company values, history and how it is still very much family owned and run. After this we were taken on a tour of the head office, warehouse and manufacturing factory. It is clear that the warehouse is well organised and very efficient. During busy periods, for example after the weekends they have to catch up quickly in order to for-fill their standard delivery promise which is 1 – 2 working days. Axminster offer more then just supplying tools and machinery, they offer other services such as technical field consultants, skill centre courses and many other things as well as their specialist sales teams in house who offer technical advice. Therefore, it is clear they pride themselves in the customer experience and great service.

Members of the product development team, Tim and Mark showed us some of Axminsters product range and their own brands such as UJK. Explaining that Axminster are constantly looking at innovation with their own products and brands. They also gave us an insight into the supply chain with the Far East and the complications this comes with such as lengthy lead times.

Axminster have recently gone through a change in their marketing software to enable them to market more relevant content to consumers and identify more specific data. Alongside GDPR this has helped to ensure they do not hold any unnecessary or dormant data.

One of Axminsters biggest challenges is in the retail environment. It is constantly changing as more people are shopping online. However, they are continually adapting their store displays to keep them up to date and relevant to their consumers and B2B customers to help engage and draw people in. We were taken down to the store in Axminster to see the merchandising displays in action.

Another challenge Axminster face in the industry is the increasing levels of fraud. Helen explained the processes in place and the careful steps they take to reduce the number of fraudulent orders.

We thoroughly enjoyed the day and it was great to learn more about each department and how Axminster fit in the overall supply chain within the furniture makers industry.