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With a track record of solid growth driven by close collaboration with its dealer network, window furnishings manufacturer and distributor TWO is opening a new chapter in direct response to dealer demand for locally made product.
Established in 2007 as a modest set-up working out of co-founders Ian and Michele Roe’s garage, TWO has steadily grown its business and profile over the years. Based in Clontarf (QLD), the company’s rise has largely been driven by an ethos of listening to dealers and supporting their business growth.
Now, as part of that ongoing interface with dealers, TWO is growing its profile as a local manufacturer of Zipscreens and roller blinds.
The business’ soft launch as a domestic manufacturer of exterior and interior blinds took place in August 2019, with the official launch set for January 2020. It’s a re-positioning achieved over two years of strategic changes, during which TWO focussed on a number of areas. These included increasing the product range, improving manufacturing processes and consistently releasing new product specifications in response to dealer demand.
The company’s full offering now encompasses a wide array of products: Zipscreen, Zipscreen Extreme, wire guide, pivot arm, straight drop, roller blinds, Poplar and Basswood shutters, aluminium interior and exterior shutters, hybrid timber/PVC shutters and PVC shutters.
TWO is currently achieving market competitive production lead times across its various product categories:
TWO Managing Director Robert Blanch confirms investment in domestic manufacturing of Zipscreen and roller blinds is a key element to the company’s future strategy, particularly in light of supporting its dealer network.
“As part of our mission and corporate goal, TWO is focussed on expanding the support we can offer to our dealers in growing their businesses,” he says. “We saw a need among our Queensland based dealers, to provide local Australian made outdoor and interior blind products with fast lead times. Our goal is to broaden our product range for our dealers, providing a quality product with exceptional service and communication.”
Key to achieving that goal has been a recruitment drive to attract industry manufacturing talent. Production Manager Kat Sivewright recently joined the TWO team to play a role in growing its local manufacturing capability.
“When TWO decided it was time to set up local manufacturing I jumped at the opportunity to be involved with the key decision making of the factory set up,” she says.
As Production Manager, she works with a team of full time production workers, ensuring the smooth operation of the factory. “Our primary goal is to produce a quality Australian made product and deliver on our customer expectations.”
Production set-up entailed confirming the new factory’s location in Clontarf, Queensland, sourcing machines, setting up an efficient production flow, and securing component and fabric suppliers. Recruiting the right team was also critical, says Sivewright.
“Soft skills were a really important factor in recruiting. You can teach hard skills in a short amount of time; soft skills, such as being able to work collaboratively as a team, communicate and problem-solve autonomously, are far more important. The team at TWO is very close knit and everyone works well together. There’s a focus on fostering a positive company culture and it’s evident in the way everyone turns up to their work to provide exceptional service to customers and to each other.”
Since the soft launch in August, TWO has continued to grow its team, is hitting KPIs every month and has plans to open another local factory. “We’ve experienced teething issues, which is typical, but we’ve worked through them,” says Sivewright. “TWO has big plans and I’m excited and proud to be part of the company’s growth strategy.”
Aside from enhancing the company’s manufacturing skills base, TWO also recruited Marissa Hogan as the National Sales Manager who brought with her extensive experience in the exterior and interior blind industry, Blanch confirms. “While TWO has been and remains a specialist in shutters, Marissa has provided the necessary product knowledge support to TWO’s Account Managers to enable them to in turn support our dealers while we embark on broadening our product range.”
Looking ahead, TWO’s wider future strategy will include improvements to logistics and delivery, as well as national expansion, he says.
“We will further invest in strengthening our in-house delivery logistics to support local manufacture and competitive lead times. And while our initial focus has been on the Queensland market, in 2020 we will be extending the program to our dealers more broadly.”
“We’re committed to developing our infrastructure on a national scale in future to meet the needs of our dealers and their customers. We know from experience that no business achieves success without that kind of collaboration; our dealers’ future success is our success. ”
