An exciting development in the shutter industry is the opening of a new factory and office for shutter manufacturer Luxsol, in Sydney’s west. The brand may not be well known to many in the industry, but the overseas parent company has been manufacturing shutters for over 20 years.
In what started as a furniture manufacturing business an opportunity arose to manufacture shutters for a European customer and this success along with the worldwide shutter market size, soon saw the company specialise in only shutters. The owner’s daughters Megan and Cassie who grew up in shutter manufacturing and used to help in the factory making shutters after school have continued their father’s tradition and set up a manufacturing facility in Sydney.
Both daughters have master’s degrees in business and commerce obtained at Sydney and Macquarie Uni in Sydney. Through a business plan they demonstrated to their dad there was a unique opportunity in Australia, where they have lived for over 10 years.
Their research and planning has been spot on. Due to ongoing supply chain challenges instead of retailers having to wait 8-12 weeks for shutters, Luxsol can produce shutters in Sydney in 3 weeks. This gives retailers the opportunity to sell and install up to 4 times more than waiting for overseas shutters. One thing they have gathered from their research is many manufacturers’ willingness to over-specify products. Luxsol has limited the panel span for their Poly100 product to something more representative to the weight of the product, in order to avoid unnecessary maintenance or service calls.
Luxsol has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in state-of-the-art CNC machinery. The best machinery is a lesson learnt from their dad in not cutting corners and investing for the longer term. This has allowed Luxsol to manufacture Poly100 using mortise and tenon joinery, whereas most PVC shutters are just screwed together, which can cause sagging issues over the longer term.
Unlike many distributors, Luxsol do not retail but only sells through a distribution network. Luxsol offers the unique benefit that retailers are buying Australian Made shutters, directly from the factory.
Like all businesses, the journey to date has been filled with important lessons and continual learning. Planning, organisation, utilising the various strengths of their team members, and most importantly, focusing on customer service and listening to customers. Luxsol will not try to be everything to everyone but instead will focus on their specialty of manufacturing the best value for money shutters, in the shortest lead time possible.
Having a systems-based approach has seen the design of one of the most impressive online ordering systems and the implementation of a CRM system to track customer interactions and provide the best service.
Luxsol can also supply an impressive range of imported products including Woodland100 timber, Nexus50 hybrid and Poly100.
There is a proliferation of Chinese companies trying to get retailers to buy direct, with the lure of a low $US headline price, but without the hidden costs of logistics, or the inherent risks of currency fluctuation, trying to liaise through agents and worst case, transferred funds going astray.
Luxsol has taken all the hassle out of this. Being the overseas factory office here in Sydney, Luxsol is the overseas office of the manufacturer and therefore can do all the time consuming and hard work for the retailer.
Luxsol is expanding its distribution network so if you would like to become a Luxsol distributor, submit a contact us form (below). We will be happy to hear from you and will get in touch to see how we can help your business.
