______________________________________________________________________________________ Decora
Blind Systems
Through the Mzuri Group, Decora has recently expanded into the soft blinds market with roman blinds and curtains.“ With Mzuri’ s acquisition of Illumin8 in Dubai, which manufactures made-to-measure orders for the UK market within seven-to-ten working days, we’ re making soft blinds and curtains a major focus,” Andrew states.“ We’ ve launched a new simplified range with a full training program to target window blind fitters and companies that haven’ t previously worked with soft blinds. This gives our trade partners the opportunity to secure increased sales, upsell window dressings, and become a one-stop shop for end consumers.”
To meet demand across its portfolio of products, Decora has a strong manufacturing network comprising four sites in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, as well as a site in Huddersfield, England, and a distribution warehouse in Birmingham.“ As we make bespoke sized products with many options and variations, our manufacturing process is
very labor intensive,” Andrew explains.“ We rely heavily on process engineers and quality departments, and we have a comprehensive training plan for new employees. However, we are adding automation where possible, such as barcode scanning, systematic order processing and scheduling, patented cutting processes for wood blinds, and bespoke automated packaging machines.
“ We’ re also expanding the production of Hampton shutters in the UK due to increased demand for faster lead times. We supply our trade partners with shutters within three weeks, compared to a product made in China which takes around ten-to-12 weeks. We added a fourth production line for Hampton shutters in 2024 and we’ re adding a fifth line in 2026, taking our daily output to more than 350 shutters per day. This efficiency and scale, in combination with our supply partners, is enabling us to keep our pricing competitive despite our products requiring more labor.”
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