Stairway To Success

The Enzie Stairs Story

It is part of the folklore at Bryan Mackenzie’s metal fabrication company. When someone asks how business is, the answer is, “Oh, up and down”. And when asked how he is going, Mackenzie says, “Round in circles”.

The joke is that Enzie Stairs produces a modular spiral stair system. It has done more than 6000 installations in houses, apartments and public buildings in Australia, Asia and the Middle East. There are even a couple in Antarctica. Mackenzie’s system has won an Australian Design Award and was a finalist in the Prince Philip Awards for design.

But there was not much to joke about a few years ago when growth accelerated. The innovative system was selling well and had established a new niche. Until then, spiral stairs were built in factories and transported with some difficulty to the site. The potential for measurement error was considerable, and installation often required much juggling. The Enzie Stairs system uses simple spacers between the treads to achieve the exact floor-to-floor height, and it can be installed by anyone handy with a shifting spanner.

However, rapid growth allowed inefficiencies to creep in. Staff turnover meant that precision sometimes slipped, and Mackenzie spent a lot of time teaching and checking. The business was also carrying about $100,000 of raw material, which was too much capital to be tied up in a non-productive function.

Expensive factory space was taken up by steel and other materials, and work in progress.

Mackenzie says: “It became obvious that I had to do something, but I was working crazy hours to keep the business functioning. After battling on for a couple of years, I admitted to myself that professional help was needed. It’s hard to do when you’ve been driving everything.”

Mackenzie hired engineering consultant Kevin Nestadt, a specialist in just-in-time manufacturing. Nestadt revolutionised the Enzie Stairs factory by applying the Japanese kanban system of parts bins that act as their own re-ordering authority, without paperwork. The system allowed for raw materials to be at call from suppliers, eliminating most of the inventory, minimising handling and clearing valuable floor space. Nestadt also revised machine settings, using simple colour-coded gauges and templates that could not be wrongly applied.

The results came quickly: Production capacity doubled in a year.

There have been attempts to copy the system, however Mackenzie says the best protection is to be the best. “Patents are horrendously expensive. Besides, it’s hard to establish ‘novelty’ in stairs for patenting purposes. We do have copyright protection on our drawings, specification sheets and marketing material, but quality, service and continuous refinement of the range are the most effective weapons for holding copy-cats at bay.”

The more efficient production system has also helped with staffing. Training is more consistent, employees feel better about their roles and staff turnover is low. Regular meetings promote a sense of family or inclusion. Mackenzie says: “You must focus on training. But I don’t persevere if the training has no effect. Actually, once you’ve got a structure in place - your culture, the way you do things - people know whether they want to work to your standards or not. It’s a kind of natural selection process.

“Some managers say, ‘What if I train people and they leave?’ I prefer the response of someone I once heard at a conference. He said it’s much worse if you don’t train them and they don’t leave.”

Enzie Stairs has two markets: consumers (those planning to build a house or extension), and specifiers (including designers, architects, developers and builders). To reach consumers, the company concentrates on exhibitions. “A spiral stair is difficult to talk about in the abstract,” Mackenzie says. “People have to see the product, touch it, walk on it, appreciate its sculptural qualities. We do five exhibitions a year, but the building industry has long lead times and we aren’t put off by having to wait. One exhibition for a few days can lead to a lot of work months down the track - or even years.”

Specifiers are kept informed of design updates - and innovations such as polished timber treads and different colours or finishes - through brochures, data sheets and drawings. Mackenzie is committed to value-adding but does not see it as a cure-all. “It brings higher margins but it also means additional complexity. You have to find a balance that suits your business.”