Vehicle accessory company Best Bars Limited has secured its future with a move into a purpose-built new home in Auckland.
The company has established its headquarters and production facility all under one roof in new premises in Wiri, giving it 40% more space than the previous site in Manurewa, where it was housed across two buildings.
Best Bars has been in business for more than 30 years, most of that time operating from the site in Manurewa. It produces bars, cycle racks and accessories under the ‘Advantage’ brand.
All staff were able to make the shift to the new premises.
According to chief executive Stephen de Kriek, the move was necessary and the new facility will deliver a number of advantages for Best Bars and its customers.
“The growth of the business and the increasing requirements of customers, such as improved quality, traceability, testing and validation, necessitated the move,” he says.
“The drive behind the shift and the changes made in the processes are all about delivering better service to customers, whether they be new vehicle distributors or aftermarket partners, across the full product range of tow bars and automotive accessories.
“Being a new building, we have been able to start from scratch and design everything with a view to improving efficiencies and quality, based on the many years experience shared among our team.”
The factory floor layout has been carefully designed to optimise materials handling and product flow, embracing the principles of ‘lean manufacturing’ and modern automotive industry quality systems. Quality control has been taken to the next level and allowances have been made for the expansion of current value-added processes, such as coating options, enabling Best Bars to meet customer’s requirements as they change.
“Our product development and engineering capacity has increased by more than 50%, with significant investment in testing and validation to meet higher performance standards and supporting product design that we believe is second-to-none amongst our peers in the industry,” de Kriek says.
Another area that has benefitted from the move is the warehousing operation, which has been significantly streamlined to drive a quicker and easier picking process, allowing for faster turn-around times and better service to customers.
“This will provide us with an excellent platform from which to plan the next stage of growth, in both domestic and export markets, and the development of Best Bars in the future,” adds de Kriek.
