Member Spotlight - Interfab 
Member Since 1999

Material specialization leads to superior performance and success.

Founded in 1988 in Worcestershire, United Kingdom, Interfab has, since its inception, focused its capabilities strictly on one product – solid surface – and being the absolute best it can be with that product.

Background
Born in Stratford upon Avon, United Kingdom, David Cranke, the company’s managing director, upon graduating from Brunel University near London where he studied polymers, began his career working with BTR Industries, then a large multinational company that has since merged with another and grown further. His early career centered around using polyurethane and epoxies for gas pipeline repair, which eventually led to earning a position as business manager for the BTR’s Pipeline Services Division.

He also worked in technical sales for two years in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the Saudi/Swiss joint venture Aplaco, which specialized in manufacturing polymer pipe fittings. This time in the Middle East, led to another placement with Cloissal, Dubai, where Cranke was first introduced to solid surface in in 1984. He ran Cloissal’s Sultanate of Oman offices in Muscat, and marketed a number of high-quality building products such as DuPont™ Corian® and Dow Chemicals’ Roofmate, etc.

After leaving Muscat in 1988 Cranke and his wife Christine set up Interfab Ltd, and shortly afterwards the fabricator was were recognized by DuPont as an “Authorized Corian Fabricator” as it was termed at the time. Christine, who is a fully qualified teacher having taught in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and Oman, has since obtained a further degree in business administration and economics, and is Interfab’s finance director.

Current
“Interfab is primarily focused on residential Corian work, and provides complete fabrication and solid surface service starting with design and pricing, through installation to after sales care,” said David. “The company has 20 people on staff, many of whom have been on staff for 15 to 20 years, making it a storehouse of experience.” The company’s specialization is the high-quality fabrication and service to mainly the kitchen market by supporting studios with displays, training, point of sales, samples and, above all, closely controlled support through every project.

Interfab is centrally located in the U.K. Midlands, it has the ability to service more than 150 displaying kitchen and bath studios. The area covered by the company includes Liverpool and Manchester in the north, Wales in the southwest and south to London. Largely its coverage maxes out at about four hours of travelling time. However, because of its specialized focus, the company has supplied work in Ireland, Poland, France and the British Virgin Islands.

“Interfab is one of about 10 main residential Corian fabricators in the United Kingdom that handle the majority of kitchen and bathroom projects,” explained David. As an “Industrial Partner” it purchases directly from DuPont. On average, the company purchases about $550,000 of Corian each year. And that same Industrial Partner status means all of its work is backed by DuPont’s 10 year warranty.

While Corian remains the backbone product of the company, with it representing about 90 percent of Interfab’s sales, as LG HI-MACS® and Staron® have become more widely known, the products have been absorbed into the company’s repertoire.

While the company uses top-end software systems and has thermoforming capabilities, interestingly, the fabrication is all done using conventional solid surface equipment without the integration of CNC machinery. “We have not gone the CNC route yet,” said David, “as frankly we are still emerging from 8 to 9 years of recession in the U.K. We could not justify the investment in such a climate. The U.K. vote to exit from the European Union may also potentially slow the growth of the economy for a period while the whole country adjusts.”

Philosophy
“Our ethos is service, service, service!” explained David. ““To illustrate our service element, we always prepare and send our quotations to a studio the same day as receiving their enquiry. Also on a practical side we normally only take four to five working days from templating to installation. Speedy turn-arounds in both instances encourage the use of Interfab’s services, and increase the repeat sales.”

At one point the company did dabble in quartz surfacing, but not to the extent where it actually fabricated it. Instead, it partnered with a company that focused on granite, but also supplied DuPont Zodiaq® quartz surfacing. “Sales peaked to over $300,000 one year, but supply/quality issues and the granite company’s poor service prompted us to pull out,” explained David. “We never had any intention to have a quartz service workshop. I believe our strength is in knowing our product area inside out, and we do not feel multiple products would work for us.”

It is this focus over the years that has allowed the company to develop a skill level that allows the company to handle unique projects, using modern techniques and tackling a variety of complexities that has earned the company a reputation for top-notch work. “Our expertise, flexible size, quality ethic, attention to detail and professional service are the keys to how we have been able to develop a strong base of loyal studios, some of whom we have worked with for more than 25 years earning repeat business,” said David. “Our DuPont Quality Network certificate number 0006 speaks for itself. We are also an ISFA Certified Professional, and have earned two ISFA awards. These were the 2010 Innovation Award for our marketing and customer support techniques, and in the 2011 Design & Fabrication Innovation Competition where we received the top award in the Residential Kitchen category.”

The vast majority of the fabricator’s work comes to them via kitchen and bath businesses, so it makes sense for the company to provide a high level of customer service. “We emphasise our specialization and experience, we support our clients in great detail all the way through with design/technical advice, based on good in-house training from Interfab,” said David. “We produce detailed drawings and specifications, and template with an equally comprehensive site check sheet.”

Developing confidence with their kitchen and bath clientele for a professional company, reassures those kitchen and bath studios that they, in turn, will get happy end clients. “By taking the risk and worry from them, they use us in preference to others,” said David. “That’s our simple but effective policy that has worked for 28 years, and we now have more than 10,000 installations to our name.”

More information is available at www.interfab.co.uk or by phone at 01-386-858-080.