David tells us how Aya Kitchens and Baths became a trendsetter in the kitchen cabinet sector.
Ideally, a company not only spots and applies trends but stays ahead of the curve by setting a trend. AyA Kitchens and Baths is a great example of a company that believed in the concept of sustainability and successfully seized the marketing opportunity even before green products became a trend.
Q. Dave, you developed a successful green product line and AyA Kitchen and Baths is one of the leaders in the cabinet industry when it comes to reducing waste, re-using materials, and recycling wood, finishes and packaging. What was your motivation to become a more sustainable company and develop green products? When did you recognize this as a trend and what opportunities did you see?
 A. Personally, I’ve been active in the area of sustainability for a long time. I have owned a natural products company and worked with other green companies, so the process of developing a “green mindset” started years ago. For me, being “green” and “sustainable” is not a mere trend, but the core of our business philosophy and ability to be competitive and profitable.
AyA Kitchens and Baths was a true trendsetter in the area of sustainability. The company was already implementing and capitalizing on ‘green’ before it became a trend in the wood products industry. I really do believe that sustainable business practices are the only way to remain competitive. I use “sustainability” as a catch-all phrase, but what it actually means is:
- Reducing waste because it is expensive .
- Recycling because a recycled product is more cost effective than one made of virgin material.
- Being ethical in your business practices with your suppliers and customers.
- Treating your employees well – not only by your managing style, but also by offering them a work environment that is clean, safe and empowering; a place where people like to come to work. For instance, we put skylights in our facilities to have natural light. A recent visit to one of our suppliers in Italy inspired me to do even more. Touring the manufacturing facilities was like visiting a park, with lots of natural light and gorgeous grounds paired with a highly automated factory.
We are always trying to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. When we started our business, we wanted to be a game changer. Innovating constantly, developing new products and processes and trying to push things forward is not only very exciting and motivating, it is also highly profitable. As a result of becoming green, we are ahead of the curve. I consider sustainability to be more than a trend – it is critical for long-term corporate viability.
Q. Could you describe the process of developing a successful green product line and the challenges you faced?
A. We started our sustainable development with single product elements and manufacturing processes and then integrated them into our Green Design 2.0 initiative.
In January 2007, we started to offer the first green design option with environmentally safe, formaldehyde-free plywood cabinets. The cabinets feature UV-cured veneers and, being formaldehyde free, help eliminate product emissions. Thus, we qualified for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design's (LEED) EQ Credit 4.4 for low-emitting materials.
This year we launched our line of no added urea-formaldehyde particle board cabinetry, which is even more cost effective and generates more LEED points as it is made of recycled materials and has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). AyA’s new no added urea-formaldehyde particle board cabinets and its standard line of cabinets are made of 100% recycled and recovered particle board.
Launching a green product is definitely more challenging than a one-upgrade product or new board material. It’s a philosophy. To be able to market the products as green and position ourselves as a sustainable company, we had to introduce a comprehensive, integrated program and achieve a critical mass of initiative.
Since day one, our finishes have been low-VOC and do not release the kind of solvent smell that you find in other paint shops. Our UV-cured topcoat uses ultraviolet rays to catalyze very quickly and reduces the reliance on VOCs. This results in an incredibly short drying time and a very durable low lustre quality furniture finish. Although low-VOC finishes are more expensive than regular non-low-VOC finishes, we made a healthier choice for the employees and the environment.
In addition, we have created an environmentally controlled workplace using a water vapor system that distributes a mist to keep all wood inventory in a stable humid environment to reduce potential movement after finishing.
The real challenge, however, is the cost effectiveness of the products. To be successful, a green product has to be valuable and affordable for our customer base. The reality in the kitchen business is that we are very reliant on our supply chain. I’ve been encouraging my suppliers for years to offer more affordable green products. Nevertheless, I’ve been willing to introduce green products even though they are more costly, with the expectation that our suppliers would offer more cost-effective green products due to demand.
Another important element in the green program is computerized technology. AyA applies a very high level of information technology and automation. Through the combination of automation and proprietary software, we are able to optimize material utilization and keep waste to a minimum. Waste we generate is supplied to local artisans who use the solid wood cut-offs to produce household items.
Overall, what was most helpful was the buy-in from our employees, who were passionately engaged from the very beginning. Generally, people like to be involved in what is considered a progressive company that does things differently. And that is not only defined by our green products, but also by our labour and safety policies and the general culture that we are trying to build here.
Q. Is there any advice you can give other value-added wood product manufacturers when it comes to trend spotting and implementing it into an innovative product or business process?
A. Quality and innovation are key business success factors. If all you are doing is competing on price, you don’t have a long-term sustainable advantage in a globalized economy. Look at offshore competition for example: if all I was doing was competing on price in the kitchen business, I would ultimately need to relocate my production off shore. But by innovating and continually introducing new products and higher levels of customization, quality and service, I believe that that we have carved out a sustainable niche. Being sustainable also means that there is a good chance that your business will be still around 20 years from now - and that comes from innovation and quality. If you look at the top ten companies in the global wood products industry, you’ll find three from Finland and none from Canada – even though we have substantially more forests and wood.
The leading wood products companies are all highly innovative and productive, and have integrated the latest technology. Competitiveness is not a function of being the cheapest; it’s about offering the best value and creating new niches and new opportunities.
You have to have conviction; you have to figure out what your strengths and competitive advantages are and build on them. A company that wants to be successful needs a stable underlying vision. It doesn’t mean that everything you do is avant-garde - by large, the majority of what we do and sell is not super trendy – but that you continually launch high quality, innovative products. If you don’t have quality, you don’t have anything.
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