Northern Contours Diverse Components Exceptional Service

And Northern Contours, specialists in membrane pressed components since 1992, has these things. But what really differentiates the company is the service they provide. In fact, by reaching customers and helping them to develop design programs that are both unique and practical, Northern Contours has grown in capacity, product offering and market segments served. However, more important than size, Northern Contours’ service-based operating model results in innovation. By combining technologically advanced materials and equipment, Northern Contours produces high-performance, design-oriented components that are increasingly taking the place of traditional materials in many different markets.

In the beginning, Northern Contours focused on membrane-pressed thermofoil doors and components, which they produced in volume in a 20,000 –square-foot facility in Fergus Falls, MN. The guiding principle was simply the golden rule.

We set out to treat customers the way we would like to be treated
Mike Rone, CEO of Northern Contours.

That customer-centric approach led Northern Contours to develop a wide range of product solutions, including custom products. Today the company operates in five different manufacturing facilities with over 500 employees, totaling about 400,000-square-feet plus corporate headquarters located in St. Paul, MN. Primarily a component provider, they offer a significant number of specific products to large manufacturers in every major industry segment, plus they have created their own standard line of components they offer on a custom or “kitchen at a time” basis to medium and small fabricators. Northern Contours in-house capabilities allow them to process a wide range of products: Membrane pressed thermofoil and veneer components, cut to size panels and sheet stock that may be used in cabinet fabrication, flat laminated high gloss acrylic components, custom wood cabinet doors with veneer center panels, a complete selection of accessory items such as frames, mouldings and fillers, plus an array of customer specific products for office furniture, store fixture and healthcare markets. They add value to these products by offering everything from boring for hinges and adding hardware to highly complex machining operations that make the parts ready to use when a customer receives them. All of this while studying market and design trends and launching new service programs to keep their offering on the cutting edge of where the specific markets are headed.

So how do they pull it off? What enables Northern Contours to perform so many functions well is their ability to standardize and also customize. A very involved service team on the front end (sales and marketing, customer service and product engineers) communicates with customers on the outside, and also works closely with the product development and operations specialists on the inside. For ease of understanding, Northern Contours product offering can be generally divided into two main groups, cabinet component and doors (thermofoil, veneer, glass panel, mixed surface materials, and custom wood with veneer center panels) and furniture/fixture components.

Designer Doors

Northern Contours sells many innovative door components, primarily to kitchen cabinetmakers and home storage fabricators that sell systems under their own brand names. They also offer a custom “kitchen at a time” line. The sales and marketing/design team works with the customer from the onset. “We guide our customers to develop a unique program offering of our standard products, which can include specialty or exclusive variations,” says Heidi Hansen, Account/Product Specialist for Northern Contours. “We also provide marketing materials and inclusive training to the customer’s entire team. It is an opportunity to share marketing strategies and educate them about our products; what their benefits/limitations are, and how to sell them and design with them.”

To stay in front of the trends, Northern Contours’ marketing and design specialists study what is happening in the world of color and design trends and work closely with other industry experts. “We rely heavily on information provided by designers associated with 3DL vendors (SSI, Renolit, Riken, Dackor, Omnova) and paper vendors like Schattdecor, to determine what is up and coming as far as colorways are concerned,” says Hansen.

As far as the cabinet market, we see trends toward the upper end, frameless, contemporary and transitional looks
Heidi Hansen, Account/Product Specialist for Northern Contours

There is a wider acceptance of European-like design.

In response to emerging demand, Northern Contours developed a program of mixed surface materials for cabinet systems called FUZE. The concept mixes exotic wood veneers, tone on tone doors and their recently added line of high-gloss, flat laminated acrylic panels called “Level.” FUZE allows customers to begin to integrate more fashion-forward door color and texture options with traditional looks, making it less intimidating for end users to deviate from conventional style. The advantage is that if a consumer tires of one aspect of the design, say the plum colored high-gloss accent, those faces can be replaced with different accents, while keeping most of the original design intact.

Unique Furniture and Fixtures

Membrane-pressed components can do a lot of things that are not possible with traditional laminating processes. The RTF films used wrap around any profile allowing for 3D lamination of curvilinear and contoured pieces. Additionally, the films, generally made from PVC or PET, are durable, scratch resistant and carry a higher print fidelity than paper. They can be engineered for specific characteristics (such as being aseptic) and have no open seams, making them ideal choices in healthcare, commercial store fixture and office settings.

The furniture and fixtures segment of Northern Contours’ business is facilitated by the product-engineering group, that works with customers to develop specialty products. “The engineers are very gifted,” says Lary Skow, Director of Sales for Northern Contours. “They fully understand all the manufacturing capabilities and apply that to the customer’s needs. Through collaboration the client gets an innovative product that exceeds their expectations, and as their component provider, we get a design that can be made efficiently.”

Quality Standards

The Northern Contours customer service center, located in Fergus Falls, MN, is staffed by 15 highly trained representatives, and during business hours, a live person always answers the phone. All customers, regardless of market segment, are assigned to a dedicated service representative, who works on their behalf to make sure orders are placed correctly and any issues are resolved in a timely manner. Customer service also works closely with plant mangers and the operations group so that orders flow through the appropriate facilities in a way that optimizes production and distribution.

Although the production lines vary from facility to facility, Northern Contours has Wemhoner membrane presses, Hessemann wide belt sanders, Northwood and Komo routers, edgebanders by Biesse, Holz-Her and Fletcher and a Black Brothers glue line, among other specialty equipment. The flexibility of the technology, and careful organization of workflow, makes it efficient for Northern Contours to do both large production runs and custom projects to order.

Quality assurance measures are also performed at many points throughout the manufacturing process. Membrane pressing requires the surface material to completely adhere to the substrate. Northern Contours uses Daubert Chemical as a supplier of adhesives to achieve consistent results. As materials arrive at the facility, they are tested for quality. “On the front end we check incoming thermofoil shipments for UV stability and color match,” says Skow. Throughout production, pieces are randomly pulled and tested for heat resistance and adhesion. Northern Contours’ standard substrate is Flakeboard’s Superior Plus MDF, frequently with a TFM backer. Its homogeneous structure makes it easy to machine, and its super-refined surface prevents telegraphing through the surface materials. “The MDF has less chip-outs and rejects than other products,” says Skow. “If you start with quality material your chances of ending with a quality product are better.”

What Goes Around Comes Around

Northern Contours’ service-oriented approach to manufacturing makes it possible to efficiently offer a vast number of products to a very diverse client base. By actively reaching out to customers and helping them to develop products and programs that meet the customers’ unique needs, Northern Contours is able to standardize their workflow and manufacturing processes. So much time investment on the front end also pays off in increased customer satisfaction, and reduced time lost to problem resolution. Which makes it possible for Northern Contours to apply their flexible capabilities to developing even more innovative product solutions.