By enhancing its capabilities with the acquisition of state-of-the-art equipment manufacturing equipment from Yawei, KNS Metals continues to build its status as one of Victoria’s fastest growing sheet metal companies.
Proudly family-owned and operated, KNS was founded by Kamal Singh. Kamal had been working in the sheet metal industry for more than 30 years when in 2014 he spotted an opportunity in the marketplace. With his extensive experience, he believed that it was the right time to go it alone. He took that knowledge with him when he founded the company with his wife and two sons.
The business has grown rapidly over the past several years. Today KNS now operates with around 10-15 staff at its facility in Dandenong South, south east of Melbourne. Amal, Kamal’s elder son, is now the company’s General Manager.
KNS Metals specialises in custom programming and design fabrication for both commercial and residential customers. Commercial is the backbone of the company, providing around 95% of its business, while residential makes up the remainder. The company also offers a range of other services, including CNC turret punching, laser cutting, pressbrake bending and welding. KNS operates Australia-wide but most of the clients that it deals with directly are based in Victoria. Most of the company’s work comes through word-of-mouth. As such they have never had much need to advertise, though they are now expanding into social media.
Kamal and Amal believe that their business has been successful due to their knowledge of the industry and outstanding customer service. While working in the business, Amal has also been completing his electrical engineering degree. The knowledge he has gained from this has been beneficial in enhancing the company’s overall expertise.
“Our past experience as well as our critical and logical thinking helped a lot; and with this knowledge we can give customers great lead times and great quality products,” Kamal says.
Kamal had become aware of Applied Machinery after he purchased an Amada AE-2510 turret punch from them. When KNS required another new machine, Applied was the first place he went to.
“We had dealt with Applied previously so it was only natural for us to do business with them again,” he explains. “We were looking for the right machine and after discussion with Applied found that the Yawei pressbrake they offered was just what we were after.”
Applied helped the team at KNS set up the machine when it was delivered, and this help was vital. It also impressed the company.
“When we moved to our new factory, Applied came in after-hours and helped us set up over just one weekend,” says Amal.
“We packed up on Friday and we were back working on Monday – that’s how much of a help they were,” Kamal adds.
The subsequent service and back-up that KNS received from Applied has been the reason why they’ve stuck with them. Amal remarks: “We have a great working relationship with Applied and we are certain that will continue into the future.”
The pressbrake has made a significant impact upon the company.
“We are very pleased with how the machine’s gone so far,” says Kamal. “We will likely get a second one as we anticipate further growth in part thanks to the effect the pressbrake has had.”
KNS was previously outsourcing a number of jobs due to limitations on its laser-cutting resources. However, once they began sub-contracting a couple of years ago, they soon realised they required their own in-house laser-cutter that would be able to perform high-quality precision cuts.
KNS went to Applied again and after reviewing Yawei’s extensive range of fibre lasers purchased an HLF-15303kW model. Amal and Kamal were particularly impressed with the machine’s quality components, such as the Siemens Controller. Importantly, this purchase allowed many of those previously outsourced jobs to come back in-house and massively expanded their cutting capabilities.
The Yawei fibre laser offers a number of clear advantages, and the benefits the machine brings have already had a direct impact on the service provided by KNS.
“We have found that the fibre laser is consistent and the speed and accuracy of cutting is brilliant,” says Amal. “We’ve had the machine for three or four months now and our staff are very happy with its ease of use and the way in which it operates.”
“Our lead times have greatly improved as a result of having the machine,” Kamal adds. “We feel that we have taken back control of certain elements of our business.”
The company also enjoys the added reassurance that Applied is always on hand to assist them.
“Occasionally, when we require additional assistance and technical guidance with the fibre laser, Applied has been available to help us right away,” Amal notes. “We are grateful for that support.”
Much like the pressbrake, the success of the fibre laser has also meant that a second machine is likely to come at some point in the future. “Laser cutting has become a big part of our business in recent times so the machine was a vital purchase,” says Kamal. “We are already booked out for the next six months because of the work we are now able to perform with the Yawei.”
Amal and Kamal would like to keep on growing and expanding their customer base, and KNS’ dedication to customer service and high-quality products will ensure they will continue to be a leading Australian sheet metal company long into the future. The success they have achieved in such a short time has meant they will probably have to upscale yet again.
“We are very happy with our growth over the past few years and in the short term we will probably purchase another Yawei guillotine and turret punch press,” Kamal concludes. “We will probably move to larger premises because we realise our current factory is not as big as what we wanted!”