| Individual Kitchenworlds
Kitchens are a lot more than just a place for cooking and eating. They are true spaces for living • central focal points and gathering places for the entire home. ALNO AG, based in the town of town of Pfullendorf in the North of Baden-Württemberg, has dedicated itself to the construction of kitchens that are at once both highly functional and also welcoming. Germany’s best-known manufacturer of branded kitchens is noted for its design, material and high quality. "We want to turn kitchens into places that give people enjoyment and raise their quality of living", says CEO Dr. Frank Gebert. "We develop kitchen designs for the needs of every type of household • old or young, large or small."
Founded as a one-man carpentry workshop in 1927 by Albert Nothdurft, in the town of Wangen near Göppingen, today ALNO is a group of companies that is active around the world, with branch offices in 6 production locations in Germany as well as subsidiaries elsewhere in Europe. The company’s founder set great store on honest, down-to-earth, reliable hand-made work. 75 years later, this company philosophy remains unchanged. The company may have relocated its Head Office to Pfullendorf in 1957, taken up the industrial manufacture of kitchen furniture and in 1995 begun trading as a joint stock company • but even today, it still attaches the greatest importance to high-quality furniture and customer satisfaction. In the wake of the initial flotation in 1995 and several economically-weak years, 2001 saw the company in crisis. Instead of seeking outside help, it was decided that the business should renew itself from within, relying solely on its own strength • a decision that would certainly have met with the approval of the company’s founder. Weak points were analysed and the senior management level of ALNO was incorporated into the renewal process.
Leaner and ready for the future
And so was born FUTURA, a strategic programme for the conceptual, structural and operational realignment of ALNO, encompassing every type of goods or services offered by the group and all of its sectors and departments. FUTURA allowed the company to concentrate on its core area of strength, kitchens, while shedding its sideline in bathrooms and an involvement in a Polish company. The new objectives were increased efficiency, growth, a reduction in the drain on the company’s financial resources, new customers and an expansion in the company’s share of the market. From receipt of order to dispatch of goods, a quality management system was put in place to monitor the performance of every department of the company. At the same time, a strategy for the umbrella brand name was developed in Pfullendorf, rounding off the existing kitchen programme by adding to the available ranges. The recipe proved successful, enabling ALNO to halt the substantial drops in customer numbers of its recent past and gain more than 540 new trade customers in a single year. In the words of Dr. Gebert: "Despite the market overall remaining depressed, in 2003 the Group managed to cut its losses by nearly 45 percent as compared to those of the previous year, bringing them down to EUR 5.6m. This means that for the second year running, the reduction in losses within the Group continues unabated. ALNO’s domestic core business improved its results in 2003 to the tune of almost 13 million EUR, bringing it back into profit for the first time." And the upward trend seems to be continuing: the Group has already managed to emerge from the first quarter of the current year with pre-tax operating results of 1.6 million EUR more than expected. The management has declared itself particularly pleased with the positive contribution made here by the CASAWELL Group and its operational companies WELLMANN, GEBA and WELLPAC, which ALNO took over in the third quarter of 2003, and with the increased profitability of its overseas business.
Looking forward with optimism
"We must sweep away the burdens of the past, maximise our efficiency and raise our market exploitation", Dr. Gebert remarks as he contemplates the future. It may be difficult to predict the cyclical development of the German economy and of the furniture industry in particular, but the staff at ALNO are convinced that the positive results of the realignment will continue. "Our aim is to develop both the variety of our product range and the attractive level of value for money delivered by our various brands and programmes, with a view to being able to offer our trade partners and end-consumers alike a tangible added value in terms of ranges and services", Dr. Gebert emphasises. "The twin focal points of our work are the further advancement of our overseas business and the continued development of CASAWELL into a business force to be reckoned with."
The kitchen as a space for living
When it comes to comes to individuality, the product range currently on offer from the Baden-Württemberg-based kitchen specialists is virtually matchless. For made-to-measure kitchens and countless variations in terms of fittings in the mid-range, upper and top-range price sectors, ALNO has no competition. "In the trade, we have the highest distribution presence in Germany, and we are making significant further investments in display kitchens", declares Wolf-Dieter Guip, Head of Public Communications. The innovative PICTURELINE programme allows this company from Pfullendorf to provide exclusive kitchens produced as one-offs. The foundation for this is a standard kitchen configuration that can then be individually designed with 150 different visual motifs from twelve areas of life, from sports to travel. "It’s simply a matter of changing the fronts • and giving your kitchen a whole new face", explains Wolf-Dieter Guip. "You can select and enhance the kitchen as a whole, or just individual fronts. The visual motifs are applied to the components of the front or fronts and a special sealing and varnishing process is used to provide protection against impacts and scratches."
Success through pioneering innovations
ALNOGRAND is the name of the recently-introduced high-gloss varnish kitchen programme. From the front to the long components and shelves, this ALNO System shines brightly thanks to its multi-layered varnish coating and seamless all-over varnishing • not to mention 1,750 possible colour variations. All this is achieved without the need for any sacrifices in respect of surface smoothness or durability. Meanwhile, summer is in the air with the ALNOSCOUT range: wooden surfaces made of solid limed spruce creating a Mediterranean ambience. Memorable culinary experiences are also guaranteed in the ALNOLOOK kitchen, in which German TV chef Tim Mälzer has cooked several times in his "Schmeckt nicht, gibt’s nicht" ("If it’s not tasty, we don’t serve it") show on the German television channel VOX. "Furthermore," says Dr. Gebert, "with our three ’kitchen worlds’, ’HOME’, ’COUNTRY’ and ’LIFESTYLE’, we have created three concepts for living spaces for the realisation of the individual lifestyle of the user."
Endless variety • right across Germany
The headquarters of ALNO AG are in Pfullendorf. This is where kitchens bearing the ALNO brand are produced; kitchens from the CASAWELL Group are manufactured in Löhne and Enger. WELLMANN, the core activity of CASAWELL, concentrates on kitchens that combine contemporary design with excellent value for money, while GEBA is a specialist supplier focused primarily on large international customers. WELLPAC is the division responsible for original, uncomplicated kitchen furniture for home assembly. WELLMANN INTERNATIONAL functions as a holding company for trade outside Germany. Meanwhile, Impuls Küchen GmbH, in Brilon in the Sauerland, manufactures furniture that allows customers in the lower and medium price sector to implement a high degree of individuality when designing their kitchen, while pino Küchen GmbH in the town of Klieken has opted to deal in inexpensive, functional kitchen furniture.
Quotations:
"We are developing kitchen designs to suit all kinds of people and to fit every budget."
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