Brakels Stofferingen was founded in the 1950s by the grandfather of the current owners, Richard and Louis Brakels. With their team of 15, they undertake complete new upholstery projects for interior designers, whilst also refurbishing cherished furniture for private clients.
Brakels Acoustic Solutions was established in response to growing demand for acoustic panels. They provide acoustic solutions that blend seamlessly into any interior.
You won’t easily find another company quite like Brakels. There are a few large upholstery firms in the Netherlands, but none that combine this with acoustics. An expert team and a workshop equipped with modern machinery ensure that orders are delivered to perfection. Because the third generation is happily and passionately continuing the work started by their predecessors.
Far less chance of errors.
We speak to Louis Brakels, owner of Brakels Acoustic Solutions. He works out everything for the workshop from his computer. For example, he breaks the whole job down into parts with markings needed to make it a complete whole. ‘Then I can be absolutely certain that I have everything. Nothing is accidentally duplicated and no left-hand parts are cut that should actually have been cut for the right-hand side.’ The operators place the fabric in the machine, select the correct file, and cutting can begin immediately. Whereas they used to work with templates that were marked out on the fabric before cutting, they can now skip that step.
Work faster.
What’s more, the workflow is much faster. Far less time is needed for instruction and explanation alone, as they can prepare everything in full within cutting files. During a large job, where five pieces were cut at a time, the machine took just 47 seconds to do so. ‘No one can mark out five pieces that quickly. And then they still have to be cut.’ Doing this by hand would take about 4 minutes, so in this case they were working at least five times faster.
A major advantage.
Yet saving time is less important to Louis. ‘A bespoke sofa simply has to be spot on, so a few hours more or less doesn’t matter to us.’ Precision is the biggest advantage. It also comes in handy with complex designs. ‘Sometimes a commission is so detailed that you can’t cut it by hand. The laser can.’
Earlier. Must. Buy.
These three words spring to Louis’s mind when he has to describe their BRM laser. Looking back, he had been working for years with moulds from a furniture factory that he knew had been cut out with a laser. But Louis thought that a laser machine was only for very large companies. When he looked into it, it turned out to be an attractive option for them, including in terms of cost. ‘That investment isn’t actually that bad. If I’d known that, I would have bought it years ago.’
“At BRM, they do what they say: just give them a call and they’ll sort it out.”
The added value is clear.
After searching online, Louis came across BRM Lasers. He came to look at the options with his brother Richard. ‘We hadn’t even gone 100 metres on the way home before we knew we were going to buy a BRM laser. It just became clear very quickly that it really offers added value for us.’
We were in touch straight after the purchase. There was an issue with the guide rail housing the cables. Unfortunately, there wasn’t an immediate slot available in the technician’s schedule. However, time was quickly made available and the problem was resolved without any hassle.
