GANDIA, SPAIN—While the Faus Group has been intricately involved in the industry for almost a decade, the company has primarily been known as a technological supplier to manufacturers. Now, as it embarks on a major initiative to market and sell its own brand to distributors and specialty retailers, the mill is rounding out its product assortment and wholesale network, and getting set to open a plant in Calhoun, Ga., featuring the same state-of-the-art technology found in its other facilities here and in China.

Though Faus may be considered a late comer in an already crowded field of laminate brands, the company’s initial results are proving it is never too late if you have a good plan of action.

“New technology, new products, new merchandising— these are the three ingredients for a dealer to be successful,” said Juan Flores, president. “Plus, all that has to be seriously supported with aggressive marketing and promotions.”

Faus’ management, which earlier this year purchased the company in a leveraged buyout (FCNews, May 15/22), feels it has all the necessary pieces for it to be successful.

“We’re not here to be the number one player,” he explained, “we’re here to lead the high-end market because that is what we are all about. We have a desire and passion to be here which is a big reason why we bought the company.”

Juan Negre, Faus’ chairman and CEO, added, “We have the technology, the intellectual property, the manufacturing capability and the sales and marketing team to make it work.”

Flores said the most difficult parts of the equation are done, including obtaining a first-rate distribution network throughout the U.S., creating products that give dealers an opportunity to maintain their margins and make a profit, and putting together a complete merchandising system and national consumer marketing program to support specialty retailers.

On the distribution side, in just eight months, Faus has locked up 85% of the country, including the major metropolitan areas with some of the industry’s leading wholesalers, including Bishop Distributing, Butler-Johnson, Dealers Supply, Hoboken and Roane Co.

“They see our technology capabilities, our marketing programs, our sales team and understand the value we are providing,” Flores noted. “And, they see we are committed to be here for a long time.”

Technology, and the ability to translate it into viable products is Faus’ bread-and-butter as the company as been a leader in bringing forth innovations that have become trademarks in the laminate category, such as micro- beveling and embossed in-registered surfaces.

“The reality is,” Flores said, “we’re really not a laminate company; we’re an innovations company that happens to show its creations in laminate flooring. We always feel the picture is incomplete so we keep pushing the envelope. In fact, our mandate is that every six months we have new products and technology. And the advances have to be meaningful.”

While Faus has gone to great lengths and expense—spending over $150 million in recent years on plant upgrades, new facilities, machinery, and more—one of its greatest technological aspects comes from its ability to integrate each component into a seamless, yet efficient system.

“We don’t just focus on product quality,” he explained, “we focus on flexibility.”

At its world headquarters here, the plant has 16 presses running at the same time. This allows Faus to not only produce a large variety of products, it has the ability to easily do custom orders.

In addition to its facility in Spain, Faus is opening a factory in the U.S. this month, and earlier this year formed a joint venture in China (FCNews, April 17/24). “We are truly a global company, with presence in Asia, Europe and now the U.S.,” Flores said. And most of it is geared for its largest market—the U.S.

Currently, 80% of the capacity at the plant here goes to the U.S., everything in the Georgia facility will be used in America, and 100% of the products being produced in China are made specifically for North America.

To ensure its products are of the highest quality in construction and design, all machines in the production system were custom-made to Faus’ specifications. “We bring our innovation through the entire process,” he noted, “down to the number of grains of resin per square inch are being placed on the decorative paper.” It also includes a series of artificial eyes placed at various points of the production process to check and double check a product’s dimensions and other features.

“This precision control is why we can do what no one else can,” Flores boasted. “Our tolerances are down to the nano level. The human eye might not see it, but the machine can.”

In addition, all machinery, presses, cutting line, packaging, and so on, are networked so when an adjustment is made at one spot, the rest of the system can automatically make the necessary calibrations.

“Nothing in the process is done by chance,” Flores added. “Everything is controlled, which is why we are able to produce high-quality products and styles like nobody else.”

Speaking of styles, Faus is going all out to give dealers a selection of products like none other. It started the year with 40 SKUs and plans to have 125 come Surfaces 2007. By year’s end, it will already be up to 85 as it recently rolled out an array of new designs and plans another rollout when it officially opens its U.S. factory.

All the new products feature one or more of Faus’ latest innovations, such as FastDesign, InterPlank, MultiDirection Design, UltraClarity and Dual- Finish. And, he noted, all the new products are in stock and ready to roll.

While the recent rollout includes additions to current collections along with the new technology, the biggest part is the Really Exotics Collection, which takes some of the most popular, hard-to-get and expensive wood species—such as Tigerwood and Wenge—and puts them into one accessible line.

“This is probably our most important collection ever,” Flores said. “The marketplace is demanding more richer species, unique looks that not every home has. And that is what this collection is designed to do. We feel this is the beginning of a trend that won’t stop.”

Finally, to support this initiative, Faus is planning to not only provide dealers, distributors and salespeople with special promotions and co-op, it has an aggressive national print and cable TV advertising campaign ready to go.

“We’re at a critical junction,” he concluded, “but feel we have made the necessary investments in product, production and promotion, and partnered with the right companies to make this initiative succeed.”

For more information on Faus, call 888.231.3287.
—Matthew Spieler