Jenny Munro talks to David Phillips
DAVID
Phillips, 37, is the Managing Director of Camco - a Lisburn
based woodworking company. Camco is a young firm, which is
now in its third year of trading but is quickly becoming one
of the the largest suppliers of woodworking machines within
the UK and Ireland. David is married to Olivia who is also
his business partner. They live in Lisburn and have five
children aged between one and 18.
As my business partner is also my wife our working day begins the moment our eyes open. We normally discuss business issues over breakfast before getting our team of kids off to school and nursery.
We have five children so it's a day's work before we get to the office, which is based at Blaris Industrial Estate.
On arrival at the office I have a meeting with the service department to discuss the work load for the day and week ahead, making sure all machinery deliveries have been arranged and the engineers allocated to installations and service.
Our machinery requires specialist transport and lifting equipment so it's vital that everything runs like clockwork to ensure our ultimate goal of absolute customer satisfaction.
The type of machinery we supply includes CNC routers for fire door production, wide belt sanders, veneer presses. edgebanding machines, drilling machines and power tools. We have our own engineers who install all our machinery and we provide full training both in-house and on site. As well as this we also supply consumables such as PVC edging and veneer edging material. A meeting is held with the sales team to discuss any outstanding orders for edging material. As edging makes up 30% of the business we do, it's crucial that all the deliveries are with our customers within 24 hours - nationwide.
This is a real challenge as we take orders until 5pm for dispatch on the same day.
The sales team return to their office and start to work on their individual customer base while I will sit down with our accounts department to look at all outstanding accounts.
Cash flow is vital to any business and we will discuss things like customers who have overdue accounts or credit limits as well as our own accounts with our suppliers - keeping your suppliers happy means a good supply of goods.
Then it's time for me to look at the outstanding machinery quotations - I call it shaking the hopper.
This is where you have a big pot of `leads' and every day you shake the pot and some drop out the bottom. Its great when a customer places an order for a machine as it gives me a real sense of achievement.
Around 3pm I go to our dispatch warehouse where the edging is processed to be delivered all over Ireland and the UK. This requires all hands on deck as orders are still coming in and our people need all the help available to select the goods and prepare for packaging. Two high reach forklifts are used during this process to get the goods from as high as 30 feet. As space is a real issue we must use every square inch.
Our growth has been exceptional over the last two years. Currently we employ five full time and four part time staff and are working on an expansion plan over the next three years that will see our staffing increase to 25.
Around 5.45pm, when all goods have been dispatched, its close of business for the day.
Olivia and I then go to the nursery and collect the kids before going home and preparing our evening meal.
I love the evenings as it gives me time to interact with the whole family When the meal is ready we sit around the table and enjoy the food and a have a good chat. This is a real joy for me.
After sorting out the younger children, my wife and I relax with a glass of wine and reflect on the day. Some nights I like to watch my favourite soaps like Heartbeat and The Bill and occasionally I like to have a sauna and do some exercise.
I enjoy the weekends as I spend quality time with my family and we enjoy going for walks and relaxing after a busy week at work.
Ulster Star
24/11/2006
