Flawless flooring

The Manufacturer recently visited British flooring manufacturer, Amtico, and chatted
to Jonathan Duck, CEO and Ian Lloyd, Operations Director, about the continuing
growth of the business and the introduction of new digital technologies.

Amtico is a British manufacturer of luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) which has grown organically from its origins to the £250m per year turnover organisation it is today (including business in the US). “Even though there have been changes, the founding principles of the business have not changed at all; we focus on producing beautiful flooring, using specialised UK manufacturing technology and selling direct to customers in the UK and around the world,” said Jonathan.

To celebrate its 60th birthday, Amtico has thrown a series of events this year and has opened its doors to anyone who wants to come and see what’s going on  inside the factory.

Feature flooring

Amtico makes each product it sells from start to finish. “We bring in raw materials, which are held in our silos. That material is then processed through our calendar lines before moving on to our Rotocure, which is the lamination stage. This becomes the LVT at the end of that process,” explained Ian.

The LVT is then cut into planks, titles or slabs depending on the type of flooring needed. Amtico LVT flooring is extremely hardwearing and is made from thermoplastic. “If you visit Oxford Street, you’ll find us in around 50% of the stores. However, we are also in a lot of homes around the UK as our flooring is perfect for kitchens and bathrooms,” added Jonathan.

The company also deals with bespoke flooring requests and examples of those have  featured across film and TV. An inlaid tile starburst pattern from Amtico is the starring backdrop of a fight scene in the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, and a replica can be found at the company HQ in Coventry.

Into the Red Zone

For the last two years, Amtico has been searching for a smart factory solution that actively involves all the operators on the shop floor. “When we came across Red Zone, it felt like the right fit for Amtico as it provided the level of transparency we wanted,” said Ian. The Red Zone app can be downloaded onto a smartphone, ensuring universal access across the business. The implementation process has been seamless, with the system now in operation for over six months. “It allows everyone across the business to know how the factory is performing at a glance,” Ian continued.

More importantly, Red Zone removes the need for the paper that has traditionally been driven through all the processes run by the factory. “On a typical day we could produce up to 1,000 pieces of paper, but now all those documents are available electronically. We are fast becoming a smart and paperless factory,” said Ian.

The company was set up in 1964 as part of Courtaulds, a manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres and chemicals in Coventry. The Amtico factory still sits on that site but its goal is to move to a purpose-built location.

“That requires significant investment and a huge amount of planning, but we are currently putting together a proposal. Across the road from us we have buildings that are being taken down that used to form part of the old factory from 40 years ago,” Ian added.

Sustainability at the forefront

In July this year, Amtico released its 2023 Sustainability Report which focused on several key areas where the company is trying to improve and become a better manufacturer. Indeed, the business recently won the Made in Midlands 2024 Sustainable/Ethical Manufacturer award for its sustainability practices.

One of the highlighted areas in the report is energy consumption. And Amtico is looking at a significant number of projects in the years ahead that will enable the business to achieve its net zero target. “However, equally as important is our people who are vital to the company’s green agenda. We are openly encouraging more activity and participation from all our employees to help support sustainability,” explained Ian.

This participation can be seen in the form of Culture Days which have taken place over the last 12 months. These have given every employee the opportunity to participate in a day away from the office, to discuss things that are important to them regarding the environment and their role at Amtico.

Another key point within the report was the launch of a ‘take back’ scheme. “This is where we bring material back from the location where it’s being installed and re-use it,” Ian added. Amtico began this initiative last year and has since retrieved over ten tonnes of off cut and installation waste, which it has been able to bring back into the factory, granulate and put back into its products. “Anything that we couldn’t re-use because of contamination, such as screed or concrete, would go to an off-site recycler and be repurposed into street furniture,” added Ian.

Amtico has also recently launched Amtico Bio-Attributed LVT, which is a product that is made from PVC that has been sourced from renewables such as wood pulp and cooking oils. “This reduces carbon emissions by around 90% compared to PVC that has been manufactured through fossil fuels,” Ian said.

Investing in the smart factory

Amtico has made some significant investment over the last two years in digital technologies and plans to continue this into 2025. “We initially looked at our calendar
and Rotocure processes and have modified them for increased productivity and to improve quality,” said Ian. Amtico is continuously looking for the next best thing in technology and even technologies that do not yet exist. “It’s about looking for innovative ways to improve the factory and the products we are making.”

When Amtico began to introduce new technologies and platforms such as Red Zone, it had open discussions with the workforce about the move to a smarter factory to allay any fears or concerns and to enhance familiarity with anything new coming in. “We wanted to be as transparent as possible and have the companies that were helping us deploy these systems to come in, educate, talk to people, listen to their concerns and assist with training,” said Ian.

UK manufacturing challenges “As a business, Amtico is growing at five to ten per cent per year, even though we’re in construction markets, which are temporarily quite depressed. However, we have just kept growing and will continue to do so,” said Jonathan.

In July, Make UK released a survey that showed that for the first time ever, the UK dropped out of the top ten manufacturing nations in the world, currently sitting at number 12. Jonathan believes this is now a potential long-term problem; because manufacturing might only represent ten per cent of the UK economy, it’s also 50% of UK exports.

“The UK imports more than it exports across all sectors of the economy and runs a current account deficit of around four per cent every year that must be paid for. This can only be achieved by progressively selling all our assets overseas,” he explained. He added that a proper manufacturing sector will allow the UK to address those issues and begin exporting more than it imports, and thus climb back up the rankings.

“Manufacturing needs to grow from around ten per cent to 15% of the UK economy. And to do that we need a proper, robust, long-term industrial strategy. All other countries have one, including island nations like Barbados; it’s vital for it to be able to assert its place in
a mixed economy. Without one, it could be very dangerous for the wealth of the UK in the long-term,” said Jonathan.

A great place to work

Unlike much of the wider industry, Amtico is not a business that struggles to find staff and skills. Jonathan posed that this is because the company ensures that it pays well and has a strong apprenticeship training programme. “We usually take three to four apprentices per year. A few weeks ago, we hosted a dinner for the 15 apprentices we have here that are moving through the business,” said Jonathan.

Once trained, the apprentices are free to leave the business but encouragingly for Amtico, they often tend to stay on and take a full-time role. Jonathan began his own journey in the industry as an apprentice and knows the benefit of having a strong industrial base and learning from others.

Another reason why Amtico perhaps doesn’t lack for skills is its location. Being based in the West Midlands, Amtico is close to many large automotive manufacturers such as JLR and Aston Martin. “The business benefits of that is engineers from those companies sometimes come and work for us and continue to add to the natural engineering skills base in the West Midlands,” added Jonathan.

Secrets to success

There is no denying the success of Amtico; you will be able to find its products in many homes across the UK, luxury stores and even on film sets – the business is doing well. Over the past 60 years the company has only had two chief executives, John Harris and now
Jonathan.

“Amtico concentrates on linking together good design and manufacturing, with direct sales and marketing. Being excellent at each of those is the secret to our success. We have seen a bit of a resurgence in our manufacturing here in the UK. As supply chains have come under pressure, the cost of containers and shipping has increased. This disruption, while negatively impacting our competitors, has presented us an opportunity,” Jonathan added.

Amtico plans to continue to take advantage of this in the short-term and follow its basic principles which has served it well throughout its history. “We’re continuing to invest on-site with lots of new machinery and that’s a very good portent for the future,” Jonathan concluded.