Hospitality Design - September 2014 - 30

advertorial

Q&A

with

vaughan benz

owners, david benz and scott vaughan

How would you describe your business in
one sentence?

Established in 1986, we are a global manufacturer
of high quality custom-made wood and
upholstered hospitality furniture with an
outstanding reputation for superb quality and
excellent customer service.

How different does your company look
today from ﬁve years ago?

David Benz

Our management is more robust and more
global. We are better utilizing IT to improve our
customer service, our efficiency, and our global
communication. To better serve our customers'
needs in terms of price, quality and lead-time,
we now manufacture guestroom furniture under
our direct supervision in the USA, China, and
Indonesia.

What differentiates your company from
its competitors in the marketplace?

While we have continually owned and operated
an amazing factory in Los Angeles since 1986,
we have also been manufacturing guestroom
furniture in Asia under our own direct
supervision since 2001. Because we manufacture
both domestically and offshore, we offer more
options and better customer service than our
competitors. Our staff includes native Mandarin,
Spanish and Indonesian speakers.

What does partnership mean to your
company today?

Scott Vaughan

In successful projects, everyone on the team
- the designer, purchasing agent, owner, and
manufacturer - is a partner. They all have a stake
in the success of the project. At Vaughan Benz,
we also consider our staff, our subcontractors, our
suppliers, and our offshore manufacturers to be
our partners, and thus, they are fully invested in
the success of our projects.

What is your company's philosophy
toward customization?

This is our specialty! We embrace custom
manufacturing: our entire process is designed
to make custom furniture manufacturing
successful. We are a great source for all kinds
of custom-made wood, upholstered and metal
furniture in any quantity for 3.5 to 5 star
guestroom and public area projects.

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September 2014 hospitalitydesign.com

What else should we know about your
company?

We are extremely proud that most of our staff
has been with us for many years; we have just
welcomed a second generation staff member,
Alfredo Munguia, Jr. to our office staff, along
with his father, cousin and uncle; Alfredo's
father, Alfredo Senior, is a master carpenter at
Vaughan Benz, and Alfredo Jr., a very recent
college graduate, just joined our team as a pricing
coordinator. We knew him since the day he
was born! Our family atmosphere is one of our
strongest assets.

What predictions do you have for
2014/2015?

The economy will continue to slowly improve.
Interesting renovation projects will continue.
There will be some exciting new- build hotel
projects in the United States. Competition will
remain fierce, and customers will continue to
demand competitive pricing and outstanding
customer service. Those manufacturers with long
successful track records, robust, competent and
experienced management teams, financial stability,
and solid customer service will succeed in today's
highly competitive environment. For those willing
to pay a premium price, high quality guestroom
furniture made in the United States will be
available. While China will remain the #1 offshore
manufacturing location for guestroom furniture,
Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico and Columbia will
become more significant manufacturing locations
for guestroom furniture.
All kinds of guestroom and public area
furniture, including upholstery, will incorporate
electrical outlets and dataports to enable guests
to conveniently charge their smart phones and
tablets.
Furniture finishes will generally become
more environmentally friendly - the Chinese
government will soon require manufacturers to
adhere to similar environmental standards as the
ones mandated by the Southern California AQMD.
Open-grained, sometimes wire-brushed
finishes, often in oak and walnut, are very popular.
Walnut is an extremely popular wood species,
often finished with a clear top coat showing the
beautiful light warm brown grain. Light colored
woods are very popular, and high-gloss painted
"lacquer look" finishes are also coming back.
Gray and taupe stained woods will continue to be
extremely popular.
http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
Hospitality Design - September 2014

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