Leading the world with nano tech development

Kiwi furniture company, the PLN Group, is setting the global industry alight with its world leading nano technology developments.

The PLN Group, based in Auckland, is a finalist in the Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Awards, with winners to be announced on June 29. The company is earning up to 40 percent of its revenue off shore from clients such as Citibank, HSBC, Google, Hewlett Packard, Disney and Apple, chief executive Blair McKolskey says. 

“Our cutting-edge innovations such as the acoustic nano technology is world leading and we are seeking to gain entry into Europe and North America this year.

“We have product we manufactured on display in North America’s biggest commercial furniture show NeoCon in Chicago next week.  

“We are one of, if not the most, innovative furniture firms in New Zealand.  We have special nano technology in acoustic applications, leading developments in air filtration and Internet of Things in furniture.  We are turning the furniture world on its head.

“We are one of the few truly vertically-integrated research, design and manufacturing firms in New Zealand.  There are many furniture manufacturers, many resellers and few research firms.  We do all three.

“We are one of the leading research firms in the New Zealand furniture market.  We have qualified for a Callaghan grant to carry out research and development.  

“We are one of the biggest exporters of furniture in New Zealand and one of the fastest growing with global product sales climbing more than 500 percent in the last five years.”

PLN has been invited by world leading furniture giant Haworth to showcase the best of their Keystone modular furniture system at exhibitions in Singapore and Sydney next month and in Bangalore in August.  

McKolskey says the Haworth events are the annual exhibitions in the Asia Pacific region and of the entire portfolio of products featured, PLN will sit alongside two other global furniture brands Cappellini of Italy and Orange Box of the UK.

“The implicit endorsement of our firm and product is enormous benefit to our brand and product offering. It puts our Kiwi label on the same stage as one of the greatest furniture brands of the world, Cappellini, which is famous for identifying new trends and talents in the global furniture industry.  

“Our nano tech has been a collaborative effort with one of only approximately five facilities in the world that can commercially spin nano fibre.  

“We are also innovators in the application of the dense fibre to absorb sound waves in furniture. Haworth people say we have created an entirely new category of product in the furniture industry and we have created a path for others to follow. We are developing new technologies all the time,” McKolskey says.