After moving into a new 200,000-square-foot facility in April, executives at Sleeptronic, a Dallas-based bedding manufacturer, began a strategic planning process designed to create a path for the company’s future by leveraging the space’s full potential.
| BRIEFLY | |
| Company | Sleeptronic |
| Specialty | Full-line mattress manufacturer offering innerspring and specialty sleep products. Became a Comfort Solutions licensee in 2008. |
| Headquarters | Dallas |
| Founded | Started by Amir “Andy” Sunderji and his wife, Yasmin, in 1990. |
| Ownership | Privately-held, family owned |
| Learn more | www.sleeptronic.co |
Although the process examined all areas of the business, company leaders paid particular attention to restructuring the product lineup, identifying new areas of growth and expanding the company’s already extensive use of technology.
“Our strategic planning in the last year has focused our efforts for 2013 and beyond. We want to maximize growth in the new facility and are definitely pursuing several opportunities,” says Rizwan Sunderji, senior vice president of the family-owned business.
All in the family: Amir “Andy” Sunderji (far right) started Dallas-based Sleeptronic in 1990. After graduating from college, all three sons—Jameel, Rizwan and Alim Sunderji—joined the company, too.
The new facility, which is four times the size of Sleeptronic’s previous space, is a dream come true for Amir “Andy” Sunderji, who founded the company with his wife, Yasmin, in 1990 and continues to serve as its president and chief executive officer.
“When we first opened, I was the general manager and janitor, Yasmin ran the office, and we both worked 18- to 20-hour days,” Andy Sunderji says.
A family of migrants
The Sunderjis moved to Dallas from Canada, where they had emigrated from their native Tanzania in 1973. Social upheaval throughout East Africa forced more than 50,000 Ismaili Muslim families to leave the region, with most migrating to North America.
“Leaving Africa wasn’t difficult, but you couldn’t transfer currency, so many people ended up in refugee camps or entered Canada with little more than they could carry,” Andy Sunderji says.
Two years later, he and his brothers opened a mattress factory in Calgary, Alberta, where he worked as sales manager until he and his wife moved to Dallas in 1979. It took them another 11 years to save enough money to start Sleeptronic.
Today, the company employs more than 100 people, with 70 of those in manufacturing. Each of the Sunderjis’ three sons joined the company after graduating from college. Rizwan Sunderji oversees sales and marketing and works with his father and brothers to craft the company’s strategic direction. Alim Sunderji, who is executive vice president of manufacturing and operations, has played a central role in integrating advanced technology into the company’s manufacturing processes. Jameel Sunderji, vice president of operations and information technology, runs Logitronic, the company’s freight hauling division. As he puts it, he “makes sure that goods are coming out on time and efficiently and that the front office runs smoothly.”
The three brothers are acutely aware of what their parents sacrificed to build Sleeptronic.
“We know where we came from and don’t take anything for granted,” Alim Sunderji says. “Our parents started with two lawn chairs in the front office and, when we were young, we bagged mattresses along with everyone else. There’s a family sense of pride in everything we do.”
Jameel Sunderji says that family pride permeates the Sleeptronic culture, whether people are technically part of the family or not.
“We have a lot of faith in our employees and respect them as if they are family,” he says. “They’ve seen the change and growth of the company and are as excited as we are.”
New digs: Sleeptronic moved into a new facility near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in 2012.
Opening a new facility
Nothing signals the family’s faith in Sleeptronic’s future as dramatically as its new headquarters. Set on an 11-acre campus near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the facility includes a research-and-development center, training and catering facilities, and a 10,000-square-foot showroom, the company’s first.
“We outgrew our old facility 10 years ago and were limited by its inefficiencies,” Rizwan Sunderji says.
The new factory, which has a capacity of about 3,500 pieces a day, maximizes production efficiencies in ways that were impossible before.
“Our material handling went from 220 feet of conveyor to 4,000 feet, which means that everything is always moving forward and all double handling of products has been eliminated,” Alim Sunderji says.
The facility was designed to maximize environmental efficiencies, which, in turn, have reduced both waste and costs. Skylights provide much of the plant’s lighting on sunny days. That, along with high-efficiency light bulbs, has reduced electric consumption to a quarter of what a facility its size typically would use.
In addition, Alim Sunderji says, “We now have the space to recycle almost every material in the process, which means that we have basically no trash costs.”
The new space has allowed the company to expand the way technology is used in production. A manufacturing module that Alim Sunderji built from the ground up includes monitors on the shop floor so that everyone can track parts and products instantly, improving efficiency throughout. Before the move, Sleeptronic produced 60 to 70 pieces an hour. That rate has nearly doubled to 100 to 120 pieces per hour, with the capacity for more.
Prior space limitations kept the company from aggressively pursuing large retail chains or private-label manufacturing and made it difficult to stock popular products for immediate delivery. The company’s expanded physical and technological infrastructure has changed all that.
“We are now able to stock 15 to 20 SKUs at the factory, which is a real benefit for small retailers who don’t forecast their needs,” Andy Sunderji says.
The new R&D center, coupled with the company’s proprietary computer software, makes private-label manufacturing a viable option, too.
“We had to turn down private-label work at the old factory, but now we’re ready to take it on,” he says.
Showing it off: The new facility in Dallas has a 10,000-square-foot product showroom, the company’s first.
Reshaping the product line
Narrowing Sleeptronic’s own branded product line has been a central focus. The company was founded, Andy Sunderji says, on the principle of offering something for everyone. Over time, the result has been a proliferation of collections that are cumbersome to market and produce.
“We want to tighten up the lineup by eliminating duplicate products and refining what we offer,” Rizwan Sunderji says. “Our goal is to maximize what we’ve done and then take the brand to the next level.”
The company offers a wide array of innerspring and specialty sleep products that have suggested retail prices from $299 to $1,499 for a queen-size set. One-sided, foam-encased beds priced from $399 to $699 lead sales, accounting for 15% of the company’s total annual branded sales volume.
Sleeptronic recently introduced the Posture Gel collection, which features gel-infused memory foam beds that range in price from $799 to $1,499. The Bella Perfeccion collection, which is marketed to Spanish-speaking consumers, has bilingual labels. Models retail from $399 to $599.
In the future, the company will place greater emphasis on specialty bedding.
“We want to start focusing on higher-end products and expect memory foam and latex to begin leading sales,” Rizwan Sunderji says.
Sleeptronic became a Comfort Solutions licensee in 2008 and that relationship started the process of moving the company toward higher-ticket products.
Comfort Solutions’ iMattress and King Koil brands are Sleeptronic’s strongest sellers, followed by the Dr. Breus Bed and Laura Ashley line. The gel-infused iMattress collection ranges in price from $899 to $2,499. The top Dr. Breus Bed retails for $2,999. Sleeptronic sells four Laura Ashley collections, with prices starting at $599 and topping out at $1,999.
What’s ahead
The company is looking to Comfort Solutions to boost its sales in the hospitality market, as well.
“Manufacturers have to be approved vendors with many large hotel chains so we definitely see potential there,” Rizwan Sunderji says. “Hospitality is now 1.2% of our annual sales and it should be around 10%.”
Because the company lost a major account in 2011, the Sunderjis project annual sales will be flat in 2012.
“But we expect a 20% to 30% growth rate in 2013 and then 20% for the next five years, which will effectively double or triple our business,” Rizwan Sunderji says.
Sleeptronic has 12 independent sales representatives who service Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.
“We are changing our sales culture and we expect that this will also be a crucial part of our growth. We want our sales reps to maximize the amount of support that they give our customers while aggressively building their territories,” Rizwan Sunderji says.
Expanding its territorial reach is one of Sleeptronic’s goals. To do that, the company needs to open one or two new factories, and Andy Sunderji is encouraging his sons to do just that.
He also is on board with a new website, which the company will launch this year.
“We want it to be a resource for both customers and consumers,” Jameel Sunderji says. “Consumers will be better able to research products and there will be a back end for customers to place and track orders.”
Andy Sunderji knows that growth means change, but he counsels his sons to expand carefully and methodically. He plans to leave the company entirely in their hands in the next five years while he returns to Tanzania to help build businesses in the struggling country. His wife will go with him and she, too, has advice for their sons: “Our family, employees and customers are part of the same team and that should never change.”
