ARTISTIC WOODCARVERS & TURNERS (PTY) LTD
Office Furnitures in Durban

Artistic Woodcarvers & Turners, established since 1972, is a manufacturing company specialising in a complete range of exclusive offi ce furniture. Khan, the business specialised in the reproduction of hand-crafted furniture. In 1974, Artistic introduced a few ranges of executive office furniture, which was later to become its mainline production item. Today, Artistic is one of the largest offi ce furniture manufacturers in South Africa, catering mainly for the local markets. From humble beginnings in 1950, it was a dream come true for a master craftsman, the late Mr D A Khan, overcoming many an obstacle that lay before him. Whilst holding a full time job as a woodcarving artist, Mr Khan worked into the early hours of the morning, in his home workshop in Durban. He hand carved components for the furniture industry and made patterns and moulds for the metal and textile industries. Assisted by his sons whom he had personally trained, this tiny home industry grew into a little factory. Mr Khan then quit his full time job to concentrate on the business, which was relocated to prefabricated building on the Natal North Coast. Some of these employees are still with the company today, some 30 years later. Upon the demise of D A Khan in 1977, one of his sons, L A Khan, took over as MD and has held this position since. During this time the company had a total staff compliment of about not only worked a 16 hour day seven days a week, but also was the salesman, designer, costing clerk and telephonist. In 1992, the third son, S A Khan joined the business after studying architecture. With the present infrastructure and the recent investment in high tech equipment there is scope to increase production by 100% simply by increasing the labour force. The company uses a well-balanced mix of highly modernised plant and machinery with the age-old art of Cabinet Making. Management feels very strongly that the art of Cabinet making should always remain in the world of modern fully automated machinery. Skills of the old school are constantly adapted to suit modern technological advancement and passed on to fellow staff by management who have been exposed to the best of both worlds. It is company policy to always promote staff from within, which has contributed tremendously to the motivation of its staff. In 1992 the company established a totally non-contributory Group Life and Provident fund for all employees. Interest free housing loans have also been made available to some staff members. All exotic hardwoods are imported, as none of the species are locally available. By importing directly, Artistic has managed to become very competitive in the market place. White Oak, Cherry, Beech and Maple are imported from America. Although Artistic is continually searching for local content, some hardware items such as drawer slides and locking systems are also imported, as the local substitutes do not meet the high quality standards set by Artistic.