1986

• Purchased woodworking equipment and started making unfinished chairs for a local manufacturer.
• Began in an existing 56′ x 56′ shop, using one-half of it for woodworking, the other half was used for storing farm equipment and a welding shop.
• Applied and received a variance from Jackson Township to have a woodworking business in the part of the township that was zoned agricultural.
• Glenn continued his job of managing a local steel fabrication plant, as he helped in the wood shop, keeping the boys occupied.

1987

• Built a 32′ x 68′ pole building in September to store the farm equipment. 20′ x 32′ of this was for the welding shop. Now the entire 56′ x 56′ shop was available for making furniture.

1988

• Built a small 14′ x 14′ addition on the north side of the shop in November for the heating furnace.

1989

• Hired the first employee outside the family.
• Pictures of our chairs were hand sketched by Dat Trong Nguyen, copies of these sketches were made to advertise our products.

1990

• Glenn quit his job to go full time into woodworking. Beaver Valley Reproductions in Ohio, was the first customer as a customer base was developed. After making a prototype by turning the parts on a hand lathe, the first order consisted of 100 unfinished Royal chairs.
• Dining room tables were introduced to the existing product line of chairs.
• The electric service was upgraded from single phase to 208 Voltage, 3 phase.

1991

• Built another small 14′ x 9′ addition to the north side of the shop, next to the furnace room, in September, to house the dust collector.
• Installed a McNight saddle seat dish machine. Prior to this, the saddle seat dishing was outsourced.
• All furniture was sold unfinished until April. Finishing was added as an additional service when Leonard′s Oak World in Duncannon, PA requested finished furniture.

1992

• Built a 26′ x 56′addition to the east side of the shop in May for chair assembly and storage.

1993

• In November, the first computer was purchased running Windows 3.1 with a DOS Builders program from ABC Computers, in Jonestown, PA.
• In July, a 14′ x 57′ addition was built on the north side of the shop for finishing and storage.
• Additional storage of unfinished chairs was needed. The upstairs of a small barn was rented a mile down the road at Glenn′s father′s home.
• As the demand for finishing increased, furniture was first hauled 80 miles to John Eby, a farmer who had a part time business in finishing furniture. In April, John Hollinger Jr. started finishing in Ephrata. This was the beginning of a long term relationship with what would become Classic Furniture.
• The first 4 page catalog was designed and printed in a single brown color. The pictures of the chairs and tables were hand sketched. Printed 3,725 copies in November.

1994

• The business transitioned from Sole Proprietor to a Partnership as James went in partnership with Glenn.
• A Freightliner truck was acquired to make local deliveries and pickup supplies.

1995

• Handcrafted tables and chairs were trademarked and marketed as “The Keystone Collection™" series.
• In June, an addition was built onto the west side of the shop. This 24′ x 56′ two story addition gave room for chair storage, a loading dock, and office.
• The office was moved from the house to the shop.
• Started advertising in the Lancaster County Business Directory.

1996

• The first full color, 12 page catalog was designed. 6000 catalogs were printed. This was the first design project by Philip Weaver, which was the beginning of Rosewood Design.
• Started tracking tables by serial numbers in September. These numbers were stamped in each table top and leaf and tracked in the computer system. This enabled the various parts of the tables to smoothly flow through manufacturing and finishing. It also gave the capability of easily tracking the tables years later for customer service.

1997

• The end of raising chickens! Remodeled the lower floor of the chicken house into a warehouse in May. This 40′ x 250′ building gave 10,000 square feet of storage.
• In August, the parking area around the shop was blacktopped.

• The start of guaranteed completions dates! First called the Customer Pickup Date. The term later changed to Estimated Completion Date, Promise Date and now today it is Guaranteed Completion Date.
• A new, 12 page full color catalog was designed displaying only chairs, for customers not interested in tables. 1,370 catalogs were printed in June.

1998

• In April, one-third of the upper floor of the chicken house was remodeled. An elevator was installed to move furniture between the floors.
• Blacktopped along the south side of the warehouse in April.
• Purchased a Goodspeed chair seat sander to automate sanding the saddle seat dish in chair seats.
• Introduced a new 24 page catalog in September. Printed 12,800 copies.

1999

• In January, remodeled the rest of the upper floor of the chicken house. Now the entire building of 20,000 square feet was warehouse. Raw material was stored in the lower floor and 2,000-3,500 unfinished chairs upstairs.
• Installed a fire alarm system across the plant.
• Registered martinswood.com domain.

2000

• The first CNC (computer numerically controlled), machining center was acquired to improve quality and consistency of table components.
• To make room for the CNC, the chair seat processing department was moved across town on King Street, leasing part of a building from C.M. High.

• Registered keystonecollection.com domain
• The new catalog came out in May. This 40 page catalog was oriented 8.5x11 horizontal for the first time. 18,000 were printed.
• Attended a local trade show for the first time in Paradise, PA. The “Old Country Connections” was held in an auction barn.

2001

• Hutches, corner hutches, and side boards were developed to complement a complete dining collection.
• Purchased Solid Works, a 3 dimensional software program to design our furniture.

• Glenn moved his house across the street to make room for an expansion the following year.

2002

• In July, an addition was added to the west end of the plant for table and hutch manufacturing. This addition was two story, top floor – 70′ x 86′, basement – 70′ x 82′, which added 11,760 square feet to the manufacturing plant.
• A 90′ x 150′ steel building was constructed for finishing, bringing the finishing from outsourcing to onsite, providing a comprehensive line up of custom finishing services. This new building was being built simultaneously with the plant addition.
• A computer controlled, 3 head wide-belt sander was added to enhance sanding consistency and quality.
• The electric service was upgraded to 1200 Amp, 3 phase.
• Installed a new dust collections system.
• Introduced a new 60 page catalog in March. Printed 22,300 copies.

• Implemented a Personnel Policy handbook in February.
• Began setup of a new ERP Software system. A product configurator was setup for the entire product line. This was a labor intensive project that took most of the year to complete. The time and attendance module of the software was used throughout the year.

2004

• The new ERP Software system went live January 1. This system provided enhanced job costing, inventory management, and accounting.
• Changed the chair manufacturing model from “made to inventory” to “made to order”.
• Changed manufacturing flow from a weekly batch to a daily batch for tables, hutches and finishing.
• A 28′ x 28′ office was added to the front of the plant as well as remodeling the existing office.
• In May, the first website was launched under www.keystonecollection.com by Rosewood Design.

2005

• The lean manufacturing journey began, along with a gain-sharing bonus program. Six teams were formed – Hutch, Table, Finish, Chair, Warehouse, and Office. Training was given, and as the teams were developed, gains were made in productivity, quality, and safety. Each team member is actively involved in sharing ideas for improvement, along with discussing, and implementing those ideas as a team. The gains from continuous improvement are shared with the teams and passed on to the customer.
• A 10′ x 18′ addition was added to the finish shop. This provided an in-house laboratory to allow us to formulate our own colors and provide the service of custom color matching. This brought the total square feet of the plant to 57,000.
• Purchased a computer controlled mortise and tenon machine to lower setup time and increase quality and efficiency.
• Installed a wireless computer network across the plant.
• The company partnership changed to an LLC. (limited liability company)
• Brought out a new 72 page catalog in March and printed 23,200 copies.

2006

• Rebranding brought exciting changes to Martin’s Wood Products LLC. The logo, catalog, website, and marketing material were redesigned to stay current with emerging trends in the marketplace. Changed from The Keystone Collection™, to Keystone Collections™. Registered keystonecollections.com
• Marvin Martin filled the new position of sales manager - the first salesperson in the history of the company.
• Built a 12′ x 20′ addition to the finish shop to expand the lunch room.
• Keystone Collections™ website integration was offered as a new service.
• Started making the hutch doors in-house to improve quality.
• Added a new team member benefit – medical insurance.
• The new catalog in March had 106 pages. Printed 25,000 copies.

2007

• Marvin Martin became the third partner in the business as Glenn continued to transition the management to James and Marvin. New product design was added to Marvin′s responsibilities.
• Focusing on Lifestyle furniture, many new styles were added to the line to capture the emerging trends.
• New levels of distressing and antiquing were added to the vast options list.
• Three ovens were installed in the finish shop to increase production and improve quality and work flow.
• Added team member benefits – dental care, vision care, and short term disability.

2008

• To expand the sales territory, 8 independent sales representatives were added to the sales force.
• A five axis CNC (computer numerically controlled) machining center was purchased to machine chair parts.
• A video was produced showing the craftsmen at work, telling the Keystone Collections™ story. Two versions were produced – dealer and consumer. Keystone Collections™ Personalized DVD was introduced as a new service.
• Exhibited at the Buckeye Furniture Expo in Ohio – a new furniture show for Martin’s Wood Products LLC.
• The first annual open house was hosted where all the customers were invited for plant tours, seminars, new products displays, PA Dutch country buffet served for lunch, and dealer networking. A tent was setup at the plant location to host the crowd of 100 attendees.
• The www.keystonecollections.com website was optimized, updated, and the dealer login feature added.
• Implemented the Advanced Production Scheduler software for better shop floor scheduling and inventory control.
• Added a team member benefit – 401K program, another paid holiday and improved the paid vacation day schedule.
• January, the new 128 page catalog was introduced. 31,000 copies were printed.

2009

• The first collection of bedroom furniture was introduced at the Keystone Wholesale Market in March. Prior to this, dining and occasional furniture were the only product lines manufactured.
• Chair manufacturing was consolidated to one location which enabled production to run in small daily batches instead of larger weekly batches. This enabled a shorter lead time to the customer and reduced inventory of raw material.
• The name Martin's Wood Products LLC was changed to DBA Keystone Collections™ to continue to build the Keystone Collections™ brand name.
• Exhibited at the Midwest Furniture Expo in Chicago IL - a new furniture show for the Keystone Collections™.
• On August 1, Glenn finalized his succession plan by transferring the rest of the company to his sons, Marvin and James. Glenn was retained as a consultant to utilize his wealth of knowledge in the industry.