About Us

 

Manufacturing and Innovating for over 25 years

Established in 1992 as a result of local demand, we began manufacturing kitchens for the domestic market. In 1994 we pioneered the distinctive method of postforming melamine board, designing and building our own machine to create a new, superior and seamless way of finishing panel edges! At this time the business changed its name to Panelform Industries and phased out of the domestic kitchen market, concentrating on supplying pre-finished kitchen doors, components and joinery directly to the kitchen and joinery trades. Today we continue to innovate and develop our manufacturing processes, always striving for continuous improvement.
 

Supplying the kitchen and joinery trade

Today we manufacture and supply a large range of profiled doors in vacuum-formed laminate (our Durostyle range), melamine doors, panels and components (our Touchtex range), acrylic doors and panels (our StyleLite range) and a large range of profiled doors in paint-ready MDF (our Prestyle range). We also sell a large cabinetry range to the trade through our EasyOrder online system. We do not sell retail kitchens, instead we are here to add profitability and success to trade businesses through providing a service which is personalised, specialised, economic, and covers the entire country.
 

Our Commitment to you:

Our Mission

To add profitability and success to your business.
We are a supply partner who can add profitability and success to your business through reducing your machinery investment, relieving your workload and relieving your stress. We do this by supplying high quality and affordable kitchen components within realistic time frames.
 

Committed to helping New Zealanders thrive

We're helping New Zealand and our people thrive through sustainability and caring for the environment. We use low-emission materials and dispose of our waste thoughtfully. We have also supported a number of charitable organisations who make a real difference to the lives of New Zealanders , and we will continue to do so.


 

Our Values

 

Timeline

1992	A local Christchurch business is bought by brothers Greg and Quentin Allison, manufacturing kitchens for the domestic market
1994	Using Greg's furniture and cabinet-making background and Quentin's engineering background, a machine is built to post-form melamine board, creating two seamless edges on melamine board and bringing European trends to New Zealand! The business name is changed to Panelform and stops selling retail kitchens, focusing on supplying the kitchen and joinery trade with pre-finished cabinet doors
1997	Panelform purchases it's first large through-feed edgebander - an IMA machine. Both Postformed and PVC-edged melamine doors are sold throughout New Zealand
2000	Panelform purchases it's first large beam saw
2001	Panelform adds 'U' formed (180 degree formed) end panels to its range to complement Postformed melamine doors.
2005	Panelform moves to a new larger building in Wigram, Christchurch (current site)
2006	Panelform adds thermoformed doors to its product range and purchases its first CNC routing machine
2010	Responding to changing market conditions as a result of the Global Financial Crisis, Panelform manufactures thousands of desktops and mobile furniture units for Christchurch City Council under contract to Aspect Furniture Systems
2011	Following a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in September 2010, another 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastates Christchurch City with 181 people killed. Panelform is fortunate there is little damage to their equipment and buildings.
2011	Panelform phases out its Postformed doors range - the one that began it all! 17 years of production and thousands of kitchens throughout New Zealand - many still installed today and looking as good as new!
2013	Panelform purchases its first flatbed CNC line with self-loading and unloading. They also produce their first ultra high-gloss doors, responding to new trends
2014	EasyOrder online quoting/ordering is launched. After innovating constantly throughout the years, Panelform sees the future of online quoting and ordering
2017	Panelform invests in new glueless edging technology commonly known as 'laser-edge' technology, introducing the ZeroLine sub-brand which becomes hugely popular. Panelform also introduces it's first acrylic doors - StyleLite®
2019	Panelform extends the factory building, which more than doubles factory floor space. Significant investment is made into new machinery with the latest technology, including two new CNC machines and a vacuum press. The 'Prestyle' brand is also launched after demand for paint-ready MDF doors increases
2020	Panelform's production is paused for four weeks while New Zealand is in COVID-19 Lockdown. No orders are cancelled during this time and the following months leading up to Christmas are busier than ever before
2021	The 'Sleekform' product range is launched after demand for 45° handle-less doors increases. Panelform is continuing to grow makes the decision to include an evening shift to help extend machine time to ensure all orders make it out on time
2022	Panelform is continuing to grow... Watch this space!