Recently our pipe manager, Shane Ireland, sat down with Pete Prevost and Todd Johnson from BriarWorks International to discuss how exactly the team got to where they are today and shed some light on the marque's future. Here's what they had to say.

How long has it been since BWI started?

Pete: I started working with Todd to assemble this factory in 2012, but BriarWorks officially opened its doors in September of 2013. Between then, Chicago, and most of 2014, we put in a lot of long, long hours to try to accomplish what we envisioned.

Todd: We put in 70 hours a week for almost a year.

What was the goal? Why work this hard to produce factory pipes?

Pete: First off, we said we were going to do this. So there's no way with our reputations on the line that we weren't going to do this.

Todd: The Calabash is a great example. We said that we were going to do it. And now we have done it, but not only have we done it, we made it twice as awesome. It's one of those things that, in 165 years of traditional pipes, had never been done and never could have been done. And we did it because that's what we said we would do.

Pete: That's the thing. Todd and I work well together because, while Todd has way more experience, I've made things with my hands for years as well. If we sit down and try to figure out how to do something, it might take some time, but we will figure it out.

What changes have you implemented since BWI began?

Todd: We designed and engineered a sort of further degree of automation to solve an issue that we were having where something was not as efficient as it could be. And it got to be more inefficient than we were willing to tolerate. We sat down, designed, engineered, and built a sort of add-on to the machinery that allows us greater capabilities and more efficiency than what was possible.

Pete: What we were already doing was already fundamentally different than traditional factory process, and we still weren't satisfied.

Todd: Continuous improvement. Kaizen. We've rearranged the shop dozens of times. It can always be more streamlined.

Pete: We probably won't ever get there; we'll be changing all the time. Dialing it in perpetually. But today, our efficiencies and machinery and the quality of the semi-processed product is high enough that we could pull people off the street and have them quickly trained to do the job (2 weeks).

So you have employed some experienced pipe makers, then. Why?

Todd: It allows Pete and I to work in development, and frankly, we don't have to babysit any of them. They don't have a lot of questions, and if they do, it's a collaborative enough environment that they can figure out what we would say. People off the street can be trained to do the work, but they don't have the broad knowledge base and experience to be able to make decisions on the fly.

In order for that to be possible, someone in that capacity has to be present all the time to be able to produce pipes the quality and amount of pipes that we are looking for. And to make sure that someone who knows what decision to make on the fly is always there.

Who are the pipe makers working at BWI, and what are their roles?

Pete: Sam Adebayo is the Production supervisor.

Todd: Sam delegates all the daily responsibilities. Everyone is cross trained and capable of doing every part of the process. Some people are better at certain things, so Sam looks at the workload and determines who is be suited to the tasks at hand. He knows their individual skills.

Pete: As the director of production, I hand the workload over to Sam and give him the ability to delegate the tasks. I determine what to produce at which volumes. He maximizes throughout.

Todd: Bill Shalosky is like hired gun. His job is to do most of the high end smooths and BWI Handmades. He has a greater degree of autonomy.

Pete: Bill is the most experienced pipe maker. His official job title is expert pipe finisher.

Todd: Micah Redmond is responsible for sorting and grading. We have primary sorting and secondary sorting, and Micah does both of those. He also preps a lot of blasts and finishes a lot of smooth Classics and Icarus pipes. He does some design work for us, like private labels that need engraving.

Pete: If you ever call BWI, you're going to get Rita. She is the smiling face that provides you with top notch service and care. She's the one who keeps us all on task and organized.

Do you consider BWI a factory, or a workshop?

Pete: It's kind of both. Between 8:00 and 5:00, it is a factory, then it becomes a workshop. When we shut down production there's always a combination of us staying late to make our handmade pipes.

Todd: It's almost 7:00PM now (and every day this week we've been here until past midnight), and they are all still here. They have access to the best and most comprehensive pipe making tools.

Pete: This is the time and space where they can be creative. During the day they are finishing more than 100 pipes per day. At night they can take that raw block and make something that they are going to put their name on.

Development and sales were suffering when Todd and I were spread thin. Now we have people that we completely trust to do the process exactly how we would do it if we were making these pipes.

Todd: Nobody gets to do things their own way. We've realized that we are actually a technology company, and the tech is the process. The machinery that we have built is absolutely a key part, but ultimately the tech is the process.

Pete: We use machinery, but there is a lot of hand processes as well. Our pipes are not any more machine made than any other pipe made in the world. I want people to realize that we use machines just as much as any other factory, but when our pipes come off the machine, we can take them forward instead of taking them several steps backwards.

Todd: Our pipes are dimensionally identical within 5 thousandths of an inch because of the machinery that we've built. Amongst serially produced pipe marques, everyone is doing the same thing. We're able to do it faster and more precisely, so we're able to devote much more time to fit, finish, and quality control. The hand done bits, hand finishing... Every pipe is hand finished from the Classics to the briars in our Signature line. We devote the same amount of time and effort to our handmades.

What does the future hold for American factory pipes? What are you excited about?

Todd: I don't think that, given the fact that this has been a long time contracting industry, we are the future of American pipes for a long time to come. The elements that have to be present at this scale and with what we're doing are almost magical. We're excited about having a team of people that are so capable on the production side that Pete and I are free to develop an infinite number of shapes and finishes, as well as products that we wouldn't be able to bring to market if we were wearing all of those hats. If you think we've blown your minds now, then just wait six months.

Pete: From my viewpoint, traveling around to brick and mortars, a lot of stores have not been excited about pipes because they need to provide products that their customers can afford, and you have to compromise quality. We figure a way to bring better pipes and more affordable prices for those pipes. Everybody should be able to have an awesome pipe regardless of their budget. We're the factory that's going to provide that. Even if you can only spend $79, it's going to be a favorite.

Todd: We're also really excited to fill out the Classics line to include dozens of shapes; from Bulldogs, to Oom-Pauls, Authors, Canadians, and Princes, anything that you can think of. We want to do all kinds of awesome stuff, maybe even a Bullmoose. We're also excited bring other US pipe makers into the mix for our Signature line.

Pete: We're going to release limited-edition signature shapes from other great American pipe makers.

Todd: We only want to raise the bar for pipes. Period.

What do you want the collectors and smokers out there to know about your pipes?

Todd: I want you to buy one of our pipes, and if you don't think it represents an excellent value, you can return it to us directly. That's how much I believe in our pipes. We make the best pipes in every price range that we produce in. If you have a problem we'll fix it.

Pete: We are all pipe smokers and enthusiasts. We've all smoked pipes for years and geek out on vintage tobaccos. So you're buying pipes that are made by guys that not only care about pipes, but also understand how important it is that they smoke well. We smoke our own pipes. I finish out pipes for myself exactly the same way. I even smoke them myself, and they smoke great.

While the BWI team has already more than lived up to our expectations, I think it's safe to say we can expect even greater things from them going further. Don't believe us? Just take a look at some of their offerings.

And there are many:

• BriarWorks
• Neptune
• Icarus
• BriarWorks Classic