Hiring' Technology

Today, in the United States, the woodworking business has never been more competitive, and the lack of qualified workers has been a key problem discussed for years. It may be that woodworkers, like it or not, will find themselves in one of three groups in the near future:
* those who "hire" technology and become sufficiently productive to compete, grow and succeed;
* those who "outsource" their production to someone who has the technology, while they focus on sales, assembly and installation of projects; or
* those who go to work for someone who has the technology and get better wages than staying in business for themselves.

What It Means to 'Hire' Technology
Woodworkers traditionally think that "the work" is done by people, and people use tools and machines to get it done. Many think of machines merely as expensive and ask, "How much does it cost?" rather than "How much will it increase my capacity?"; "How will it reduce my costs?"; "How will it create more income?" or "How will it build the foundation for my business to grow in the future?"

Many shop owners fear investing in these expensive "tools." They don't see it as another way to get the work done, with paying for it as equivalent to the way they pay an employee. In fact, you pay for a machine as it produces work and profits for you. The difference is that a CNC machine produces more work, more consistently, than an employee, and for less money. The machine is not late on Monday, works overtime for less money than straight time and needs no insurance or benefits.

What kinds of technologies are we talking about?

At the most basic level, every machine represents some form of technology. For example, a table saw is a much higher order of technology than a hand saw. However, what I'm talking about here is a huge leap forward and has three components:
* The computer itself. Any business owner today should become computer literate. A computer-literate owner can multiply himself by using the computer. He can get more work done in the same time, and he can do things he simply could not do without the computer.
* Software. This includes a variety of possibilities. There is the basic operating system, Windows, and communication software, such as Word, plus e-mail and "calc" programs. Then there are packages for design/drawing and sales (CAD), creating bills of materials, optimization and job costing, and the actual production of parts (CAM).
* Machinery that uses CNC technology.

How does a business owner evaluate what and how he should add these technology components to his company?

First, he has to decide that he is dedicated to making his business a success, whatever it takes. This may seem like a ridiculous statement to make. But there are many small woodworkers who work when there is an abundance of work and it's easy to get, and they give up and do something else when the work becomes more scarce. An owner needs to make a definite commitment, and this includes having a deep and abiding commitment to making a better life for himself and for his family. Without such commitment, a large investment in equipment will just hasten his demise.

Given this commitment, he needs to make the computer his new "best friend," because it will allow him to "multiply himself" many fold.

Start with the Software
To become "best friends" with his computer, a shop owner can begin by seriously reviewing the design and production software packages that are available. He should decide exactly what he wants such a package to do for him, (just as if it were an employee) and, where possible, he should try to project what this new "employee" might enable him to do in the future that he can't do now.

There are several major software packages, and they are not inexpensive. The shop owner not only should know what he wants the software to do (what bottleneck or problem will it solve right away), he also must decide if a particular software package can do things the way he wants them done, i.e., using his construction methods and meeting any other unique production requirements that may exist in his shop.

A software package will be expensive only if an owner chooses the wrong package. The right package will begin to make money for him in a fairly short time (from one to a few months), even if he doesn't immediately buy CNC machines.

If a company already is using a design software package, the next step is to evaluate how easily it will flow into a CNC router. Each manufacturer has a slightly different approach to code and to the import of program information and translation of that information into machine language "g-code." It is important for an owner to make sure that his software will work well with any machine he considers purchasing.

The Machinery
CNC machinery has been the "talk of the town" for many years. For a business owner to make a decision about buying CNC equipment, he should first be up-to-speed on the terminology.

Not too long ago there were so-called "point-to-point" machines and "CNC routers." Today, they are both called "machining centers." What's the difference?

Traditionally, a "point-to-point" machine was built with enough strength to maintain accuracy while transporting the boring head from one point to the next (through the air). It generally was less expensive than a CNC router because its primary role was to bore holes, with virtually all the working stress in the vertical axis.

The CNC router, on the other hand, was built substantially stronger because it had to maintain extreme accuracy from one point to the next while dragging its cutting tools through material the entire time. Frames, bearings, motors (electro spindles and servos), guides and ways and all operating parts were significantly more substantial and, therefore, significantly more expensive.

Nowadays, with the "machining center" wars, you find machines of all sorts and at all prices claiming to be the same. They range from sign machines primarily designed to cut through foamboard, to million-dollar CNC routers, all called "machining centers."

Any shop owner trying to decide which machine is right for him must know first of all what he wants it to do. If he is looking for a router, it has traditionally been fairly easy to determine what a machine was originally designed to do. If the machine began its life as a "point-to-point," the drill unit was attached to the gantry, with the router attached to the side of the drill block. In a true router, the electro spindle would be attached directly to the gantry (on the "Z" plate) for greater rigidity and resulting accuracy, and the drill unit (if any) would be attached to the side of the router (or directly onto an enlarged "Z" plate).

Deciding What You Need
There are two major philosophical approaches to CNC manufacturing for Euro-style cabinets. The first is "tri-cell" or just "cell" manufacturing, which was the original notion of CNC manufacturing using a computerized beam saw, an edgebander and a "point-to-point" machine - these three machines being the ones that do most of the work in a large manufacturing environment.

The other approach is "nested base" manufacturing, which replaces the saw and the "point-to-point" with a CNC router that has had drilling units and other machining capabilities added to it, plus an edgebanding machine. Note: with either approach, a company also may choose to do dowel construction, in which case it should consider a dedicated horizontal boring machine or boring/dowel inserter combo.

Following is an overview of each approach.

"Cell" manufacturing: Conventional wisdom is that cell manufacturing, which uses the beam saw, is most advantageous in a large production environment. The cost-effectiveness of the beam saw is based on cutting three to five or more sheets of the same pattern (the same parts arranged in the same way on a sheet of material) at the same time. This is the environment for which the beam saw was built and where it thrives at maximum production. In fact, many of the performance numbers for beam saws are based on fully utilizing the saw's capacity (maximum depth of cut/number of sheets it can cut at one time, also called "book height").

With regard to the "pattern," everyone makes cutlists, but the computer can go one big step further. When the computer software runs the list of parts to be cut on a saw, it can sort them using an "optimizer" program, which lays the parts out on the fewest number of sheets of material possible. For shops that don't cut several lifts of material at a time, or if the shop is truly a custom shop, the likelihood of more that one sheet with the same "pattern" on it is fairly low. So it is generally agreed that cutting single sheets on a beam saw is not very efficient.

"Nested-base" manufacturing: Since you are not likely to be in a large multi-sheet production environment, your second consideration is space. The reason that "nested-base" manufacturing became the "next big deal" was that the small custom shop doesn't have space to burn, and computerized beam saws take up a lot of it. Also, you only need to learn one machine. (Most likely, you already know how to run an edgebander.)

The strength of the "nested-base" approach is that parts are handled fewer times. The parts (except for the ones that need horizontal boring for those who choose to continue dowel or Confirmat construction) come directly off the router, through the edgebander and to assembly. And if you happen to like blind dado construction, all your parts go directly to the edgebander and to assembly.

The 'Hiring' Decision
Before I go further, I want to state that when I talk about "hiring" machines rather than people, I am not suggesting that you fire all your current employees. What I am talking about are your next hires. You may consider "hiring" if you answer "yes" to any of the following questions:
* Have you missed installation deadlines?
* Have you lost contractors as customers due to poor performance?
* Are you paying overtime just to get your work out?
* Are you spending too much time on punch lists so that you can finally get paid?
* Have you turned work away?
* Do you have sources of work that you haven't pursued because you know you couldn't do it?
* How much work could you be doing if you had the capacity?

When it comes to deciding whether your next hire should be another employee or "technology," think about what you would have to pay for the employee you need - $12/hour? $15? $17? $20+? - plus ancillary costs of benefits. Then investigate the cost of leasing a CNC router, checking with a number of manufacturers, and include other factors such as potential tax benefits, the increased value of your business and what the increased production would be.

But that is just the first step. If you decide to purchase software alone or software and a high-tech machine, you must do a very careful evaluation to help you determine which one to choose. Next month, we'll discuss this evaluation process and how you can go about doing your "homework."

Edd Parks has served as a consultant and in various management roles for more than 30 years, the last 10 in the woodworking industry. His experience includes the management of a commercial cabinet shop and serving as Marketing Manager and Machinery Manager for Louis and Co. Parks says that beyond all else, he is dedicated to the success of small business in the woodworking industry.