Woodworking Business

You are not logged in. [ Login ] Why log in
(NOTE: Login is not required to post)

Best way to label parts

4/26/15       
Tim Schultz

What is the best way, when producing cultists for cabinet doors, to identify the door on the cultist?

Assume for example you have a kitchen with 25 doors and cabinet # 7 has two doors. Would you prefer to identify the parts for these doors as 7L & 7R or would you rather have the doors identified simply as doors 1 thru 25 then associate them with the cabinet box after they are produced?

Assume that the doors are spray finished in large batches but are hung one cabinet at a time. How do you store and/or identify each door so you can find the one you need?

4/26/15       #2: Best way to label parts ...
Leo G

I write the name of the cabinet in the 35mm cup hole. I always put the name of the cabinet in the top hole so I know which way is up.

If you don't drill the holes first then maybe someone else will have a suggestion.

4/26/15       #3: Best way to label parts ...
dustin orth

Website: http://customwoodmontrose.com

I use CabinetVision and have it set up to do cabinets by number, with that I have an assembly rack that get all parts for that cabinets worth of doors. Most times its not a big deal for a normal cabinet with the most doors or 5 pc drawer fronts being 4. When we do large multi opening vanitys things get a little interesting. That's when you lay out all parts for that cabinet and sort out the doors per the door list and assemble from there.

4/27/15       #4: Best way to label parts ...
Red

If you are producing cultists (as you state) the FBI will probably identify them and save you the hassle. I don't know what a "door" on a cultist is -- is that the mechanism by which you get them to do creepy cultist things? ;8>)

4/27/15       #5: Best way to label parts ...
Comrade Tim

Comrade Red,

Were you able to decipher the coded message?

4/27/15       #6: Best way to label parts ...
Red

Well, I know it's about cultists and The Doors. Maybe I should listen to "Riders On The Storm" again. ;8>)

4/28/15       #7: Best way to label parts ...
chipbored

I think you need to delve a bit deeper into your operational setup to work this out.

The key is you wan't a system that minimises confusion, minimises effort, but ensures that the chance of a mistake is minimal. Also this about the "handover" of the door and make it easy for the next person who handles the door to understand what is is and what needs to happen to it.

How many staff? Who cuts the doors? How big are the jobs you are making?

I also have cabinet vision number the cabinets but found that when we do a large job and the cabinet and door is called #7 it all becomes number jumbles and no one can remember what cabinet #7 is or where it goes in the kitchen.

If you can set up a labelling system where the cabinet is called for instance B.800.DD (Base.800mm wide.Double Door) instead of #number then the doors can be labelled B.800.D (Base.800.Door) that way if you have 5x same cabinet that door can suit any of those cabinets and isn't locked into being for a single cabinet. Also having the cabinet width in the label gives the assembler a reference for Q.C'ing the parts to make sure the cut size is correct for an 800mm cabinet.

I have found it better to label key cabinets like Sink, Oven, Cutlery Drawers ect just that way so when someone picks up a part for that they don't need to reference the plan to see what cabinet that is, Then the special requirements of that cabinet can be dealt with automatically. i.e a sink cabinet often has a seen end for a dishwasher opening. If that cabinet was just another base cabinet called #10 someone on auto pilot just makes the cabinet the standard way.

Now onto Doors!
If you can avoid labelling doors left and right more power to you, You are reducing sorting and increasing flexibility. If you can hinge the doors same distance from bottom and top they become interchangeable, a big plus for making damage inconspicuous and reducing hang time.

As far as the physical labelling. Really depends on the material. Trying to avoid marking something on a surface that would need to be cleaned later is a worthy thought. Also trying to mark the door so it is labelled once through its manufacturing process is time saving. Sometimes it's hard to avoid labelling the door so it needs to be cleaned later. For example a laminate door that is edged all around can't be labelled on the side of the board because it will be covered later. It can't be labelled in the cup hole at this stage because it needs to go through the bander first. In this case we would label the door with some masking tape on the front so it can be peeled and wiped later, minimal fuss, Pencil on parts takes more cleaning work and often leaves a grey smear for someone to clean AGAIN later. I have toyed with printed stickers in the past but found too much mucking around when working off a sliding panel saw, and just another job for me to do. Different story with CNC

This is a relatively new system for us and it's working well in a 4 man shop where at the moment everywhere jumps around from cutting to edging to assembly.

4/29/15       #8: Best way to label parts ...
Tim Schultz

We've been setting up infrastructure to run the shop longer hours. We now have two crews and staff a seven day work week. The work day now runs from noon to noon rather than 8-5. This approach requires that you spend some time today paying attention to what you will need tomorrow.

This kind of staffing arrangement gives us a lot more flexibility to take on different size projects and different levels of volume. It does, however, create different requirements for how you stage things and communicate status. You need to have very robust systems for establishing priority and monitoring status.

The numbering system for cabinet parts supports of the fifth plank of of 5S program. In combination with storage & retrieval systems it smooths out production in a semi-self managing way.

Historically we have labeled door parts according to the cabinet they live in. If cabinet 7 had two doors they would show up on the spreadsheet as 7L & 7R. The weak spot in this approach was where the parts lived. Sometimes cabinet 7 only had one door or cabinet 7 was a drawer bank. This required a lot of "where's waldo" type research to figure out if indeed the part had been produced and, if so, where it was in the building.

Our current cutlisting approach takes advantage of a concept called concatenation. This is the joining of character strings in a computer program. Mr. John Smith is the concatenation of the fields: gender - first name - last name. (not sure how this is going to work out with transgender but I am sure we will cross that bridge eventually). You can concatenate easily with Microsoft Excel by using the ampersand in your equations. (The ampersand key is the squiggly character above the 7 key on your keyboard.)

The formula: (=7&-&115) returns the value "7-15".
This labeling convention allows us to allocate door staves for the entire job at one time but pull just the door parts you need for the cabinet you are working on next. This approach is particularly useful for drawer boxes in a small shop because drawer boxes take a lot of space and you really don't want them until you are ready for them.

This management logic is admittedly overkill for a company my current size but last Friday alone we had seven new kitchens offered to us and another seven since then.

4/30/15       #9: Best way to label parts ...
Jay  Member

Website: http://www.hwccustomcabinetry.com

Tim,
A thought: What size batches do you finish in? Before I spent a lot of time putting a system in place to deal with an excessively large finish batch (I presume you are working in small batches elsewhere), figure out how to make a paint booth batch approximate a cabinet component batch, so at assembly there are significantly fewer parts to sort through.
Work to reduce waiting time & setup time in the booth until you can get raw parts to finished parts in one day (if you are not already there). Create more of a 'pull' from your assembly area to the booth as opposed to 'pushing' parts through the booth.

-Just some thoughts, I hope that help.


Post a Response
  • Notify me of responses to this thread
  • Subscribe to email updates on this Forum
  • To receive email notification of additions to this forum thread,
    enter your name and email address, and then click the
    "Keep Me Posted" button below.

    Please Note: If you have posted a message or response,
    do not submit this request ... you are already signed up
    to receive notification!

    Your Name:
    E-Mail Address:
    Enter the correct numbers into the field below:
     

    Date of your Birth:



    Return to top of page

    Buy & Sell Exchanges | Forums | Galleries | Site Map

    FORUM GUIDELINES: Please review the guidelines below before posting at WOODWEB's Interactive Message Boards (return to top)

  • WOODWEB is a professional industrial woodworking site. Hobbyist and homeowner woodworking questions are inappropriate.
  • Messages should be kept reasonably short and on topic, relating to the focus of the forum. Responses should relate to the original question.
  • A valid email return address must be included with each message.
  • Advertising is inappropriate. The only exceptions are the Classified Ads Exchange, Machinery Exchange, Lumber Exchange, and Job Opportunities and Services Exchange. When posting listings in these areas, review the posting instructions carefully.
  • Subject lines may be edited for length and clarity.
  • "Cross posting" is not permitted. Choose the best forum for your question, and post your question at one forum only.
  • Messages requesting private responses will be removed - Forums are designed to provide information and assistance for all of our visitors. Private response requests are appropriate at WOODWEB's Exchanges and Job Opportunities and Services.
  • Messages that accuse businesses or individuals of alleged negative actions or behavior are inappropriate since WOODWEB is unable to verify or substantiate the claims.
  • Posts with the intent of soliciting answers to surveys are not appropriate. Contact WOODWEB for more information on initiating a survey.
  • Excessive forum participation by an individual upsets the balance of a healthy forum atmosphere. Individuals who excessively post responses containing marginal content will be considered repeat forum abusers.
  • Responses that initiate or support inappropriate and off-topic discussion of general politics detract from the professional woodworking focus of WOODWEB, and will be removed.
  • Participants are encouraged to use their real name when posting. Intentionally using another persons name is prohibited, and posts of this nature will be removed at WOODWEB's discretion.
  • Comments, questions, or criticisms regarding Forum policies should be directed to WOODWEB's Systems Administrator
    (return to top).

    Carefully review your message before clicking on the "Send Message" button - you will not be able to revise the message once it has been sent.

    You will be notified of responses to the message(s) you posted via email. Be sure to enter your email address correctly.

    WOODWEB's forums are a highly regarded resource for professional woodworkers. Messages and responses that are crafted in a professional and civil manner strengthen this resource. Messages that do not reflect a professional tone reduce the value of our forums.

    Messages are inappropriate when their content: is deemed libelous in nature or is based on rumor, fails to meet basic standards of decorum, contains blatant advertising or inappropriate emphasis on self promotion (return to top).

    Libel:   Posts which defame an individual or organization, or employ a tone which can be viewed as malicious in nature. Words, pictures, or cartoons which expose a person or organization to public hatred, shame, disgrace, or ridicule, or induce an ill opinion of a person or organization, are libelous.

    Improper Decorum:   Posts which are profane, inciting, disrespectful or uncivil in tone, or maliciously worded. This also includes the venting of unsubstantiated opinions. Such messages do little to illuminate a given topic, and often have the opposite effect. Constructive criticism is acceptable (return to top).

    Advertising:   The purpose of WOODWEB Forums is to provide answers, not an advertising venue. Companies participating in a Forum discussion should provide specific answers to posted questions. WOODWEB suggests that businesses include an appropriately crafted signature in order to identify their company. A well meaning post that seems to be on-topic but contains a product reference may do your business more harm than good in the Forum environment. Forum users may perceive your references to specific products as unsolicited advertising (spam) and consciously avoid your web site or services. A well-crafted signature is an appropriate way to advertise your services that will not offend potential customers. Signatures should be limited to 4-6 lines, and may contain information that identifies the type of business you're in, your URL and email address (return to top).

    Repeated Forum Abuse: Forum participants who repeatedly fail to follow WOODWEB's Forum Guidelines may encounter difficulty when attempting to post messages.

    There are often situations when the original message asks for opinions: "What is the best widget for my type of shop?". To a certain extent, the person posting the message is responsible for including specific questions within the message. An open ended question (like the one above) invites responses that may read as sales pitches. WOODWEB suggests that companies responding to such a question provide detailed and substantive replies rather than responses that read as a one-sided product promotion. It has been WOODWEB's experience that substantive responses are held in higher regard by our readers (return to top).

    The staff of WOODWEB assume no responsibility for the accuracy, content, or outcome of any posting transmitted at WOODWEB's Message Boards. Participants should undertake the use of machinery, materials and methods discussed at WOODWEB's Message Boards after considerate evaluation, and at their own risk. WOODWEB reserves the right to delete any messages it deems inappropriate. (return to top)


  • Forum Posting Help
    Your Name The name you enter in this field will be the name that appears with your post or response (return to form).
    Your Website Personal or business website links must point to the author's website. Inappropriate links will be removed without notice, and at WOODWEB's sole discretion. WOODWEB reserves the right to delete any messages with links it deems inappropriate. (return to form)
    E-Mail Address Your e-mail address will not be publicly viewable. Forum participants will be able to contact you using a contact link (included with your post) that is substituted for your actual address. You must include a valid email address in this field. (return to form)
    Subject Subject may be edited for length and clarity. Subject lines should provide an indication of the content of your post. (return to form)
    Thread Related Link and Image Guidelines Thread Related Links posted at WOODWEB's Forums and Exchanges should point to locations that provide supporting information for the topic being discussed in the current message thread. The purpose of WOODWEB Forums is to provide answers, not to serve as an advertising venue. A Thread Related Link that directs visitors to an area with inappropriate content will be removed. WOODWEB reserves the right to delete any messages with links or images it deems inappropriate. (return to form)
    Thread Related File Uploads Thread Related Files posted at WOODWEB's Forums and Exchanges should provide supporting information for the topic being discussed in the current message thread. Video Files: acceptable video formats are: .MOV .AVI .WMV .MPEG .MPG .MP4 (Image Upload Tips)   If you encounter any difficulty when uploading video files, E-mail WOODWEB for assistance. The purpose of WOODWEB Forums is to provide answers, not to serve as an advertising venue. A Thread Related File that contains inappropriate content will be removed, and uploaded files that are not directly related to the message thread will be removed. WOODWEB reserves the right to delete any messages with links, files, or images it deems inappropriate. (return to form)