last kaizen event

 
yesterday we had another kiazen event. I led this one, Esteban, Julio, and Ventura were the participants. the four of us worked really hard to get this completed in two hours. I have to say that it was enjoyable to work together as a team, I wonder if they feel the same way. the beauty of this shelf is that it replaces the steel cabinets that us to hold all this sand paper. We can "at a glance" see what needs to be re-order. if you look closely you can also see the re-order tags that go with each item. the purpose of the re-order tag is so anyone can see who to order the supply from and how much to re-order. We also keep the vendors product number on the ticket so we know precisely what to ask for when we call. This adds tremendous value to our business it is like an automatic re-order system. by spending less time reordering supplies we can pass on that savings to our customers.

the classic group

I ws invited to bid some work this past week for the classic group. They are a premier builder in the area, they even go out of this area as well into other states. Their projects are typically enormouus and are for the high end of the high end. So it is a great opurtunity for me to bid out work for them. I forst contacted them last April at the RDC show in Boston, and then over the next 10 months, through a consistent and respectful manner was able to meet one of the Pm's and then be asked to bid some work. It goes to show that buisnesses are built over time, relationships between client and vendors are built over time.

rigid standards

this past week we brought our vacuum pumps out. We had to buy a new bag and make a new base board for the bag but the pumps that we have are in fine shape. We are gluing up some curved panels for job 77. They are valances over the sink and the hood, the hood itself has a curved front and two curved sides. the use of the vacuum has not been existent for a few years in my shop. the primary reason was I never had the time to get it set up. Gagan took the reins on that and spent some time this week going thru our system and buying what he needed from the manufacturer. It is a system that is made locally by "quality vac" in Concord. It is a great business. The owner Ed started the company in his basement and now it is considered the best in the industry. The assembly of the units is still done in Concord. We are going to be using the system much more. I want to make a table that we can glue up panels of different sizes. being able to glue up a 30" by 120" piece would be very handy. I think that as I develop closet cabinetry and office cabinetry to compete with California closets a veneering operation system is critical. particularity for the desk tops. People always ask me to price out there wood tops with plywood and solid wood nosing. The problem with that is that the veneer you get is usually shabby and the plywood is warped. but being able to control those items I can create wooden tops economically that meets my rigid standards.

loyal opposition

this past weekend I attended the home show at the Shriners auditorium. It was a little smaller than the build Boston shows I have been to in the past. I was there primarily to get to meet the owners of General Contracting firms in the vicinity. There is simply no other way to meet the owners of these companies. I try to get know these companies as well as I can at the show, try to get a sense of weather or not I want to do business with them. I look for the companies that are well established or young and show promise. Most of the GC's at this show already have cabinet makers that they use and many of them have showrooms where they cabinet displays of the lines that they carry. I call that loyal opposition. They are loyal to there respective cabinet companies and there fore opposed to doing business with me. It is my job help them look at me as someone who can do a variety of mill work, like custom doors, paneling or shelving that is not available from a big cabinet line. Sure I want all there cabinet business but truth is that I can't compete with the national cabinet brands. Not yet that is.

There were two companies that I was really interested in. Foxhill out of New Hampshire and All construction out of Sagus Ma. Foxhill is the established leader and All is the young company with "mojo".

On the horizon we have the RDC show coming in Boston in April. This year I will be working in the seminar suites. Last year I focused on the exhibit floor this year I will be doing my note taking and prospecting in the seminars. Many GC's pride themselves on being unnoticed not in the lime light and they won't do an exhibit, but they want to attend the show to see the new products and attend seminars to learn about marketing and trends, which is very smart. That is who and where I will meet them.

new crown

 
this is a new crown for us, we made the knife here are with our own profile machine and then we made the crown in walnut. What is nice about this crown, I am refering to the top crown piece in this photo is that it is two pieces. You can't tell that, but the half round piece is applied after the fact during the install. That does two things for us, first it gives a small crown big depth, the profile is impossible to cut as a one piece so it looks rich becuase of that. Second and most importantly we can screw this crown to the facia with simple screws that have lots of pull and draw. The screw heads are covered by the half round that is nailed on with a pin nailer. This is brillant because the crown is soildily attached with-out any exposed fastners. Also we can screw and unscrew the crown during install.

always studying

 

this is interesting. I didn't install this work but was looking at others work. What interest me is the install of the perestals. They have chosen to scerw them to an unlevel floor and then shim the cabinet boxes to the pedestals. I wouuld have shimed the pedestals and then placed the boxes on the pedestal one after the other. Shimming the pedestals is a pain. Is it easier to shim the pedestals or the cabinet boxes, that is the question.