FDM magazine - AyA Kitchens and Baths

cabinet
producer
to 30 employees.
The plant can produce 70 kitchens a
shift at full capacity, but it is now producing
an average of 30 kitchens a day.
Lorke, a native of Germany, is a big proponent
of Homag equipment. In the cutting
cell are three Holzma saws, two HPL
33 models and one HPL 11, and two Altendorf
F45 sliding table saws.
Most edgebanding is done on a single
line with several machines. Two Homag
Door department assembles doors
from purchased components and
pieces cut here. A door is sanded
on a Viet widebelt sander before
going to the finishing department.
double-end tenoners are used to produce
the final edge cut (one machine does two
sides, the board is flipped 180 degrees and
the second does the other two sides). Next
are two single-sided Homag Profimat
edgebanders in a row, and then another
double-end tenoner, a Homag Profi-Line,
that removes 2-1/2 mm from each edge,
and cuts a groove in the back, if needed.
Every part of the carcase can be done on
this line. Employees on opposite ends of
the line communicate with headsets. A
separate edgebander, that is longer and
has a 24-edgeband magazine, is used for
shelves and rails.
In AyA’s drilling section a Weeke BET
500 is seen by Lorke as being the workhorse.
It does a large share of the drilling,
working with a Weeke BST 500 dowel inserter.
Drilling is also done by a
Weeke Optimat BP 145 machining
center, and a smaller Optimat. Gluing
and dowel insertion is also handled
by a Koch 310, and a new larger
Koch BDB feedthrough machine.
A small custom department uses
a Weeke Optimat BP 85 for smaller
volume, special work.
Doors and finishing
The door department is separated from
the other functions by an aisle that runs
the length of the plant. Outside suppliers
deliver most of the door stiles, rails and
raised veneer center panels. AyA keeps an
inventory of random-length solid wood
panels for the other 20 percent of doors,
which are cut there. The door department
has a Voorwood A112
shaper/sander, Friulmac double-end
tenoner, Hoffmann double-miter
saw, and two clamp carriers. Two
Homag double-end tenoners determine
that the door is square. Three
Viet widebelt sanders complete the
door department.
There is a staging area for finishing,
the next cell. Two finishing lines are
in operation, with a third on order,
Lorke says. The staining line starts
with a Heesemann KSM2 sander.
Stain is applied by a Cattanair Rotoclean
rotary spray booth, a process that Lorke
says works especially well for raised panel
doors. Both front and back are stained. A
second finishing line applies sealer and
topcoat with a Cattinair EP2M UV curing
unit.
Pieces are fed into four assembly lines
(two are currently used), each with a Ligmatech
case clamp. Custom units come into assembly
separately. Blum hardware and
insertion machines are used.
Will the cabinet market continue to
grow? “I believe it will,” Martin says. “One
of the things we know in North America is
that during this economic downswing,
housing has stayed extremely strong.
“AyA has a lot of capacity, and we’re diversifying
our markets as quickly as possible.
We are such a small player in those
markets that our ability to gain market
share is huge. In the next six months we
expect to at least double production. I
don’t see that as a challenge.” ▲
Action in the finishing department.
Doors are hand sanded between a
stain spray line in background,
and a UV cure line.
Custom software
provides flexibility
AyA’s Brad Budge, director of engineering
and information technology,
developed a completely custom software
package called Manufacturing Manager
that is primarily based on SQL technology,
with more flexibility and the ability to
track rework.
“We created a well thought-out database
design and built our business rules
around it,” Budge says. “It gave us reliability
on information and unprecedented
speed. We went from a whole week to
compile and print manufacturing information
to only three hours.”
The only major project was the order
entry system, and creating simple GUI
applications for different departments to
access the data. Budge says there was
very little application development.
“I would only consider purchasing
software if it is highly specialized,”
Budge says. “You cannot beat the overall
advantages creating it in house. The
programming tools and database functionality
today make things so easy.”
Reprinted from FDM magazine,
September, 2003 issue.
©2003 Watt Publishing, Co.
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