Customer Challenges

Customer satisfaction is simple: Give them what they want -- when they want it. When you buy a car, the salesman would prefer that you pick one from the lot, but doesn’t mind ordering just what you want: color; engine; sunroof; etc. It’s been that way for years while our industry sleeps on!

· The residential furniture industry is still talking about “cuttings” planned months in advance. When will they ever realize the true cost of over-ripe inventory?

· Made-to-order producers promise two months’ delivery even when they are slow because all their orders get bogged down in engineering and purchasing before reaching the floor. A dangerous situation as your customer’s life-style may change before you deliver.

· Upholstered producers offering quick delivery of a wide range of fabrics shouldn’t feel so smug reading the above. Ever try ordering a chair with a wider frame or a lower seat? Have you waited forever for a C.O.M. order?

Your inertia creates a market for many smaller, more nimble, factories. Some show their thanks by becoming viable competitors. To survive and prosper your mission is to efficiently produce customized products in a mass production environment. Only four things are required but they must all be the best: people, methods, machines and systems

You probably will have limited success hiring better employees so concentrate on improving the ones you have. They not only need the skills to operate computerized equipment; they need the basics - training to comprehend manufacturing instructions and a work environment in which they won’t hesitate to communicate with management. Education, management involvement, and improved worker quality are a good start but you have to leverage this with the right equipment - that simplifies and minimizes employee interaction:

· Computerized controls to position tools and adjust sizes automatically by just entering the part number, (or wanding a bar-code label), reduce errors. Stack tooling and/or automatic tool changers will reduce downtime. (In most semi-custom work, changeover time may exceed actual run-time.) Programmable logic controllers that sense tool wear signal the need for tool changes and run time meters schedule preventive maintenance.

· Downloading cutlists directly from the office to the panel saw will reduce input errors and, by eliminating keypunching at the saw, reduce downtime. Many saws print parts labels, which identify the part and direct it to the next operation.

· Optimizing lumber cutoff saws eliminate worker decisions and, as a bonus, count the number of pieces produced and the lumber consumed. They make the right decisions hour after hour with no after-lunch slump.

· Material handling equipment to do the heavy lifting and positioning. This helps shift job requirements from brawn to brains.

· Accuracy and repeatability are extremely critical since they eliminate the need to hand fit parts. (Cases and doors may be built in different parts of your factory.) Your first reaction to computers for basic machines like table saws may be a smirk or a giggle, but when you understand they actually set the machine to the exact size rather than just read out the size, you’ll appreciate their role in eliminating a lot of downstream labor

A great factory without profitable orders is worthless and that’s where systems enter this discussion. Capturing the customer’s needs, determining price and collecting the money is only a start. There are many great systems for that purpose but most of them fail in the factory. You need to know your true factory costs and make realistic delivery promises by interacting with the factory production schedules and these in turn must be based upon true work-cell capabilities. Required is a completely integrated approach that balances the realities of the factory floor with your customer commitments.

This is not a “factory of the future” scenario - it is NOW. Your customers want your products their way - customized, on-time and competitively priced. To meet this challenge you need to build a great organization with the best people, methods, equipment and systems. All four elements are required for success. (A four-leaf clover with a missing or wilted leaf just isn’t as lucky.)