Work cell linkage helps slash lead times
Door producer doubles production without adding employees to its Southern California operation
Reducing lead times is a constant challenge for every manufacturer, particularly those who supply components on a just-in-time basis to a wide range of customers.
Corona Millworks, a Los Angeles area cabinet door producer, not only focuses on lead reduction, the company’s founder and owner, Jose Corona, could be viewed as fanatical about it.
“In our business, it’s critical that we continually look for ways to produce our doors faster and get them to our customers when they need them,” says Corona. “We feel like we’re partners in our customers’ businesses, so it’s essential that we act like partners.”
Corona Millworks was founded in Santa Fe Springs in 1995 in a 1,000-sq. ft. building. Originally working as a general contractor, Corona started building his own cabinets for his own projects. As he grew his contracting and cabinet making business, Corona grew ever more dissatisfied with lead times from cabinet door suppliers.
His first employee knew how to make doors and suggested he concentrate on that product only. Eventually, Corona purchased some shapers and a sander and started making doors. He began soliciting neighboring cabinet shops for door orders and quickly decided that the door business was going to be a full-time enterprise.
Shortly thereafter, Corona Millworks moved to a 12,000-sq. ft. building in Chino, where the company stayed until the end of 2004. In January 2005 the company moved to its present 45,000-sq. ft. location. This location and the added space led to the doubling of sales with the same number of employees.
“We were able to accomplish this with new machines, better plant layout and improved material flow and reduction to one shift, Corona explains. “Plus, Southern California’s booming economy and unprecedented residential building growth helped fuel the expansion.”
Doors are sold direct to custom kitchen cabinet manufacturers. Corona has its own direct selling sales force managed by sales manager, Brian Biegert. Corona sells only unfinished doors.
Brian oversees a team that calls on those shops that don’t make their own doors as well as those shops that do but need specialty species or types of doors that Corona can produce,” Corona explains. “Simply put, the cabinet shops, large and small, cannot keep up with demand and must rely on outside suppliers like us for those component parts – like doors – that they cannot make in-house.”
Corona manufactures solid wood cope and stick; five-piece raised doors; mitered five-piece raised panel doors; and MDF core rigid thermofoil doors (RTF). The RTF door sales started in January after the move. Corona purchased two SCM Routech Record 125N CNC routers and a Wemhoner membrane press for the new RTF door division. RTF now accounts for 25 percent of Corona’s sales.
Daily production ranges from a low of 1,000 to a high of 4,000 doors per day with a mix of cope and stick miter and RTF styles. Lead times for catalog items average five to seven days. Short lead times are maintained as a result of a better organized, more productive plant and experienced order desk personnel, Corona says.
“We found that an organized, yet flexible, work-in-progress flow from cell to cell was one of the keys that allowed us to cut lead times,” says Corona. “Plus, we have the personnel in the plant that are constantly working on making the operation even more efficient.” Read more...
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