Getting a jump on the factory of the future.

Holzma = U.S.'s Factory of the Future seminar shoes attendees step-by-step the process of installing and integrating a manufacturing cell in their plants.

Manufacturing cells. Transparent setup times. Seamless manufacturing. Parametric programming. These are some of the most often-heard phrases buzzing around the professional woodworking industry these days.

As lead times continue to shrink, run quantities get smaller and competition gets tougher, belts are tightening across the board. Woodworkers need to know what the manufacturing cell concept is, how it can help them make their businesses more productive and efficient, and what it takes to implement the concept in their own manufacturing environment.

To this end, Holzma=U.S., a division of Stiles Machinery, held half-day "Factory of the Future" seminars at its facility in Gastonia, NC, June 12-13. The Factory of the Future concept links the Holzma panel saw, Homag edgebander and Weeke point-to-point boring machine together through the incorporation of Holzma CutRite optimization software and bar coding.

"As run quantities continue to drop it becomes obvious that the manufacturing cell is necessary to keep companies competitive," said Bill Pitt, vice president/general manager of Holzma=U.S. "Our whole economy has evolved into one where inventory is kept at a minimum. You need to have a manufacturing system that's responsive and that minimizes idle time. You need to have the right components on hand for the job, easily identifiable, without errors. Elimination of as many material handling steps as possible will further compress the production process. This is the immediate future of the woodworking industry."

The Factory of the Future

In the Factory of the Future seminar, a manufacturing cell is defined as "A highly effective system of software and interfaced production machinery that allows utmost flexibility and effortless control of a cost-effective production facility."

Several things needed to happen before the manufacturing cell concept could become a reality:

* Electronic data transfer. The ability to program the manufacturing path of each part from the office and download it to each CNC-controlled machine is the first step toward creating a seamless manufacturing environment.

* Parametric programming. Stretching or compressing the dimensions of a piece in a computer's parts library used to mean manually updating the machining instructions as well. If the piece is parametrically programmed, however, the machining instructions are automatically updated as the dimensions of the piece are changed. Parametrically programming every piece in a parts library paves the way for transparent set-up times and allows a manufacturer to efficiently run low quantities of a part.

* Bar code labels. Incorporating a bar code onto a label that is attached to each piece at the panel saw links the entire manufacturing cell together. "With the scannable bar code label, we have the correct information linked throughout the cell and each machine pulls the correct setups for each piece out of the machine's memory," said Pitt. "What this means is that the only idle time at each machine is the tune it takes for the machining head to move from one end of the machine to the other. This minimizes the non-productive, non-value-added step of setup."

At the Factory of the Future seminar, Holzma also advocated taking the bar code label one step further by adding a parts drawing to the label.

"People are visually oriented, and having the actual drawing of the part on the label makes it easier for the operator to know that he's producing the correct part," said Pitt. "The label can also have three different bar codes on it: one to be scanned at the Weeke for the drilling pattern, and two to be scanned for each edgebanding pass at the Homag. The more specific the instructions on the bar code label, the better."

When all the elements of the Factory of the Future manufacturing cell come together, the CutRite software optimizes the cutting requirements for a job into runs consisting of groups of cutting patterns and the parts that make up those patterns. These runs are then downloaded into the Holzma panel saw controller. Reports via network or computer disk provide real-tune saw production information to be viewed in the office in CutRite, including cutting in progress, cycle times, breaks, shift changes, idle tune and error messages.

A self-adhesive bar code label is generated and attached to each cut-to-size component coming off the panel saw. The bar code label is then scanned at the Homag edgebander. The correct machining instructions are automatically pulled from the working memory to be processed. The program for the edgebander setup includes edgeband thickness settings, material thickness and profile type.

The piece then travels to the Weeke point-to-point boring machine, where the bar code label is scanned again and the correct machining instructions are automatically processed. CutRite retrieves the active tool file from the Weeke. The part drawings are checked for errors, NC-generated and downloaded via ethernet to the Weeke as both standard and mirrored images.

"The idea of the manufacturing cell is to increase the volume a shop produces without increasing direct labor, and to eliminate rework," said Pitt. "One of our customers told us his volume went up 40 to 50 percent after we installed a manufacturing cell in his shop, with no increase in direct labor. Another customer had 4 percent of his direct labor hours going toward correcting mismanufacturing before we installed a manufacturing cell; now that number has dropped to 0.04 percent."

According to Pitt, the future holds broader-based acceptance of the manufacturing cell concept.

"In another five years it will be the rule, not the exception, in small shops. We install it now in shops with five guys," said Pitt. "If you make an investment in machinery, you want the machine to be producing as many components as possible, not sitting idle. With this system, the machine can go from pattern to pattern with no lost time. The whole point of the manufacturing cell is to get to the point that doing quantities of one is practical."

The Factory of the Future seminar showed attendees, step-by-step, how a manufacturing cell operates, how Stiles Machinery can take single-source responsibility for the integration and support of a cell, and how to avoid pitfalls when installing a manufacturing cell.

The next Factory of the Future seminar will be held Nov. 6-7 (in conjunction with the Midwest-Grand Rapids Woodworking & Furniture Supply Fair) at Stiles Machinery's facility in Grand Rapids, MI. Call (616) 698- 7500 for more information.