Custom Shop
When Pennville Custom Cabinetry sought to purchase a piece of used machinery in 1990, little did the 90-year-old company realize it would be reshaping its entire approach to production.

Finish Line
Getting the same finish each and every time requires more than just your memory. If an individual can see millions of color shades, it is difficult to visualize that same color each time. Sure you can write down the steps you took, but if you change species or the wood color changes slightly, then you have a color change.

The First Word
Sir Isaac Newton said it best, “What goes up must come down.” We certainly witnessed it last year in the housing market, which saw sales of new homes fall by an estimated 18 percent from a record-high in 2005.

Hot Gear
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Material Issues
What is the outlook for some of the more popular North American hardwood species?
“Red Oak markets will take on a softer feel over the next few months,” says Barrett “Upper-grade Red Oak will be especially difficult to move, and common-grade Red Oak shipments will slow to flooring plants, many of which will stop purchasing #1 Common altogether. Lower prices will lure Far Eastern, Mexican, European and Middle Eastern buyers to the table and lift Red Oak out of the doldrums during the second half of the year.

Mid-Atlantic Expo Extra
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Production Line
There are companies that serve the high-end custom cabinet market, and then there are companies like Midland Cabinet – companies that go above and beyond good business practices in pursuit of perfect part quality and the best working conditions for their employees.

Proving Ground
“Our goal has always been to be a lean, fast-throughput, high-volume facility since we started operations in March, 2006,” says Mark Bennett, director of operations for The Millwork Company, a division of Source One Distribution. The Albuquerque, N.M.-based manufacturer produces fixture packages for large restaurant chains.

Sanding Sense
One of the most common sanding defects is streaking. Most of the time these streaks do not show up in the white wood but are all too obvious after finishing. While it is possible to produce some streaks on contact drum type sanding heads, most streaks are produced on platen type heads.


Supply Side
When one thinks of functional hardware, glamour isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But pretty is as pretty does in this set of functional hardware innovations that you won’t want to keep hidden.

Think Lean
We have seen that the most effective approach to achieving real operational performance breakthrough requires focusing on two fronts: operating the business day-to-day for both the company and its customers; and reinventing operations to support a quantum leap to a next-generation business design. The problem we face is when the near-term day-to-day business demands overshadow the long-term. This is where strategy matters and how Strategy Deployment (SD) serves business leaders.

Trends
LEED compliance becomes more accessible to commercial furniture manufacturers.
With the gaining momentum in demand for green buildings, commercial furniture manufacturers are increasingly looking for profit-making opportunities by filling the new green buildings with furniture that is compliant with the LEED for Commercial Interiors EQ 4.5 low-emitting furniture credit.

Trends Extra
Woodworking equipment purchases cool slightly in 2005. While most categories held steady or increased, overall acquisitions of woodworking equipment decreased by 3 percent in 2005 over 2004 numbers. A healthy economy along with continuing strong housing and remodeling markets bode well for 2006 increased buying power.

Trends Wood Bits
The Woodworking Machinery Industry Association (WMIA) is co-sponsoring the Cabinet Makers Association (CMA) Roundtable Dinner at this year’s AWFS Fair. The Roundtable Dinner allows CMA members the opportunity to use each other as sounding boards in a non-competitive setting.

Words of Wisdom
Modern Woodworking is growing, and so is our parent company, Randall-Reilly Publishing Company. With growth come opportunities and challenges. For me, the success we’ve achieved with Modern Woodworking provides an opportunity to present new challenges to those who have played an integral role in our growth.