Furniture production - IMA Schelling Consulting supports investment planning and plant optimization
The furniture industry between challenges and opportunities
Rising manufacturing costs, declining consumption, alternative distribution channels and the realignment of global industry players are currently shaping the market environment in the furniture industry. Transparent planning and automated production processes are key to delivering customized furniture faster and more cost-effectively. The optimization of order processing and production through digitalization is essential. IMA Schelling Consulting therefore supports the furniture industry in establishing modern, future-oriented production lines and a logically coordinated data structure between ERP and MES systems.
IMA Schelling Consulting supports investment planning and plant optimization
Andreas Dahlmeier, Head of Consulting at IMA Schelling, puts it in a nutshell: “The increasing demands on automation and the digitalization of business processes are also changing woodworking industries in the long term. The market is changing and projects are becoming ever more extensive and complex. It is therefore important to keep the big picture in mind when planning new projects.” The IMA Schelling Group's consulting services support customers along the entire process chain in investment planning and plant optimization. The focus here is on digitalization, automation and advanced planning systems.
“In addition to the conceptual development of plant planning, we use all performance management tools,” explains Andreas Dahlmeier. “Our solutions are based on market-leading innovations that are as individual and specific as the daily challenges faced by our customers in the furniture industry.”
On the road to peak performance
A current practical example shows what this means in concrete terms: IMA Schelling worked out a holistic component analysis for a series manufacturer in order to quantify economic potential in the storage of raw materials and components. This led to a drastic reduction in solution sizes and a realignment of the production strategy for the interim storage of semi-finished parts.
“We used the results of our analysis as the basis for plant development planning,” says Andreas Dahlmeier, describing the process. “This includes the continuous development of a digitalized production control system, the integration of an automated raw material warehouse and the decoupling of edge processing and drilling systems. In addition, our concept includes the successive replacement of existing systems with systems with automated material feed and time-optimized set-up processes.”
New production concept reduces time and space requirements
With the help of a new production layout, the production areas were spatially bundled and aligned in the direction of the production flow. This not only reduces the time required for handling and rearranging the material packages, but also the necessary buffer zones. An automated area storage system now takes over the storage of decentralized panel blanks, thus reducing the manual delivery of panel joints to the subsequent processing steps. This ensures optimum utilization of three edge processing systems arranged in parallel and maximum flexibility in component processing. Two systems designed for high performance and one system optimized for batch size 1 are used.
In addition, edge and drilling processing were decoupled from each other in favor of the performance development of edge processing. The performance of the three existing drilling systems was increased through the use of automatic handling systems. Due to the smaller batch sizes, the strategy was changed from manual to automatic set-up of the drilling system.
“The hybrid approach of the new automated production offers our customer the opportunity to meet the respective order variance economically and highly flexibly,” summarizes Andreas Dahlmeier. “At the same time, he benefits from significant cost savings in the storage of components and the provision of finished parts.”
Optimal use of resources for sustainable success
On the other hand, the increasing automation of production processes requires a qualified workforce. Companies must therefore develop innovative approaches to personnel policy in order to retain the best minds in the long term.
One of IMA Schelling Consulting's consulting approaches is to increase employee motivation through wage increases based on performance bonuses. “Another approach we pursue is the optimal use of available resources,” explains Andreas Dahlmeier. “Both approaches require the processes to be recorded over time and continuous performance controlling.” To this end, IMA Schelling regularly conducts analyses at the customer's premises to record unproductive times in the work areas. Valuable potential in the double-digit percentage range can be derived from this.
“Despite the challenges, the current situation also offers opportunities for the furniture industry,” summarizes Andreas Dahlmeier. “Companies that develop innovative and sustainable products, implement efficient processes, are open to new sales channels and focus on the needs of customers and employees are well positioned to master the challenges of the future. With our expertise and experience, we help to unlock potential and achieve sustainable success.”