A cnc router that cuts thousands of plywood caps for industrial pipelines every week is expected to help create a bigger future for the North Carolina construction supply center that operates it. Smith-
Phillips Wood and construction supplies in Winston
Saleminvest invested $135,000 last year in Cosmec Conquest CNC router and alphacamoptimization software, cutting it backto-
The dimension department can provide capsto-to protect the end of Teflon-
Coating pipes during shipment.
\"It\'s almost impossible without a router,\" said sfred Barton, operations manager for cut-to-size division.
Equipment purchased from HolzHer U. S.
Mickey W admits that this is a huge investment for the start-up company.
Boles Chairman, President and CEO of Boles, Smith-Phillips owner.
\"But give it time,\" says Boles . \". The cut-to-
Smith created the scale division in 1997.
The Philippines absorbed equipment and personnel from the nearby village hall veneer company.
It was closed after the death of its owner. Cut-to-
Smith ejobs currently accounts for about 10% of Smith\'s
Annual sales in the Philippines
Much of the company\'s business is to sell timber and other building materials to commercial and residential builders and homeowners, as well as roofs, doors, windows and engineered wood products. Smith-Phillips cut-to-
The size department is currently focusing on manufacturing parts, but this may change, says Boles.
\"You won\'t be able to keep up with the times unless you keep up with the technology.
We think we\'re doing this.
Boles said he believes that the addition of routers will definitely help the company develop more business.
Smith recently
Phillips was named one of the 50 fastest players.
Winston\'s private company is growing.
Local business magazine reports the region of Salem Greensboro and highs. Smith-
Phillips was founded in 1880 and has a sales location in Elgin, NC.
It didn\'t start cutting until last year-to-
The five staff members of the size department work within 1,200 square feet of space, and they are restricted to cutting upsquare and rectangles from plywood, mid-fiber boards, and Lawan to achieve the manufacture of upholstered furniture goods and buses.
However, Smith-
Phillips signed a lucrative contract with crane Reistoflex to produce end caps of various sizes and shapes, which is required by the plumbing manufacturer to fill out product orders for its chemical industry customers.
While waiting for the CNC router to deliver and install the atits factory, Smith-
Cross temporarily uses a U of the Cosmec router, atHolzHer. S.
Based in Charlotte.
Once the router is in place, the company is starting to make the CAP seriously.
Now, the crane Resident Flex can produce nearly 500,000 units per year.
In addition, the company once again showed new value to furniture customers --
The router makes it possible to add services.
Some new component services provided by Smith
Phillips includes hair seat blanks, curved sofa backrest, chair armrests and front
Frame With pre
Drill holes.
Bowles and Barton said cut. to-
Size operation is perfect for Smith-
Phillips, because as a construction supplier, the company has access to a wide range of raw materials, including plywood, broken board, medium fiber board and wood.
The company bought most of the goods through Lumbermen\'s merchandise sales company.
A national purchasing cooperative
While the CNC router has greatly increased productivity, accuracy is critical and it may be a bigger award, says Boles.
\"Everything we have done so far has taken into account the quality.
\"When Boles and Barton stand in their store, there is an 8-tool-
Replace the system and drill holes in the cap even before the cap is cut out from the plywood.
While observing the operation, Barton said that his company could not achieve the same accuracy in the use of hand-produced multiple partsheld equipment.
\"Of course, the downside is that if the machine is set up incorrectly, then all the components are wrong,\" Barton said with a smile . \".
He added in a hurry, however, that this rarely happens.
AlphaCAM software raises many potential problems during the programming phase.
\"It will tell us when one of the drawings will not work,\" he said . \". Smith-
According to Barton, Phillips has produced about 25 to 30 cap versions for cranereoflex, including diamonds, Hexagon and other geometric shapes.
The cover is bolted to the pipe flange with a diameter of 2 inch to 2 feet.
The different shapes provide the space for the crane\'s resident flex to paint the pipe without having to remove the cover. Smith-
Phillips is on an order just completed. in-
Time basis, receive cad drawings by email every weekmail.
Button and router programmer Terry Snow just need to download the drawings, add tool paths, or specify the tools they want to use for the required cutting and drilling.
The optimization function of AlphaCAM software investigated 96-inchby 48-
Inch plywood, decide which cutting pattern is the easiest to cut, and then specify smaller cuts to use something else that will be wasted.
\"The savings we get are not real,\" Barton said . \".
\"There are things that won\'t work without a router.
We may get 25 to 30% of the revenue from the board.
\"Added value: Square Barton shows the blank space of a chair, a piece of plywood that has been laid out inside to create space for foam and straps.
In the past, customers in this section used band saws to make holes.
This is just an example of the type of value, he said --
Increased Service
Phillips is available now.
Barton said that the same is true of the curved rails of the sofa backrest, sofa armrests and stumps, and when connected to the arm, they form part of the front frame.
Before buying the router, Smith-
The cross offers this simple plywood rectangle for samecustomer.
Now the customer gets the complete shape of the components that are precisely drilled for the pins used to assemble the frame.
\"All our clients have to do is put it together,\" Barton said . \".
The extra cost of these values
Bartonadd said that given the customer\'s savings in labor and materials, there was very little added service.
The software is based on the pattern sent by the customer to program the CAD drawings and can nest eight sofa rails from the single layer of plywood.
In contrast, Barton says an employee who operates a broadband saw may only get six tracks from the same material because plywood has to be cutto-size first.
\"Once the operator does this, he will lose all of his output,\" Barton said . \".
Barton, snow and three other employees of the company
Computer-based equipment to strengthen efforts.
Including a door.
Off saw, Onsrud pin router, Tannewitz band saw, Rogers panel saw, and B. M.
Root rig.
Considering that the conquest router now accounts for about 1-third of Smith-
It\'s not surprising when Barton says more CNC equipment is the future.
Related article: \"Best New Supplier\"
Smith\'s million professional plywood pipe cap-
The annual delivery of Phillipscranks is of such high quality that the delivery is on time that the customer named Smith-Crane residential Flex
Phillips is the \"Best New Company \".
Supplier \"2000.
The award is based on the judgment of the crane purchasing supervisor, the engineer and the shipping and receiving personnel. Smith-
Phillips was rated on-100%
Delivery time and 99.
Barton reported a quality of £ 74%.
Furniture manufacturing customers who are used to their own hands-on need extra persuasion to turn into buying value --
Added parts, Barton said.
\"Once they finally catch up, they say, \'Hey, we should do that.
Mickey Bowles, president of Smith
Phillips says he is sure there will be more opportunities to wait for cutsto-size shop.
\"The future is bright and our people will achieve that,\" he said . \"--