Matthew Marsden’s Error-Free And Speedy Process With Cabinet Vision

Matthew Marsden Furniture only began using the software in 2016, and quickly became advanced users at a high level. Along with manufacturing quality kitchens, bedrooms and studies, they are also known for boot rooms, gun rooms and wine rooms, working directly with end-users, and one trade outlet.

“Cabinet Vision speeds up our process and has completely eliminated errors from it.”

Matthew Marsden, Owner

While they have supplied kitchens all over the world, including Moscow, Switzerland, Germany and Spain, most customers are close to their Lancashire base.

Everything is designed in Cabinet Vision Solid Ultimate from Vero Software, and the NC code sent to an Andi Stratos CNC router with its Screen-To-Machine module. “We can be totally confident that what we design in Cabinet Vision will be faithfully reproduced when it’s cut. As long as we draw it correctly, the finished component is going to be perfect.”

And he says they have never found anything that cannot be drawn up in the software. “For example, we’ve done complex circular butcher’s blocks with revolving shelves and curved doors with no difficulty. And it’s ideal for showing customers exactly what their finished room will look like.”

That latter point was the main reason he decided to invest in Cabinet Vision. “Previously we drew up our designs in another CAD system, which was only 2D and our customers struggled to picture how it would look in their homes. We often needed to go through several redraws with them, and even then it was still hard for them to visualise it from the 2D.

“But now, with Cabinet Vision’s full colour 3D renders they can see realistically what it will look like in situ straight away, and saves us having to do numerous redraws.” As well as showing customers the entire layout on a giant TV screen in the showroom, they also highlight specific cabinets and units. “We can pick out a large pantry cabinet, spin it round to show it from all angles, and adapt it there and then with the number of shelves and drawers the customer wants.”

Any engraving that is required – including words on drawer fronts – is incorporated through another Vero product, Alphacam.  

Once Matthew and a colleague have created all the panels and completed the full design, the file is sent to Project Manager Steven Millington, who double checks all the drawings and then creates the cutting lists…which is another benefit of using Cabinet Vision.

“Previously the cutting lists and nesting were done manually, which was time consuming and there was a lot of scope for error. With nesting, I’d draw an 8 x 4 sheet and individually import each panel.  Then the completed panel would be imported into another CAM system for the toolpaths and drill holes to be added, and finally sent to the machine.

“The whole process used to take days. Now, it’s just hours. I create the cutting lists and include any additional information that the shopfloor may need if it’s a particularly complex cabinet, and print off the drawings, passing everything to the workshop. Then I send the NC code to the router. So it speeds up our workflow considerably, while eliminating errors.”

As well as using the Cabinet Vision support portal occasionally, Steven finds the customer forums can normally answer any queries. In addition, he says YouTube videos are a good source of information showing various ways of achieving what he needs to do.

Matthew Marsden says it is vital that their components are high precision so everything fits perfectly on site. “The cabinets, drawer boxes, doors, frames and shelves are all cut at the same time, so we can’t afford any hiccups during final assembly.

“Spending an additional fifteen minutes at the design stage making sure each cabinet is perfect may save an hour or more further down the process. We have total confidence that the Cabinet Vision designs will be accurately reproduced in the NC code and cut exactly as required.

About the Company

Name: Matthew Marsden Furniture Business: Manufacturer of quality kitchens, bedrooms and studies. Also known for boot rooms, gun rooms and wine rooms. Web: www.mmfurniture.co.uk Benefits Achieved Total confidence in design being reproduced exactly. Can show customers exactly what their finished room will look like. No need for numerous redraws of a design. Speeds up workflow considerably. Comments “The whole process used to take days. Now, it’s just hours.” Matthew Marsden, Owner

Profits Rise with Automation

American Wood Design, Inc., boosts efficiency by implementing automation and standardization with Cabinet Vision.

American Wood Design, Inc., of Claymont, Delaware, specializes in commercial projects — including the occasional residence — and millwork that has been outsourced by other millwork companies. “We are considered somewhat of a millwork job shop, but that’s only a portion of our workload,” says Michael Gilhool, Jr., project manager and estimator for American Wood Design.

Gilhool’s father, a career woodworker, founded the company — originally dubbed Michael Gilhool & Sons — in 1996. Michael Gilhool, Sr., spent his first year in business toiling away at night on the second floor of an office building where his wife was employed in a doctor’s office.

The company has since relocated to a business park, where it has steadily grown in both square footage and staffing since 1997. It has also made a policy of embracing technology to remain competitive since acquiring its first panel saw in 1996.

“Right now, our business runs fully on the nested based CNC that we have because of how automated it is,” says Michael Gilhool, Jr. “We have implemented a lot of automation, and we would like to have even more.” The road to automation was initially paved with good intentions, but somewhat disappointing results. The business was still drawing designs by hand in 2013, when the company acquired AutoCAD® computer-aided-design (CAD) software, by Autodesk®, to speed up the process. Gilhool was creating shop drawings and shop-floor mechanics were producing all the company’s products by hand when Gilhool’s father encouraged him to take a look at other, more advanced options.

“My dad wanted me to go out and get a feel for what was out there,” Gilhool says. “We were making ends meet, but it wasn’t totally working money-wise. The impression that we got was that, if we wanted to be in this game, we needed to become more efficient.” After researching the CAM market, Gilhool concluded that it was time for an upgrade and the company purchased the Cabinet Vision design-to-manufacturing solution, by Vero Software, in 2014.

“You need a good CNC machine, but you also need a good software to drive all that it does,” Gilhool says. “One thing that we do a lot of in Cabinet Vision are reception desks in lots of different finishes. A lot of what we use Cabinet Vision for is taking existing CAD drawings, importing them into Cabinet Vision, and then drawing right on top of those drawings to do all the engineering.” Specifically, Gilhool requests 2D AutoCAD drawings from customers, and those drawings are then converted to DXF files and imported into Cabinet Vision.

Prior to acquiring Cabinet Vision, staff would storyboard projects by hand, a process that is lengthy and prone to error. “Now, when a project comes out in Cabinet Vision, we already have dadoes and holes, and everything else that we need in position before it goes out to the shop floor,” Gilhool says, adding that the software’s flexibility enables him and his team to edit shapes, along with a laundry list of parameters.

“We are a very custom shop and we wouldn’t want any limitations,” he says. “We are also able to create standards for the way that we do certain jobs, and we built up a database that includes construction methods.”

Gilhool and his team also take advantage of User Created Standards, or UCSs, within Cabinet Vision. Written in basic if/then statements, UCSs are ideally applied in instances where a certain method or preference is used repeatedly.

For instance, if a particular type of material is always cut a certain way, a UCS that specifies a particular cutting method can be automatically applied when that material is used to reduce programming time. UCSs also help with standardizing procedures on and off the shop floor.

“The hard part is putting all the information in before you start a job,” Gilhool says. “As long as it goes out there right, we’re much more efficient that we ever were in the shop. It really helps you to know exactly what we need and then have it there before it goes to the CNC.”

Today, the American Wood Design team has three seats of Cabinet Vision, as well as a network key, which ensures that any changes made during the programming process are universal. “Now, there is so much more work being done in the office, which is where it should be done,” says Gilhool, who notes that his brother, CNC Operator Jimmy Gilhool, would travel repeatedly between the shop floor and office to make programming tweaks — a practice disruptive to work ow.

The network key solved the centralization issue and ensures that Jimmy can program from the shop floor while Michael or third CNC programmer Mike Haley can program from the office — and anywhere else they please.

“We’re really putting standards into place now,” Gilhool says. “Things change and we’re very custom, but we’ve created a database that we can use. We have a lot of different construction methods and a lot of materials. We produce it exactly the way we see it in the drawings, and we do it the way the customer wants it done.”

Gilhool appreciates that Cabinet Vision allows him to import textures, and says that the ability to produce detailed renderings is a big boost when it comes to conveying the project prior to fabrication for architects or end clients.” “There’s big a pretty big response to us having 3D drawings,” he says. “We get a lot of compliments on our drawings.”

Gilhool also uses Cabinet Vision to insert architectural plans into shop drawings to centralize all the data for a project so that the installation process is hassle and error free.

“Before we got Cabinet Vision, I would bid a job, we’d close out that job I’d get a report that would say ‘We should have charged more for this job,’” Gilhool says. “I still see the profitability once a job closes and it’s definitely better than what we were doing before. We were really breaking even or making a little money, and now we’re making profits on our jobs.”

Those profits are a reflection of greater efficiency, as well as a reduction in man hours and material waste.

Gilhool notes that American Wood Design is continuing to improve as it learns how to fully take advantage of all of the tools available in Cabinet Vision. The company plans to expand in both square footage and personnel, and will continue to invest in CNC equipment and software.

The company’s investment in software includes support from the Cabinet Vision community, which offers a help forum populated with knowledgeable users.

“There are some real Cabinet Vision wizards out there who are very willing to help,” Gilhool says, adding that the support he receives from Cabinet Vision staff is top notch.

“When you compare what we’re doing now to what we were doing two years ago, it’s night and day,” he says. “A good amount of credit is owed to CNC and Cabinet Vision for helping us to know that we can continue to be more efficient.”

About The Company:

• Name: American Wood Design, Inc.
• Business: Commercial cabinetry and millwork
• Website: americanwooddesign.com

Benefits Achieved:

• Eliminated the need to plan, or storyboard, projects by hand
• Significantly reduced human error and material waste
• Implemented company standards and automation

Comments:

“When you compare what we’re doing now to what we were doing two years ago, it’s night and day. A good amount of credit is owed to CNC and Cabinet Vision for helping us to know that we can continue to be more efficient.”

Michael Gilhool, Jr., project manager and estimator

Cabinet Vision

From entry level cutlist packages to four fully integrated Screen-to-MachineTM solutions, and every step along the way, Cabinet Vision is the only software that can truly grow with your business. All of our modules include design, rendering, pricing and bidding, and cutlist and report capabilities.

planitcanada.ca

 

Increased Piece Part Activity With Cabinet Vision Boosts Fitzgerald Kitchens’ Margins

“Without Cabinet Vision we might as well be using a hatchet.” Those are the words of Fitzgerald Kitchens Managing Director Eamonn Fitzgerald, who invested in the specialist woodwork CAD/CAM software in 2015, and says it was only when he started using it that he realised how indispensable it really is.

 

“Cabinet Vision has been vital in increasing our piece part activity, which is the only way to increase margins, as the jobs we’re getting are being cut to the bone all the time.”

Eamonn Fitzgerald, Managing Director

Initially installing Cabinet Vision Solid Essential, the company – based in County Wicklow, in the Irish Republic – quickly upgraded to Solid Ultimate, along with the Screen-To-Machine Ultimate module for sending accurate NC code to their two Homag Weeke nesting machine tools; a DHP 210 with 9 x 7 bed, and BHP 200 with 9 x 5 bed.

He says Cabinet Vision has been instrumental in expanding their trade operation, particularly repeat business from housing developers. For example, a recent four week 500,000-Euro job for a developer in Limerick, saw €145,000 worth of furniture leaving the factory each week, with only two fully-qualified cabinet makers and eight semi-skilled workers involved with the manufacture.

“A couple of years ago we were barely turning over 500,000-Euro a year. Now, in the first six months of 2016, the business-to-business side of the company turned over almost 2m-Euro.”

He says the fact that Cabinet Vision does what skilled workers used to, is not simply a question of them setting out to save money. “Skilled people just aren’t out there anymore. A lot of them went abroad during the difficult economic times of a few years ago, and haven’t returned to Ireland.”

The company incorporated a number of the different construction methods they use, into a drop-down menu in Cabinet Vision. These include Briarconnect, face frame, groove back, inframe, onefix, robes, standard, and standard dowel. And for manufacturing four different styles of kitchen – Painted, In-Frames, Contemporary and Shaker – they use four different production processes with different hardware.

“We just scroll down to whichever dialog we want and open it to edit the cabinet. Because of Cabinet Vision’s parametric capabilities, everything changes in proportion, ensuring we get a perfect assembly that will fit together on site, and it means we can change things like going from a cheaper hinge to a dearer hinge, immediately, at the click of a button.”

Producing something ‘off-standard’ was difficult in their pre-Cabinet Vision days. “If we were using the beam saw to make a number of kitchens with units of 720 mm high by 300 deep, they would then go on to point-to-point for standard drilling for shelf holes and locations for the hinges…after which, the fabricator assembled the units. If someone wanted units of a different size it was very time consuming.

“But using Cabinet Vision, if a unit needs to be a metre high, instead of 720 or 900 mm we can do it by simply editing an existing cabinet in our library.” Working mainly with 2.8 x 2.1 metre boards of MDF and chipboard a typical nest comprises between 15 and 20 panels. “It’s absolutely vital that every component is cut to an accurate, perfect shape with all holes in the right place.”

Which was something the beam saw could not always produce, as he says the components would often move off-square. “We had to create a program on the point-to-point so it would go round the parts and square them.”

He says there is no doubt that Cabinet Vision has transformed the company in the short time they have been using it. “The nesters run on the early shift from 6 a.m., driving both machines, and do the same for the late shift from 12 noon to 8 pm. All programs are generated in Cabinet Vision, cutting everything we make, ensuring we can ship around 40 completed kitchens and 250 bedrooms each month.”

Eamonn Fitzgerald, who runs the company with his brother, Des, designs his initial cabinet drawings, then transfers them into Cabinet Vision for editing and manipulation to ensure that the NC code enables the machines to cut exactly what the customer requires.

“This is vital for cases where the back of a unit has to be cut to fit around a pillar, or to create a wine rack in the unit. Also, a lot of developers need oven and microwave configurations, which need to be customised. That’s all done in Cabinet Vision, and is cut in the workshop instead of the fitter having to cut it to fit, when it gets on site.” And he says whenever a design is completed it is stored in Cabinet Vision for use as a possible starting point when a customer wants something similar.

Overall, the combination of Cabinet Vision’s ability to quickly produce accurate components and then nest them, with the Screen-To-Machine module generating NC code for perfect cutting, means that in addition to their standard turnaround time of six to eight weeks, they can always meet some housing developers’ demands for getting the units to site within a fortnight.

“Cabinet Vision has been vital in increasing our piece part activity, which is the only way to increase margins, as the jobs we’re getting are being cut to the bone all the time. To get a profitable margin we have to make our furniture faster, cheaper and better, while ensuring high quality.”

About the Company

Name: Fitzgerald Kitchens

Business: Almost 30 years experience of designing and customising kitchens.

Web: www.fitzgeraldkitchens.com

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Benefits Achieved

• Instrumental in expanding their trade operation.
• Can easily change all proportions at the click of a button.
• Quickly produce accurate components.
• Ability to store designs as a possible starting point for others.
• Increased piece part activity.

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Comments

“Without Cabinet Vision we might as well be using a hatchet.”

Eamonn Fitzgerald, Managing Director

 

Cabinet Vision adapted for revolutionary new material.

Cabinet Vision engineers have set up a customised program to manage an innovative manufacturing process for waterproof and bacteria-proof cabinets produced out of a specially developed unique material.

The idea for the revolutionary Sealwise WCB (Waterproof Construction Material) came to its creator Paul Huggins when he was in hospital.  “On the trip to a wetroom for my first shower after being unable to walk, I discovered there was nowhere to put my clothes while I had a shower. Also, months after leaving hospital I watched TV footage of the floods in Worcestershire and saw dozens of ruined kitchens being thrown away. It all spurred me on to investigate whether material was available anywhere in the world for waterproof carpentry. And there wasn’t.”

He was shocked to learn that around 400,000 tonnes of wood particle board were being thrown into UK landfill sites every year. “That’s actually around 560 times higher than the London Shard building – and as a single footprint of 8 x 4 sheet would reach beyond mobile phone satellites in orbit.”

He worked closely with a German company, Simona, to develop a waterproof construction sheet material, which could be used for cabinetry that was also fire retardant and had anti-bacteria properties. At that time he was Managing Director of Wood Wise Trading Ltd, a company which he later developed to be the number one choice for manufacturing Sealwise products. Today he runs both companies, with Wood Wise being based in Somerset; alongside a Regional office of Sealwise. In addition, Sealwise have their head office in Belfast. Whilst Wood Wise are classed as the centre of expertise for working with Sealwise WCB, Sealwise also work with a number of manufacturers and distributors in the UK, along with selling into around a dozen export markets.

Co-extruded from recycled material, Sealwise is a single homogeneous sheet material which is made out of three parts, including a recycled upvc core and pvc surface. The three layers come together in a wet state, which means they then chemically bond together preventing any chance of future delamination. Furthermore, at the end of the product’s lifecycle it can be further recycled into material for injection moulding.

Having used Cabinet Vision and its Screen-To-Machine module from Vero Software to design and manufacture the full range of Woodwise products for around ten years, he says the software needed a slight modification to be equally effective with Sealwise.

“We work with Sealwise sheets of 8 x 4 and 10 x 5, but instead of using cam and dowels on separate sides, top and base, we make cabinets predominantly out of one continuous piece.  The two ends are cut to 45 degrees, and V grooves are routed to fold it. We’ll roll the cabinet over four times, and it clicks together at the end with a final Ovvo joint, all from the one piece of Sealwise. When it clicks together it creates enough pressure so that when W14 solvent is applied for the capillary action to work, it seals all the internal joints completely.” For more details on this see the web site http://www.sealwise.co.uk.

He says that because the traditional Cabinet Vision software is parts led…creating individual parts and then applying joints…Cabinet Vision engineers developed special programs to ignore parts, and create one complete cabinet carcase, with the grooves to allow the folding.

Wood Wise invested in a new Busellato CNC router from RW Machines, and with the assistance of their engineers added some additional aggregates for the special grooving and Ovvo joint work. “This final joint is written into the program and sent to the machine by Screen-To-Machine, ensuring the clip is always used in exactly the right place.”

Charlie Huggins, who runs the Wood Wise production operation, says that despite its unique characteristics Sealwise is machined in exactly the same way as MDF and chipboard, and, as well as the patented groove and fold system, it can also be cam and dowelled, screwed and glued. This means that everything they have ever made in wood and board with Cabinet Vision, can also be replicated in Sealwise.

“Sealwise costs slightly more than MFC and similar to that of HDF board, so is a quality product, but is getting widely known as being the best at what it does in its sectors.” It has been used to replace a large number of kitchens in flood areas throughout the UK, including around 45 in Cumbria. As well as installed in around 50 NHS hospitals in the UK, Sealwise is being used in the new hospital programme in Kuwait, and the company is handling enquiries from 90 hospitals in China.

A new shadow board, for Hillbrush, is currently in being made for the food industry, and they have recently manufactured a range of kennels for catteries for Technic, which were previously made from stainless steel. After designing the kennels, Cabinet Vision’s nester simply looks at a 10 x 5 Sealwise sheet, cuts it out to the correct sizes which then have the grooves cut in, and their machine operators simply take it off the bed, fold it, add the back panel and click the final joint into place, before it is sealed. They also supplied all the kitchens in the Battersea Dogs’ Home refurbishment in 2015.

In addition to being waterproof and fire retardant with a B1 fire rating, Sealwise inhibits bacteria’s reproductive system meaning MRSA and e-coli bacteria, for example, die out extremely quickly. Other benefits: its screw retention is 2.5 times higher than MDF – in tests conducted by Exeter University nearly five tonnes of pressure was required to pull out an M8 screw; and tolerances go down to 0.8 of a mm, matching those of MDF and chipboard. Sealwise has been tested against some other cheaper imports for safe ingredients and where the lead content of the imports was far over the regulatory levels, Sealwise’s lead content was so low that testers struggled to even measure it.

And because of its anti-bacterial and fire retardant USPs, Paul Huggins has built in a special safeguard to instantly show architects, builders and auditors that they have the patented product and not an unauthorised copy. “They have an additive called Verimaster which means if their laser pen is run over Sealwise, it lights up certain molecules, rather like when shops scan £10 notes.” This is an industry first and reassures all those who specify Sealwise that they get Sealwise.

He says before they had the Busellato to manufacture the Sealwise products, they would design their MDF and chipboard cabinets in Cabinet Vision and send the programs to their machine using Screen-To-Machine. “Now, all that’s changed regarding the process for Sealwise is that when we’ve designed the cabinets we apply the special over-ride for Cabinet Vision to ignore the separate parts, and create the NC code for cutting the sides, top and base as one piece of material, and routing the V grooves for folding it together.”

planitcanada.ca

 

Planit Canada to be Featured at CKCA Regional Event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 13-14

 

Planit Canada will be featured at a regional educational event hosted by the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association (CKCA) on June 13 and 14 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The event includes two days of educational seminars, networking opportunities, and tours of local commercial and educational woodworking facilities.

Among presenters at the event will be our own Cabinet Vision Training Specialist Michele Hoy, who will deliver a presentation titled “Training the Adult Learner: Supporting Your Employees So They ‘Get It’”. Hoy will provide an overview of individual learning styles and offer tips on helping employees to succeed when new machinery, software, or other new working methods are introduced to the workplace.

Whether it’s a new piece of software or a new process being implemented in the shop, getting employee buy in and training can be an impossible task.
Continuous training and personal development are all a necessary part of company growth but can also be the biggest headache. Why aren’t they getting it? Why won’t they do it? Why are we back to old habits?
This session is intended to give you an overview of generational differences, as well as individual learning styles, when it comes to training and how you can give your employees the best possible support to get them where they need to be.
Michele is looking forward to taking her experiences, good and bad, and putting them into quality information manufacturers can implement now!

Planit Canada is sponsoring the event’s axe-throwing gathering, which will offer participants the opportunity to unwind and network with peers while unleashing their inner lumberjacks. This unique recreational outing will take place at the Timber Lounge, a licensed adventure facility that reflects the cultural heritage of Nova Scotia.

For more information, or to register for the CKCA regional event, please visit planitcanada.ca.

About the CKCA

Founded in 1972, the Canadian Kitchen Cabinet Association (CKCA) is a national association that strives to promote the interests and conserve the rights of manufacturers of kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities and related millwork, as well as their suppliers and dealers, throughout Canada.  The CKCA office is located in Ottawa, ad our Board of Directors is spread across Canada.

Caroline Castrucci, Laurysen Kitchens, (Ottawa) serves as President.  The Association holds an annual National Forum in late April/early May, as well as Regional Meetings throughout Canada. At these meetings dynamic guest speakers address topical and timely industry issues, while tours of member manufacturing plants or other related companies in the woodworking sector are organized as an integral part of these sessions. Participants come away from these sessions with the latest information on suppliers’ products, and with knowledge they can immediately apply to their own business.

For more information about the CKCA, please visit ckca.ca.

 

 

 

 

Cabinet Vision Seminars; absolutely worth the time.

We’ve held 4 Cabinet Vision seminars across Canada in 2016, and are receiving great feedback from attendees. From newbies to seasoned users, everyone leaves having learned something new, not just from our specialists, but from other users as well.

“It was worth the trip definitely. I would do it again. It’s good just to speak with other users.” – Steven Haworth, Perfect Dimensions Woodwork Inc.

Cabinet Vision Seminar, UBC Centre for Advanced Wood Processing

Priced at $300 per day, or $500 for 2 days, these seminars are an affordable way to get your feet wet with Cabinet Vision, or to up your game.  You never know what you don’t know!

“The seminar was very informative. I really enjoyed the section about the UCS and I’m excited to begin playing around in there.” – Matt McQueen, PrecisionWerkz

Cabinet Vision Seminar, BLUM headquarters Mississauga ON.

“I think I learned lots […] it was a really good introduction to the program and will help when we set it up and start using it.” – Bert Unrau, ENH Cabinets Ltd.

If you’d like to be informed when we are holding a seminar in your area, please send us an email here info@planitcanada.ca or check our events page here for updates.

For a brief rundown of our training itinerary and the amazing specialists who teach the seminars, click on our Training page here.

Curious about what’s new in Version 9?  Watch these videos to find out.

Call Of Duty? – Cabinet Vision Makes It A Pleasure | Planit Canada

When duty calls for John Dunne, owner of Mother Hubbards Cupboards, to design a new kitchen, he says it’s a pleasure and not a chore, thanks to Cabinet Vision.

“Some people play computer games such as Call Of Duty for leisure, as a past-time. I have Cabinet Vision – that’s gaming for me.”

 

Designing bespoke kitchens for individual customers in and around Leeds, John Dunne finds it ideal for his popular lay-on, modular system. And he says it is the only CAD software he has come across that can handle his speciality – a traditional frame system.

Cabinet Vision is able to create the frames as one continuous run of bespoke units, as opposed to the modular system where all the separate units butt together. “Before installing Cabinet Vision I had to physically draw my frame system designs using pencil and paper on an old-fashioned drawing board. No other software could do it.”

Even curved frames incorporating the front and side of the cabinet can be handled with ease by Cabinet Vision. “I call it a traditional frame because this is how cabinets used to look in the old days, before the advent of modular systems. I first saw a skilled joiner in Ireland use this traditional structure, creating cabinets by hand, and I thought they looked so much better than the lay-on modular cabinets.”

He says another of Cabinet Vision’s great strengths is not only its perfect 3D rendered image of the design, but its ability to show the engineering behind the kitchen, with the wire frame view detailing exactly how everything is put together. “Many kitchen design systems seem more geared towards presentation than technical substance, but I find this software’s constructional detail to be particularly valuable.

“It will also give me the sizes of housings for the standard drawers, tool and pan containers and storage boxes, along with housings for ovens and microwaves.” As he became more confident with using Cabinet Vision he found he was re-honing his drawing skills and becoming a better designer. “And that’s after 14 years experience on a traditional drawing board. It allows me to ‘go into’ each cabinet and literally re-invent its properties. I can customise its dimensions, composition and functionality.

“Cabinet Vision provides a win, win, situation – I love the designing side
of the business, and it’s the closest customers will see what their kitchen’s going to be like without it actually being there.”

“As a design tool, I’ve found that Cabinet Vision has an almost molecular grasp of detail and an ability to re-jig and move that detail around as required.” Which is a vital aspect for every kitchen produced by Mother Hubbards Cupboards. “The bespoke element of my work means everything comes down to detail, and I frequently need a cabinet that’s 1mm or 2mm above or below a normal size.” Because the software allows him to readily design such bespoke cabinets, he is able to use standard timber doors. “With standard doors I need greater flexibility in the cabinets to compensate. And, as a technophobe, even my limited knowledge of the software means I’ve been able to take my business to another level.”

Regarding his own cabinetry, he says nothing is off the shelf, unless he puts it there. “I’ve built my own library, which helps to enhance the overall design process of each individual kitchen.”

Whether customers choose the modular kitchen or the high end traditional frame system, they always experience what he calls an ‘eureka’ moment when he shows them the 3D image of how it will look in situ.

Summing up, he says the software gives him a feeling of positivity and confidence, lightening the workload because he now regards designing as a pleasure, rather than work.“Cabinet Vision provides a win, win, situation – I love the designing side of the business, and it’s the closest customers will see what their kitchen’s going to be like without it actually being there.”

Benefits Achieved:

• Wire frame view details exactly how everything is put together.
• Can customise dimensions, composition and functionality.
• Ability to re-jig and move detail in the designs around as required.

How to get funding for your training. | Planit Canada

Did you know that the Canada Job Grant is within your reach?  We can help you get funding for the Cabinet Vision training you need to take your team to the next level.

How does the Canada Job Grant work?

The grant program covers up to two-thirds of eligible training costs, to a maximum of $10,000 per employee. There’s no upper limit on funding per organization, which means that you can reclaim thousands of dollars on our customized training programs.  You can read more about the Canada Job Grant by clicking here.

Find out more about onsite training.

Right now is the time to get the training needed to bring your new or existing employees to a higher skill level with our cutting edge software.  To see the kind of training we have to offer, or learn about customized training, tailored to your business’ needs click here.

We can come directly to you.

Our specialists can develop a training curriculum tailor-made for your staff and your business.  Click here to get to know our specialists.

Contact us with your questions

info@planitcanada.ca

888.824.1474

What would you like to know?

Beginning in January, Michele Hoy and Martin Archambeault will be providing brief but extremely useful time-saving Cabinet Vision hints and tips.  If you use CV, these short & sweet videos may quickly make their way to the top of your weekly Must-Watch list!

Here is Michele, inviting you to share some questions you have or topics you’d like to see discussed.

Please leave your suggestions in the comments!

www.planitcanada.ca

Ewald Becker Speaks About Software Integration and Shop Automation for the Bluewater Wood Alliance.

On November 19, during the BWA Quarterly Networking Event, Planit Canada Sales Consultant Ewald Becker gave a presentation on the benefits of automating your woodshops.  Members learned how to choose, plan and implement software strategies to help link the office to the shop floor.

With older generations of shop owners preparing for retirement, it becomes more important to transfer their knowledge and experience to the next generation in a reliable way.  This is where automation can help – software has perfect institutional memory.   Click here to read why Knowledge Transfer is Good for Your Business (Peter Mate, woodworkingcanada.com).  Automation encourages a teamwork mentality that is consistent and repeatable, regardless of staffing changes.

“By moving your team’s strengths into the right software and equipment, your shop relies less on individuals and more on the collective team. The individual skills become less important than the combined teamwork,” explained Becker.

If you’d like to ask us some questions about the benefits of automation, feel free to contact us (click here to send us an email).

We can tell you about:

• Controlling your labour costs
• Simplifying paperwork
• Managing changes
• Integrating front to back operations

Curious about our management software?  Click here to find out more about Cienapps, the ERP software that breaks the mould.