Rick’s Custom Cabinet

Welcome to Chmura Custom Woodworks and My Personal Look into Custom Woodworking

Rick’s Custom Cabinet: What is 5S?

The Ins and Outs of Custom Woodworking Explained

5S is a way to get organized and stay that way. 5S is a particularly important component in running a custom woodworking business.

To some extent, most of us practice some, if not all of the 5S’s in our daily lives. Imagine a world where everything you need is always where you expect it to be, your space is free from clutter, you instantly know if something is missing, and all of this is accomplished routinely without extra effort.

That’s what you get from the 5Ss!

Running a custom woodworking business without the 5Ss would be chaos. Imagine running your kitchen without knowing where things are…or even your bathroom! When planning a custom kitchen or custom bathroom; or simply when adding custom cabinetry, the 5Ss are a crucial component in the overall design process.

What are the 5Ss?

• Sort: Simply put, “Get rid of anything you don’t use on a regular basis.”
  • This is both the easiest and hardest step at the same time. In a custom woodworking shop, decide what you use daily, weekly, or monthly and put them in one pile.
  • Place everything you use occasionally in another pile.
  • Throw away, sell, give away, or donate to your favorite charity whatever is leftover.
  • If you don’t use it, it is taking up valuable space. I told you this was a tough one!
• Store: This is particularly crucial. “A place for everything and everything in its place.”
  • Locate and organize the often used materials and resources, keeping them close to where you use them.
  • A shadow board can be used to the draw an outline of the item on a pegboard to show where it goes.
  • It might even make sense to have duplicate items to minimize walking (remember the waste of MOTION).
  • Move the materials used occasionally away from the primary work area leave them close enough to be easily accessible.
• Sweep (or Shine): Keep it clean!
  • Find ways to prevent things from getting dirty.
  • Decide on a daily, weekly, and monthly clean up routine.
  • Designate containers for different kinds of waste.
  • Custom woodworking shops can be as clean as your home!
• Standardize: Decide who does what, when, and how.
  • Decide on some rules for keeping the custom woodworking shop clean, what to keep and what to throw away, etc.
  • This step goes beyond the shop!
  • Standardized business practices, computer files and paperwork also save time and money.
  • Note: You will not only save your custom woodworking business money, you will save money for your custom woodworking clients as well.
• Sustain: Continuous improvement.
  • It is said that after 21 days of repeating an activity it becomes a habit. That is the goal of 5S.
  • In every aspect of your business, apply the 5Ss.

That’s it for Lean Manufacturing and Custom Woodworking for now.

Let me know if you want to learn more. I can talk forever on this subject!

Next up: Finishing custom furniture starts at the very beginning.

Remember, Chmura Custom Woodworking is…“Your Complete Source for a Custom Home!”

If we can assist you with a custom woodworking and/or remodeling project, let us know.

Allow us to put the 5Ss to work for you!

We specialize in:

• Custom kitchens
• Custom bathrooms
• Custom kitchen cabinets
• Custom bathroom cabinets
• Custom decks
• Custom furniture
• Custom specialty items

And much, much more!

Don’t forget to leave your comments!

Rick Chmura
Chmura Custom Woodworks
Independence, Ohio 44131
216-533-3760
rick@chmuracustomwoodworks.com

Custom Woodworks and a “Lean” Perspective: Part III

How “Lean” Impacts Your Custom Woodworking Project: Creating Affordable Custom Cabinets, Custom Kitchens and Bathrooms,  and Custom Homes

I once read somewhere that “If you don’t do Lean, you become Lean!”

There are many Lean tools that help us eliminate waste, but just using the tools isn’t enough.  (I’ll share some of those tools in the weeks to come).  For right now, I’d like to present:

The 5 Elements of Lean

1. Define value in the eyes of the custom woodworking client. Whether the project entails the creation of a single, custom built item of furniture or an entire custom home remodeling, here is the 3 part definition of value:
   1. Value is what the client is willing to pay for.
   2. Value changes the custom product in some way (inspection, moving, rework are examples of non-value).
   3. Value is enhanced when the custom project is done right…the first time (quality first!).
2. Identify the value stream and eliminate waste (all seven of them – see Part II)
   1. The value stream is every step taken, from the initial contact and consultation with the client, through delivery of the custom woodworking product.
3. Create processes that flow
   1. A good example of a process that flows is an automatic car wash.  The car moves from start to finish without any pauses or waiting (one of the seven wastes – Part II).
4. Build at the pull of the client
   1. “Pull” is another way of saying “when it’s ready to be used”.  At Subway, your sandwich is made the way you want it, when you want it.
   2. When a custom kitchen remodeling project is initiated, it begins with an idea and flows through to final clean up without pauses or waiting, every step progresses toward the end product (in this case, a custom built kitchen).
5. Continuous improvement in pursuit of perfection
   1. Becoming lean is about making simple, low-cost improvements each and every day so we can pass on the savings to our clients.

If you are interested in finding out more about how we can apply our Lean standards to your custom woodworking project, big or small, a complete custom home remodeling or a single, custom built item of furniture, contact us for a free, in-home consultation.

Let me know if you would like to see anything in particular covered here, I will be more than happy to accommodate you!

Don’t forget to leave your comments!

Rick Chmura
Chmura Custom Woodworks
Independence, Ohio 44131
216-533-3760
rick@chmuracustomwoodworks.com

Next up, the 5 S’s.  Sort, Store, Sweep, Standardize, and Sustain

Custom Woodworks and a “Lean” Perspective: Part II

When someone says ” We need to get lean”, most people think of losing weight or maybe operating with less people!

In the manufacturing world, “Lean” means eliminating waste by continuously improving everything you do. In the wood shop, particularly in a custom woodworking shop specializing in custom remodeling, generally, and custom cabinets, specifically, it translates into better quality, lower prices and, quicker delivery for our customers.

There are 7 types of waste that need to be eliminated in a custom woodworking shop:

1. Defects: Learn from mistakes and develop methods to prevent them from ever happening again.
2. Over-Production: Make only what the customer needs, when they need it.
3. Transportation: Design processes to minimize material handling.  Every time something is moved, there is a risk that it will be damaged.
4. Waiting: Plan your work so that the process moves smoothly and without interruption from start to finish.
5. Inventory: Think of inventory as money that can’t be spent.  Only carry the inventory that is needed and have a system to replenish before you run out.
6. Motion: Layout y our custom woodworking shop to minimize walking from machine to machine or to get tools or materials.  Plan ahead to avoid excess trips to your suppliers or customers.
7. Over-Processing: Plan your work to avoid unnecessary cutting or finishing.  Deliver the custom woodworking project the customer wants when they want it.

Remember DOTWIMP, the acronym for the 7 types of waste above, and you can start eliminating waste from everything you do!

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will comment, add feedback, and suggest topics. I will do what I can to honor your requests and answer your comments and feedback.

Rick Chmura
Chmura Custom Woodworks
Serving Northeast Ohio and the World
216-533-3760
rick@chmuracustomwoodworks.com

Next: The five elements of Lean.

Welcome to Chmura Custom Woodworks and My Personal Look into Custom Woodworking

Before my son, Bryan,  and I opened Chmura Custom Woodworks for business, my career was focused on Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement.  It’s been suggested that it would be a good idea to talk about the things I know best on a personal page, my blog page. I am looking forward to adding a personal touch to our company’s blog.

So, for the next several weeks I will share how we are continuously improving Chmura Custom Woodworks so that we can earn the right to become your “Complete Source for a Custom Home”.

Hopefully, you will be able to use this information to make improvements in your own business or home.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will comment, add feedback, and suggest topics. I will do what I can to honor your requests and answer your comments and feedback.

Rick Chmura
Chmura Custom Woodworks
Serving Northeast Ohio and the World
216-533-3760
rick@chmuracustomwoodworks.com

Next:  What is “Lean”? and DOTWIMP