Barry Koch, production manager for Koch & Company, considers Microvellum software’s “center line nesting” capability a huge advantage.

What it all comes down to is a total leap of faith in one machine. That’s what Barry Koch, production manager for Koch & Company in Seneca, KS, says about his company’s decision to implement nested-based manufacturing a year and a half ago. That decision has paid off, however, with a 25 percent increase in production along with increased accuracy and labor savings.

When it got to the point that some old point-to-point machines were having too many breakdowns and maintenance issues, Koch decided to investigate replacing them and the company’s panel saws with a nesting CNC router. “We took a couple tours of some plants that were currently using nested-based manufacturing and decided to go with it,” he explains. “We ended up purchasing a C.R. Onsrud 288G16D CNC router, and it turned out to be a good choice for us.

“Our company has two divisions – one is the cabinet division, which builds kitchen and bath cabinets. About 25 percent of what we do in the cabinet department is custom. The other 75 percent is all based on a 3"-increment module. We have that fine line between custom and standard. If customers want something different we usually build it, but if they want something standard, we’re also at the point where we can sell to them inexpensively enough on the standard box also.”

Before the 250-employee Koch & Company purchased its Onsrud nesting router, the company was running 225 cabinets per day in its 105,000-sq.-ft. facility. Currently its production has increased to 300 cabinets a day. Although it started out with just one Onsrud router, a second Onsrud router was soon purchased and both of them are kept running. “Production wise, I can get everything I need out of those two machines to build 300 cabinets, says Koch.

“I have figured my labor up, and I have saved three people. That has helped the machines pay for themselves. We had a lot to produce, and we wanted to produce it off of one machine. We liked the simplicity of the Onsrud router – the fact that it is so simple that even I can change out the parts. It just has less on it that can break down.”

Koch says accuracy is another issue. “Now I only have to make sure one machine is being set up right – I don’t have to worry about six different machines being accurate,” he says. “I’m also able to pinpoint any problems to one machine or one person, which is critical and takes a lot of headaches off me.” As far as production speed goes, Koch is currently running 10 to 12 sheets of vinyl wrapped 1¼2" particleboard an hour.

Choosing the right software was paramount to ensuring the success of going to nested-based manufacturing, according to Koch. “We use Microvellum software,” he says. “We chose the software because it has ‘center line nesting.’ These are important words when it comes to nesting. For example, if you have 20 square parts that have to be cut out, normally the software for nesting cuts all the way around each part individually. What center line nesting does is cut any border that two parts share one time. It doesn’t cut that same border twice. That means about a 25 percent increase in production off the production router. If you cut all that extra material, you use more of your tool life, too, so that’s also a savings. The center line nesting can be shut on or off. You can do it the old style way of cutting around all four edges, or you can turn on the center line nesting program, and it cuts the shared borders. It’s a huge advantage. What I also like about the Microvellum software is that its core program can be tweaked to suit your needs.”

Since implementing nested based manufacturing, Koch & Company has increased production from 225 cabinets to 300 cabinets per day.

Having been in the nesting program now for a year and a half, Koch says he’s happy to share what he has learned. “I actually bought one of the biggest machines from Onsrud — one of their fastest production machines. If anyone is doing some custom work and thinking about nested-based manufacturing, he needs to go with a nesting router. If he is running standard box cabinets, he is probably not going to need a nesting router. It becomes the most useful when it comes to custom cabinets because you can throw all those weird angle parts right in there with your standard parts, and it makes it a lot less headache for you.

Also, make sure you’ve got the right software. Programming of the cabinets is all done from inside the office on the computer, so the guys on the floor are actually just choosing the programs and running them. They don’t need to know software. I just need one really good person to watch over it all and then two other people just to run the machines. That’s an important part of it. Plus I can call Onsrud for service 24 hours a day. I run the machine 16 hours a day so that’s important to me. They have a 24 hour hotline. When you have a machine that is even down an hour, it is critical. I can’t stress enough how important the service department at Onsrud is and their capabilities of getting me what I need to keep the machines running constantly.”

Koch’s other division is entry door manufacturing, which takes up an additional 50,000 sq. ft. “We make a six-panel entry door (1 3/8") and a 1 3/4" entrance door,” he explains. “We also do a Formanek™ door, which is a steel door that we cut the core out of. We put the wood on the inside of the door and leave the metal on the outside of the door. There is a patent on that door right now, and we are the only company in the U.S. that can make it. You get the same durability of a steel door on the outside but the wood interior matches the wood interior of the house. We market the door through home centers and distribution.”