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Within the interior design and cabinetmaking industry, it's becoming increasingly important to have a clear understanding of your capacity and planning. Due to labor market shortages and material scarcity, planning can be a significant challenge.
Planning plays a crucial role in both the production process and the potential installation of products. The CBM, the trade association for the interior design and furniture industry, shares the following insights:
Most common production constraints
- Delayed delivery of materials and raw materials
- Shortage of raw materials and semi-finished products
- Changing schedules/time pressure
- Labor shortages
Research by the CBM indicates that many companies in the interior design and cabinetmaking industry struggle with staffing their production capacity. Shortages in raw materials result in orders being shifted in the schedule. It becomes challenging to coordinate with the customer regarding delivery dates.
Alright, these insights are all well and good, but how do you ensure that you don't waste time and money on production constraints and an unclear schedule? Let us explain. vPlan can help you in the following ways:
For both large interior builders and small furniture makers, vPlan offers the solution. Let's take the fictitious company "Meubelmakerij B.V." as an example.
Let orders go through various production stages
Before a piece of furniture is built or produced, it goes through different phases. For example: preparation, planing, gluing, milling, sanding, painting, and assembly. Set up your planning board with the stages that your orders go through. With our calendar view, you have a visual overview of which (production) stage your order is in. This way, you have real-time insight into your planning and don't have to constantly walk to the shop floor.
If you have an extensive design, assembly, and production department and want a separate schedule for each department, it's possible to plan these processes in different planning boards and have the same orders go through these planning boards with automations.
Link your employees and machines to your orders.
It's possible to link both employees and machines to your orders. This way, you'll know exactly who is working on which order. Additionally, your employees will also know what they need to do.
Gain insight into the capacity of your employees and machines
Linking employees and machines to orders provides insight into capacity. You can add hours and operations to orders in advance. vPlan thus provides insight into the capacity of employees and machines based on their available hours. Gain insight into capacity on a daily basis, per employee or machine, or per team.
t's also possible to integrate vPlan with your existing software, such as Exact, AFAS or Proteus. This allows you to exchange data such as estimates and schedules, preventing duplicate entry and manual work!
Add various checklists
Add different checklists to your tasks. Do you have a standard list of tasks for each product? Set up this standard checklist and quickly check off your work.
Gather all your data within an order
You can add various fields within your order. Add the dimensions of the order, contact information of the customer, and much more. Don't forget to include the agreed delivery date. It's also possible to add comments and attachments. This way, you have all your data in one place!
vPlan Go app for on the shop floor and on the go
In addition to planning, vPlan assists you in carrying out your work. Provide all employees on the production floor with insight into the planning using our vPlan Go app. This allows you to track statuses, record important information, log time, perform quality controls, and communicate. This way, you say goodbye to paper work orders and keep the planning updated in real time.
Your furniture piece is manufactured? Now, the order can be assembled on-site at the customer's location. With the vPlan Go app, you also have insight into your planning on the go. See on location what needs to be done based on checklists and tick them off. Finally, add a photo of the result and have the customer sign in the app. On to the next order!
Curious how other cabinetmaking and interior design companies plan with vPlan?
Read here how Coenen Concept automates its planning with vPlan.
See here how B DUTCH has real-time insight into its production planning.