Embracing Design Implications of the Lean Factory Concept

We are in the midst of the so called industrial revolution 4.0, no doubt about it. Everything in the panel furniture industry has been automated. The preferred geometry for this automation is rectangular. Panel furniture starts with large sheet stock stored and inventoried by robotic arms and gantrys. Then it is labeled and cut up into smaller sub-panels. The sub-panels are edge banded then sent to sophisticated vertical milling machines which can route and drill surface holes as well as bore edge holes for doweling and fasteners. For the all builtins design these sub-panels are then packed and shipped for assembly at the job site.

The all builtins designer must take note that every design has to be reducible to an assembly of rectangular panels. This will be explored a greater detail in a future blog.