Focus on Upholstered Furniture Industry

By Charles L. Gaby, CPIM

About the Author

Problem: Un-complicating Order Processing while increasing accuracy, control, scheduling and delivery thru-put for Make to Order Upholstered Home Furnishings

Among the most challenging “To-Order” manufacturing environments is upholstered furniture …especially in the Home Furnishings Industry.  Upholstered furniture is an easy product to visualize because we all have some combination of upholstered chairs, sofas, love seats, with matching pillows and perhaps an ottoman or two.  Picture for a minute how you would manufacture these pieces to customer selected specifications, including milling the raw hardwood to make the Frames …and picture a two week end-item deliver time. There may be more than a one-and-a-half billion combinations to manage when planning the frames, fabrics, components and accessory choices across product lines.

The normal concerns of departmental production scheduling and reporting of a multi-level non-stock build-to-order product are just the beginning. The Upholstered Furniture Industry adds the complexity of a multitude of fabric offerings: grades of fabric, combinations, various colors for the body, back, welt, or seat cushions plus sleeper/non-sleeper considerations. Toss in accessory features and options, such as button choices, matching pillows, footings, pattern centerline considerations and mutually exclusive offerings. Only with a high-tech solution can we cut into the lead-time and “build accuracy” factors required …remember the two week total lead time.

At this point of the order-process we knew what the customer wanted and when they wanted it. First we needed to price and cost the product. Next we needed to coordinate the shop schedule with the delivery requirements, plan and control the labor and material, plus of course, schedule the delivery truck routes.

The “old way” would include engineering and costing “hard” bills-of-material for each piece before the order was entered. Custom parts would have to be created. This in itself was an unmanageable task …a compromise at best. Next, a product routing would need to have been established to cost the end-item and document the labor and processing instructions. By this time we would have probably invested more than a week, leaving less than one week for production, and on a weekly basis we were “reckoning” with the problems associated with a “new” product.

Of course, we hadn’t yet considered material availability nor shop capacity.. with one week to deliver the product… it was time to call the customer, apologize, and to hope they would accept a reschedule …we often lost the order …and sometimes the customer!

If this is the way we were still doing things we would have had to extend lead times*, and rethought the future of our business.(*note that as lead time increases, requirements are compounded causing more planning and more problems …another subject for “Focus”.)

Sad to say, the above is true for most short lead-time “To-Order” manufacturers that do not use a Rules-Based Product Configurator.

Solution

Xdata solutions’ Rules-Based Product Configurator is designed with both ease of order entry, accuracy in product selection and timeliness of manufacture. From the beginning we felt Customer Order-Entry must be an easy-to-use system. It is designed for clerical level data-entry that is inherently coupled with intricate Engineering considerations (rules).

Our Customer Order-Entry selection process balances easy order-entry with the complexity of mutually exclusive “custom built” product considerations. Factors like pattern, color, grade, and fabric selections are established by Product Engineers as Segments and Options that are subordinate to a Product Family. Segments and Options may have established “Rules” that eliminate an otherwise logical selection from view. Inclusion and Exclusion rules may cross segment/ option bounds;

Example:

If segment “Fabric” has option “Leather” selected, Segment “Pattern” may be ruled out and will not appear.

If segment “Fabric” and option other than Leather is selected, “Pattern” may be ruled in, meaning a logical choice must be made, (and option Centerline must be selected, etc.)

A selection may also call an “external” custom routine or a procedure that is unique to this customer only, such as pre-loading a CNC machine, or simply running a custom pick list.  

We have incorporated Product Costing, Work-center routing, General Ledger, Inventory Accounting, flexible “truck/route/loading-sequence” scheduling on the shop floor, and detailed product/serialized/lot numbered product/order tracking into the Rules-Based Configurator design. A uniquely identified costed “final product” part number, a Bill of Material, and a Routing is built for each unique custom product. Piece Parts, Non-Parts, and Standard Stock/Non-Stock Sub-Assemblies may be used, along with “take-a-ways”. Routing steps and labor time may be established and/or diminished by using the Product Configurator.

By-products may be stocked as part of the final assembly. This feature allows a secondary or incidental part to be created (with the otherwise scrap) as a result of building the custom end item. Wood byproducts may be cost effective, where as some commodities dictate that scrap is more cost effective, especially when space is a consideration.

Non-Items may be selected. Descriptions may be Segments and Options. In some industries color is not a controllable commodity. These are not “Items” at all, but simply directions or identifiers. As such they are not required on the Item Master file. This adds up to a great savings of time and resources.

Pre-Engineering Considerations

Of course Engineering needs to plan the possible configurations. Establishing the “rules” of the acceptable combinations usually means transferring the product catalog matrix grid exceptions list. This is usually a “bubble number” or asterisk next to a product feature on the matrix, with an associated reference at the bottom of the catalog index.

In other words, engineering lays down the product “law” and the XMAS Rules-Based Product Configurator efficiently and effectively enforces it. XMAS eliminates production errors and misleading or inaccurate shop work-order documents.  

Scheduling Opportunities

Parallel department scheduling, such as cushion upholstery departments and frame upholstery departments must be coordinated along with material sub-assembly mating if production time is to be reduced. This is accomplished by spawning work-orders in tandem with production expectations.

Other benefits are natural by-products of employing a Rules-Based configurator. Warehousing and finished goods inventory are kept to a minimum; upon final assembly of the product it may be loaded directly into the waiting truck. This is because productions orders have been automatically scheduled by truckload capacities, and in reverse of truck-route delivery sequence. That is to say load positioning of the furniture on the delivery truck is automatically scheduled so that the last piece of furniture placed onto the truck becomes the first customer delivered on that truck’s delivery route.

Xdata’s truck route scheduling system matches the customer’s order with the specific delivery date, “truck-route” and delivery “stop” along the way. This information is fed to the production schedule in date/truck/route/stop sequence. Dynamic reschedules are accommodated, including selective picks of order lines for a new truck route or date.

The end result is a furniture “train” snaking its way through production and arriving at the shipping docks ready for loading on the waiting delivery truck.

The savings realized by utilizing XMAS can be measured in many ways.

• Total order-entry to deliver is reduced
• Errors and omissions are dramatically reduced by establishing standard Configuration Families.
• Eliminates the need to create custom items, custom bills and custom routings for each new order line.
• The savings realized by reducing warehouse space alone will pay for the system.
• The reduced production run time (product cycle time) will in effect increase production capacity.
• Your employee productivity will increase, and morale will improve.
• Anyway you look at it, it’s a Win/Win/Win for your company, your employees, and your customers.

Xdata solutions, inc.

GXD Rules-Based Product Configurator

(Upholstered Furniture Industry Version)

Engineering Control of Customer Order Entry Environment

Family/Segment/Options/Product Database links

Established Rules govern clerical Order Entry

Allows Cross Bounds Rules

    Dependencies/Exclusions may cross Segments/Options

Copy capability

Base Price, Quantity, and Description overrides

Control of Overrides

Standard Items NOT REQUIRED

Allows use of custom or standard Items

Optional CAD Interface

Provides view of drawing where required

Ease and Convenience of Clerical Use

Customer Order Entry Line selectable

Client overrides

Client prompts for choices

Displays only those (rules) allowed

    Automatic validation

Multiple options selectable at once

Item History Traceability

Configured Item uniquely linked to Order/Line

Costed instantly upon selection

Dovetailed to Inventory and Invoicing

History recall

Copy Capability

Creates a Standard Item/Bill of Material/Routing

Uniquely traceable to Order/Line

Allows inclusion of common structure/Items

Allows "take always"

Allows substitutes

Allows lead time offsets

Allows Production Departments lead time Offset

Truck Route Scheduling

MFG Receipt to "LIFO" loading

Facilitates production coordination

Provides "first stop" delivery loading

Allows receipt to truck

    Reduces floor space requirements of Finished Goods

Customizable External Program Interface

Custom Application Program Interface selectable by configured Item

Client  specific database interface provided

Upholstery/Apparel Industry…fabric master

Fabric Grade / Color selectable

Xdata solutions, inc. has been marketing their ERP solutions since 1994 and has a client base on both coasts and throughout the United States.

For more information contact Xdata solutions, inc.