CabinetMaker+FDM - December 2009

THROUGHFEED

High-end residential cabinets and trim are also a part of the
total production at John Murphy Millwork.

The Erie, Colo., company is also known for its complex and
curved casework, reception desks and moulding.

to their production process. It is used for boring of most panel parts for cabinet line case sides, drawer sides and case floors.

“Previously, the work was done on our Biesse Rover 30 flat table,” John Murphy says. “The Hirzt machine solved a couple of problems for us. It reduced our material handling time. We can process a part in one minute including load and unload. It took far longer on the Rover.

“The Rover process involved taking one part, stepping on to one of the safety zones, squaring and vacuuming the part, waiting for the machine to clear the opposite field, and squaring and vacuuming the next part in the opposite field.”

The Hirtz Livra machine is also equipped with a laser measuring system that measures the part length and

adjusts construction holes to match, providing good-fitting parts. It is a big savings in assembly and improved the quality. Another plus is that it takes very little to train someone to run the Livra. An unexpected benefit was the dramatic savings in electrical usage. Murphy’s electric bill dropped $300 per month.

“Now we can utilize the Rover to do what it does best, complicated routing, without delaying box part production,” John Murphy says.

The addition of the Hirzt machine also has sped up the entire case construction line.

“The speed of the Hirzt Livra puts pressure on the other stations to keep up,” John Murphy says. “It has really changed how our shop runs.”

There are two different flow patterns in the shop — panel processing and solid wood processing. Flow through the shop is controlled by labels created by Pattern Systems Product Planner. The label describes the part, size, operations required, and its location by cabinet, room number and project number.

Machines in the panel processing line in order of flow are: Selco EB110 panel saw, Akron 440 edgebander, Hirzt Livra feedthrough point-to-point, Omal dowel inserter, Biesse Rover 30 flat table point-to-point, and Murphy’s first point to point, the Alberti A11.