Custom cabinetry trends

All of the participants in the recent CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent were winners in the woodworking world, but three lucky attendees also won special prizes as a result of taking part. Bill Richards of Richards Custom Furniture, Paradise, Calif., won the Grand Prize, an iPad II with Wi-Fi. Also, Ronald O’Dett of R&R Classic Wood Work, Carthage, N.Y., and Marco Vargas of VSI Inc., Maple Grove, Minn., each won a $100 Home Depot gift card.
Richards Custom Furniture is owned by Bill Richards, a third generation craftsman with many years of experience in woodworking who enjoys special challenges and projects using time-honored traditions. Richards Custom Furniture was founded with a goal of providing excellence in craftsmanship, products and service, and today continues to follow this goal and strives for constant improvement.

If you’re looking for me Thursday, I will be at our free virtual online CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent (May 19). The E-vent will feature online seminars on pricing, automating the small to mid-size shop, rapid case construction through doweling, succeeding in a lean transformation and advances in digital printing.
You can also communicate live with exhibitors at the E-vent and ask questions just as you would at a live event. It’s free, and you don’t have to leave your home or office to be part of it. I’m looking forward to “seeing” you there.
Don’t miss this special opportunity to get useful information for your woodworking business – and it’s all free!  Register today for the May 19 event.

Attendees at the upcoming CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent May 19 will have a chance to win an iPad II. Also, two $100 Home Depot gift cards will be available as prizes. Anyone who registers and logs in on the day of the E-vent is eligible. There will be a drawing after the E-vent closes to determine the winner.
There’s still time to register for the online event. Industry experts covering a wide range of topics will offer five free seminars as part of the E-vent.  The innovative online conference includes interactive exhibits from suppliers and networking opportunities, as well as the webinar presentations, all instantly accessible through your computer and Internet connection.
Exhibitors at the E-vent include 20-20 Technologies, 3M, Graco, IMA Schelling, Microvellum, Oliver, Planit, Stiles Machinery, Thermwood, Vortex Tool Co., Weyerhaeuser Hardwoods. The Cabinet Makers Assn. is also participating in the event. In addition to the seminars, these top suppliers will host virtual exhibit booths with interactive features such as live chat, videos and free downloads of product information.

Timely topics 

Seminars for the E-vent range from business management issues to production efficiency and finishing. Most of the topics are designed to be of immediate interest to a wide range of woodworking operations working to move ahead in the recovering economy.
Kicking off the event will be a presentation from Kevin Ward called “Automating the Small to Mid-Size Shop.” An avid proponent of practical and pragmatic automation, Ward discusses how small to medium size shops can best incorporate CNC into their production to improve flow, efficiency and quality. Using his own experience of running a successful custom cabinet shop, Ward shares practical tips that will help you avoid common pitfalls in the automation process. Ward is President and CEO of A Ward Design, Winter Haven, Fla., which was recently featured in CabinetMakerFDM magazine.

Pricing strategies Many shops have faced tremendous pricing pressure in the recent economic downturn. Will Sampson, editor of CabinetMakerFDM, will share fundamentals of sound pricing practices as well as specific strategies that can help shops be competitive and profitable in turbulent economic conditions. His presentation is called “Pricing Strategies for the Recovery.”

Production efficiency and finishing Medium to larger production plants will be interested in the presentation “Rapid Case Construction through Doweling.” Presented by John Park, Vice President of Industrial Sales for SCM Group North America, the program will discuss the benefits of rapid case construction for the cabinet and furniture industries through doweling.
Another topic on production efficiency that has applications for woodworking operations large and small is “Planning to Succeed in a Lean Transformation.” Presented by popular CabinetMakerFDM columnist and lean manufacturing consultant Jim Lewis, this seminar offers step-by-step advice to get maximum value from lean manufacturing.
Robert J. Kostelnik, Technical Manager for Stiles Finishing Technologies will present a seminar exploring what is new in the sophisticated modern process of digital printing. Kostelnik has over 40 years of experience in the industrial wood finishing industry.
The idea of enhancing wood or other rigid substrates through printing the wood grain or other natural patterns is a mature technology that has been in use for more than 50 years. This technology is still in use today, but requires high volume production and limited design flexibility.
Newly developed Large Format Digital Printing offers the ability to do very small custom production runs at high speed with total and immediate image flexibility. Additionally, it is possible to print images on substrates that are not perfectly flat as is required for image transfer by engraved cylinders.

Registration is free 
Attendance at the E-vent, including all of the seminars is completely free of charge. More than 1,400 people registered for the first E-vent held in last fall. To register for the May E-vent go to www.wattevents.com/cmfdm11/Home.aspx.

What: CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent
When: May 19, 2011
Join us for the CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business Spring E-vent, a complimentary and convenient online trade show featuring five educational webinars on the wood products industry.
Featured webinar: Automating the Small to Mid-Size Shop by Kevin Ward, A Ward Design

An avid proponent of practical and pragmatic automation, Ward discusses how small to medium size shops can best incorporate CNC into their production to improve flow, efficiency and quality. Using his own experience of running a successful custom cabinet shop, Ward shares practical tips that will help you avoid common pitfalls in the automation process.
President and CEO of A Ward Design, Winter Haven, FL, Kevin Ward came out of the construction trades to eventually run a successful cabinet shop, specializing in high-end residential work. He has developed an automated production system and groomed a talented staff to achieve successful growth despite the down economy.

Register now to attend this and other presentations designed specifically for wood products business owners and managers:

“Pricing Strategies for the Recovery” by Will Sampson, CabinetMakerFDM

“Planning to Succeed in a Lean Transformation” by Jim Lewis, lean consultant and author

“Zero Setup and Batch One Manufacturing” – presenter to be announced soon

“New finishing technology” – presenter to be announced soon

Can’t make the date? No problem. Register now for the CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent and access the archived educational sessions for up to 90 days after the live event on May 19.

Registration is now open for the next CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent, a live online trade show and conference set for May 19. The program features educational sessions, a virtual exhibit hall with top industry suppliers and networking with industry peers.
Featured seminar topics include automation for the small to medium-size shop, pricing for the recovery, planning to implement lean manufacturing, and more.

Success breeds second E-vent 
Reaction to the first Woodworking E-vent in November 2010 was overwhelmingly positive. The first E-vent attracted more than 1,400 registrants and more than 20 exhibitors from across the country. Each of the five conference session attracted an average of 150 attendees, many of whom took the opportunity to participate in live question and answer sessions via online chat.
Attendees were enthusiastic about the event, noting that they got much of the value of a conventional trade show or conference without having to leave their office. In addition to the live seminars, attendees had live chats with suppliers, downloaded product information and even watched live streaming videos of products in action. More of the same is planned for the May E-vent.

Free to attend 
The E-vent is free to attend. Simply go to www.wattevents.com/CMFDM11/Home.aspx and register online to reserve your space. Then, on the day of the E-vent, just log in from any internet-based computer to participate, taking advantage of educational forums, networking with industry peers, and learning about the latest supplies and equipment.
Even if you can’t attend the live event, you can still access the on-demand presentations after the live event concludes. All registrants receive complimentary access to the presentations from May 20 – August 19, 2011.

Following in the success of the first virtual trade show for the woodworking industry, two new CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking E-vents are scheduled for 2011.
The first E-vent held in November — a combination of online seminars and a virtual trade show – attracted more than 1,200 registrants and earned enthusiastic reviews from attendees and exhibitors.
“Reaction to the first E-vent was overwhelmingly positive from both the attendees and suppliers,” said Bruce Plantz, publisher of CabinetMakerFDM. “For the first event of this type in the industry, it was a big success.”
The new 2011 E-vents will be held May 19 and November 17. Each of the E-vents will follow a similar format, including a series of webinars, town hall meetings by associations and a chance to visit with a large number of suppliers.
Although the final schedule of topics has yet to be confirmed, tentative seminars on tap will include discussions of automation, lean manufacturing, material handling and more. Each of the webinars allows for interactive involvement with live questions and answers.
In the trade show portion of the E-vent, participants can have live chat sessions with vendors, download free information, and watch video presentations. The interactive format for the event has been described as looking like a sophisticated video game.
“The biggest advantage of this format is that people can access a broad range of information much like a conventional trade show, but without the time and expense of travel,” said William Sampson, editor of CabinetMakerFDM.
If you missed the first E-vent, you can still get a taste of it. An archive version of the first E-vent is available until February 18. You can view the five seminars on demand, and see the exhibitors’ booths. However, the live interactive features such as questions and answer sessions and live chat are naturally disabled in the archived version.

Choosing the right CNC machine for your application was a well-received part of the recent CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent. Scott Cruickshank of Stiles Machinery discussed characteristics and development of panel saw, point-to-point machining centers, and nested and general purpose routers and the advantages and disadvantages of each, along with software and controls.
What’s the best machine for you? Every tool has its place. Determining which machine to use when is the best question. Consider:

–Construction types (dado, nail and screw, cam lock, confirmat, dowels, etc.).

–Volume. How much can saws, point-to-points and routers produce?

–Pace of work. Sheet at a time? Stacks of panels?

–Space. What’s the footprint of each machine? Working envelope size? Overall layout required?

–Growth plans. What’s in the future for your company?

–Type of machines in your shop.

–Software experience.

–Personnel.

–What is special in your shop?

See the complete presentation and other presentations from the the E-vent.

The CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent, a virtual trade show and conference, drew woodworkers around the country to the industry’s first virtual event  Nov. 18.
Participants took part in five different webinars or seminars on topics ranging from the future of the industry to using social media, visited with some of the industry’s leading suppliers, and took part in town hall meetings with industry associations. Response from both attendees and exhibitors was enthusiastic. The event will remain online for the next 90 days with full access to all seminars and vendor booths.

Attendees can visit and interact with exhibitor personnel.

The CabinetMakerFDM Woodworking Business E-vent is a virtual trade show and conference on Thursday, Nov. 18 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. You can attend right from your desktop – all for free.
When you enter the E-vent interface, you’ll see an exhibit hall, conference center, association complex, and a networking lounge. Click to enter the exhibit hall and see a view of the trade show floor with some 20 exhibit booths. Double-click on a booth to be transported into an interactive trade show booth right on your computer. You can also check out the five conference sessions scheduled throughout the day. Network with and enter into live random chat sessions with other attendees. Register now!