Manufacturing technology helps rebuild

Pacegrade has put Alphacam's manufacturing technology at the heart of its next stage of development.

A major fire at any woodworking company can spell disaster.

But for West Midlands-based Pacegrade, it marked the start of a regeneration process that has seen it virtually treble turnover in the past five years.

Now the company has put Alphacam's manufacturing technology at the heart of its next stage of development.

Established 30 years ago as a family business at Lye in the Black Country, Pacegrade is a 30-strong company specialising in bespoke joinery, staircases and solid surface fabrication.

Most of its work involves the production of stairs, windows, doors and other architect designed items, with around 60% of its throughput in hardwoods.

"We suffered a major fire around five years ago, which eventually took two days to extinguish", says Pacegrade's Managing Director, Nick Horton.

"Clearly, it was a major setback for us".

"However, looking back at it, there was definitely a silver lining, because it gave us the opportunity to set a new direction for the company's operations".

As a result, Horton was able to re-equip his workshop with more up-to-date production machinery, covering the complete spectrum of woodworking equipment.

The company's skills base, reputation for quality and the drive of its management team has not just brought it back from the brink, but enabled it to grow its turnover from GBP 500,000 at the time of the fire to more than GBP 1.2 million today.

"But we're not looking to rest on our laurels", says Horton.

"We want to build on this with continued growth in the future".

"A lot of hard work has put us where we are today, but we are simply running out of room".

"Ongoing advances in technology and indeed, changes within the industry have convinced me that we can make more effective use of our resources".

"As a result, we are in the process of streamlining our methods using the latest CAM/CIM technology - which I believe will enable us to sustain our development without the expense and upheaval of moving to a larger site".

To illustrate his point, Horton cites the increase in "architectural intent" drawings being received by his company, where final detailing is undertaken in-house.

"Using our current methods, detailing would be done on the shopfloor at a setting out bench".

"But, given that around 75% of the drawings we receive have been created in CAD, and therefore could be made available to us in electronic format, we have the opportunity to increase front end control, which in turn, will provide a number of important benefits", he says.

Through a GBP 250,000 investment programme, Horton plans to build on the foundation of his company's AutoCAD installation with the addition of a Maka PM270 five-axis CNC router, supported by Alphacam, AlphaCIM and AlphaWindoor software from Planit.

The first building blocks are already in place, with the recent delivery and commissioning of the five-axis machine and the installation of Pacegrade's AlphaCIM system.

Developed by Planit as a powerful, integrated business management system for the joinery industry, AlphaCIM enables users to automate key areas of their businesses, such as sales order processing, works order documentation, costing, stock control and invoicing.

AlphaCIM's library module enables component information to be stored, used to build up an order, and then transferred directly to Planit's Alphacam programming and AlphaWindoor design-to-manufacturing applications; opening the way for the automated production of families of parts such as fabricated doors and window units.

At Pacegrade, AlphaCIM is already being used to automatically producing cutting lists and route cards.

"It's early days yet", says Horton.

"But with the prospect of implementing costing and reports in the near future, the software is already well on its way to establishing itself as our primary business management tool".

"In parallel, Alphacam offers the means to generate fully specified programmes for the new Maka CNC machine".

"Likewise, AlphaWindoor provides the link to closely integrate AlphaCIM and AlphaCAM together in our particular operating environment".

As a parametrically-driven application, AlphaWindoor is perfect for families of products, or where there are size variations in items like doors, windows, screens or cabinets.

It represents a made-to-order solution, with individual sizing of every unit.

Similarly, its link with AlphaCIM provide order entry facilities that can provide information for built-in bar coding and part labelling functions, as well as the generation of production reports and cutting lists.

"It is ideal for door production", says Horton.

"Our installation will enable all the cutting list information to be generated instantly, simply by defining the door style and then entering the required size".

"Furthermore, the interface with AlphaCAM means that the information can be translated into fully defined CNC machining programmes at the touch of a button".

"This will not only result in major time savings, but will also reduce the risk of errors and the need for highly skilled operators".

Virtually all Pacegrade's products are manufactured to individual customer size and order.

However, Horton believes there are only a certain number of door designs that his company will ever be called to produce.

He therefore plans to build a library of styles over the course of time, which will enable the overall detailing and setting out process to be reduced to a matter of seconds.

Similarly, Horton aims to establish a corresponding library of frames, which will allow the company to "mix and match" door and frame styles if required, again with only minimal operator input.

A further feature of the Alphacam software is that ironmongery or glazing items can be "dragged and dropped" into the basic definition of the product, enabling Pacegrade to increasingly supply factory finished items, such as fully glazed windows or doors and frames complete with all fittings.

"This will provide the double benefit of avoiding the need for additional trades on site, while helping to boost the 'added value' of our products", notes Horton.

The installation of the Maka machine will also enable Pacegrade to bring around GBP 75,000 worth of subcontracted CNC work back in house.

Horton also envisages that within two years at least 50% of the company's business will be CNC produced, although by then, every job will be controlled by the AlphaCIM system.

"It's a natural progression for us".

"Almost 80% of our work is already originated on CAD".

"So it makes sense to harness Alphacam's proven technology to both employ our current skills to best advantage and streamline our business management through better control of our processes", he says.

"In particular, AlphaWindoor will dramatically speed up the production of our parametric products, while also eliminating errors".

"Overall, it strongly supports our drive to reduce costs and time to market, while also increasing our flexibility and finished product quality".

"These are the keys to sharpening our competitive edge".

"I am therefore certain that our Planit system will play a central role during the next phase of our company's development".

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