The CNC In A Small Shop
Oftentimes, I have seen small shops with a CNC that they either rarely use or they use it for inappropriate tasks because they have it, were sold on cabinet vision, and falsely believe it’s saving them time and money on their custom jobs with non-standard sized cabinets. In my previous post about CNC’s I go over the cost of running a CNC for cutting out cabinet boxes compared to the costs of other means for producing a cabinet box. If you’d like to read the post you’ll find it here Do You Really Need A CNC?
Now, the CNC has two true powers. Highly custom and detailed cut outs for jigs and parts, as well as, mass producing the same thing multiple times with the same program. The CNC is only profitable for a company when it is tasked with doing either of these two tasks.
While the highly custom and detailed pieces are fairly obvious use cases, the mass produced parts aren’t as much. These mass produced parts are really the bread and butter of having a profitable CNC that will give you a substantial return on your investment. A typical CNC machine should be operating at between 70% and 85% of it’s productive capacity regularly. This gives you space to increase the work load temporarily during busy times, while also keeping the machine busy enough to continue maintaining a positive cash flow for the company.
So what are these mass produced tasks I keep talking about? Well, a millwork shop has many options for this. First, they can try their hand at producing mid-tier semi-custom cabinets combined with cabinet vision. This is really where cabinet vision shines the most. I understand that I tend to be hard on Cabinet Vision, but that’s because many shops don’t understand that Cabinet Vision is only, and I mean only, good at semi-custom cabinets, where full cabinet assemblies that have standard sizes and materials are used. If you start straying outside of those bounds, then you’re losing money using the program.
Another option is furniture that’s can be made of sheet goods, like bookshelves, chests, dressers, night stands, etc. This furniture however must be nicer than your standard Ikea furniture otherwise you’re not going to turn a profit due to economies of scale.
There’s a problem with the first two though, they must be sold to consumers in order to make any money. Now you could contract with a larger general contractor to supply a certain amount of cabinets to a certain amount of new homes, and you could contract with online retailers like Wayfair and produce furniture as necessary.
Another often overlooked option is B2B by producing industrial wood components.
A CNC can produce a surprisingly wide range of industrial wood components beyond traditional millwork. These include precision-cut wear blocks, guide rails, and slide pads used in material handling and conveyor systems, as well as wood bearings and bushings for machinery operating in dirty or high-friction environments. Shops can also fabricate non-marring contact surfaces for glass or metal handling, custom jigs and fixtures for manufacturing processes, and sacrificial components designed to absorb impact or wear instead of damaging more expensive equipment. With the ability to machine consistent parts quickly, a CNC allows cabinet shops to supply repeatable, high-demand components that serve industries ranging from agriculture and packaging to marine and heavy equipment manufacturing.
The best thing about industrial wood components is that most companies ordering them need a set number regularly and will generally order in bulk. This income source is one of the best sources for a small shop wanting to keep their CNC busy and profitable.
So now that I’ve laid out a few ways to actually turn a profit on the CNC another key to all of this is balance for long-term resiliency. A CNC should be producing a variety of products, from bulk sales of industrial parts, to semi custom cabinets, to furniture. This keeps the CNC active and if there is a lull in one area it doesn’t shut down completely.
As I stated before the goal is to have the CNC running at about 70% to 85% of its productive capacity to ensure you have additional room for times when you need to push harder. So what general percentages of work load should each category be at on the CNC? Generally speaking bulk items should take up a larger percentage of time on the CNC, they get a better deal for keeping the CNC occupied, however they shouldn’t take up too much time so higher margin products like the semi-custom cabinets, furniture, and fully custom pieces can be produced. Below is what I recommend for util
Baseline Scheduled Work (70% to 85%)
Bulk Industrial Parts: 40–45%
Semi-Custom Cabinets & Furniture: 25–30%
Highly Custom / Detailed Pieces: 5 - 10%
It’s very important to maintain that buffer to account for delays, rush jobs, etc. while staying on schedule. There’s no reason to redline all of the time. While it’s tempting it’s a mistake that can lead to complete or semi failure of the company as it losses credibility with home owners and general contractors. Once credibility is lost, so is respect and trust. Remember having a good name and a good character are worth more than the little bit of extra cash that can be squeezed out by redlining a company for prolonged periods of time. You can’t buy a good reputation it must be earned and sometimes it requires saying no.
