Cherrymore Kitchens and Bedrooms, one of the largest kitchen manufacturers in Ireland, claims it could not produce the thousands of panels it does every week without Cabinet Vision software. While the manufacturer works from a range of standard units, everything is made to order off a plan, mainly for its sister retail company, Rite Price.
Operating out of 80,000ft² manufacturing premises in Donegal, Cherrymore uses Cabinet Vision to be 100% sure that the panels are cut exactly as stipulated on lists of units which come in from Rite Price as an XL file, with a CAD drawing for checking against.
Cherrymore co-owner and head of production Martin McLaughlin says: “We input that information into Cabinet Vision, which produces the NC code for routing, as well as controlling the loading, boring and labelling on our SCM Accord machine, and optimises our Holzma beam saw.
“As Rite Price invested in a specialist kitchen design software before we installed Cabinet Vision last year, we only use the integrated Screen-to-Machine module at the moment, to send accurate code to the machines for cutting, boring and labelling the panels. Eventually we’ll use Cabinet Vision as our design package, too, producing photo rendered drawings and cutlists.”
Machine operator Jason Gallen is responsible for inputting the lists which comprise the size and style of the relevant Rite Price base, sink and wall units.
“We have all those units in our library, starting at 150mm up to 1200mm. I manually drag and drop all the parts for the units into the Cabinet Vision file for that job, and once the list’s complete the S2M Center creates toolpaths for all the different parts. Then I optimise it to create the best possible nest, select the SCM or Holzma and run the program.”
Amongst the features of the Screen-to-Machine Ultimate module used by Cherrymore are:
• control feeds and speeds of tools by material
• control maximum depth per pass of tools by material
• ABC axis rotation
• square up and manage nest off-fall (with nesting)
• define multiple sheet sizes per material
“When the SCM arrived, before we installed Cabinet Vision onto it, I used to manually put every single part on, and some units have ten parts. It took at least two hours – but it only takes ten minutes with Cabinet Vision.”
Occasionally a component is called for that is off-standard. “As Cabinet Vision is parametric, it’s so easy to manipulate an existing panel. If I expand or shrink one aspect, it automatically moves everything else, so I don’t have to worry about handle and hinge holes being in the wrong place,” says Jason.
As well as driving the two machines, Jason makes full use of Cabinet Vision’s facility to produce a list of sheets prior to starting machining. “It means we can prepare our sheets of two-sided laminate chipboard or MDF on a stack for either machine. Each unit is manufactured from a dense 18mm board, which, when coupled with glued and dowelled joints, makes for one of the strongest carcasses available.”
The labelling capability ensures that every panel is clearly identified with the part number, customer’s details, colour and size.
Cabinet Vision’s support team spent time setting everything up accurately pays dividends. “You can have the best software in the world, but it’s nothing without the right support. In particular Cabinet Vision undertook a lot of work in optimising the Holzma and setting up the labelling system. Everything works perfectly, and is well worth the effort put in when we first installed it,” says Martin.
Cherrymore’s manufacturing operation has been established for around 12 years, producing a wide range of traditional and contemporary styles at competitive prices; from modern flat and slab doors, to the classic shaker and solid timbers. Cherrymore also has a number of unique features such as hexagonal and curved doors.
