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Furniture Factory Short'-Cuts 





Tin- further nianiifacturers luul consumers of diiiieiisiou stock go 

 with the proiiosition, tlie more numerous do its advantages become. 

 The general, basic arguments in favor of using lumber cut to size 

 have long been familiar to the trade; but the detailed benefits 

 appear only with actual trial of the proposition. 



Experience is beginning to accumulate, and the results are the 

 more impressive by reason of the improvements brought about, 

 from every angle. In a word, dimension stock has not only made 

 good, but it has made good in more ways than it had been expected 

 to do, and the latter features furnish a strong argument in favor 

 of the more general use of the plan. 



For example, it was pointed out not long ago that consumers 

 are insisting more than ever before on carrying small stocks, and 

 on getting just enough lumber to insure a sufficient supply at all 

 times. The dimension stock plan fits into this mode of operation 

 as though designed for it, and the e.\pcrience of a number of furni- 

 ture factories in this connection is enlightening. 



When ordinary lumber is jnirchascd, it is necessary to kilndrv 

 It, of course, before putting it through the factory. It is next to 

 impossible to arrange receipts of lumber on so exact a schedule 

 to keep the kiln filled, and to insure an ample supply of dry lum- 

 ber constantly being available. The result is that whether the 

 consumer wants to or not, he is compelled to carry a surplus of 

 considerable extent, and the rehandling of this lumber, from the 

 car to the yard and from the yard to the kiln, is an added expense 

 which an ideal operation of the system would get away from. 



This is accomplished by means of the dimension system. The 

 manufacturer of lumber cut to size kiln-dries his lumber before 

 cutting it up, and as a matter of course keeps a considerable 

 quantity of dry stock on hand. When he gets an order for dimen- 

 sion lumber, all that is necessary is to cut the stock to size and 

 ship. Thus the consumer is nearer to his supplj- of material by 

 the length of time required to dry under ordinary conditions, and 

 is consequently that much better off when it comes to planning his 

 purchases and arranging his manufacturing operations. 



In fact, experience has shown that the plan of having a steady 

 supply of lumber move from the manufacturer to the factory con- 

 sumer can be handled more conveniently when dimension lumber 

 is used than when ordinary stock is shipped. If the plan of the 

 consumer has been to carry a considerable stock of lumber, and 

 have enough kiln-dried stock on hand to keep the machine-room 

 supplied at all times, the use of the facilities of the lumberman 

 enables him to reduce his investment in stock and to have ship- 

 ments made against his actual requirements and not against his 

 future needs. 



In this connection another advantage has been discovered. The 

 manufacturer who heretofore has carried a considerable amount of 

 lumber on his yard, in order to have plenty of stock ready for the 

 kiln, or who has had a good deal of money tied up in dry stock, 

 awaiting the needs of the cutting department, is now able to take 

 the same money, put it into dimension stock, and be ready to sur- 

 face the material and send it to the cabinet-room at a moment's 

 notice. 



In other words, the furniture manufacturer has heretofore been 

 "up against it" on the matter of deliveries, in a good many cases, 

 because of the difficulty of getting out special lots in less than 

 sixty days. In fact, many furniture men assert that it is impossible 

 to do justice to the work and put a piece of furniture through, from 

 the kiln to the car door, in less than two months. 



The peculiar trade conditions in this business emphasize the 

 disadvantage of not being able to ship quickly. T'sually the re- 

 tailer does not order until the last minute, and when he wants a 

 piece of furniture or a carload of it, he usually wants it in a 

 hurry to take care of demand which is developing at that time. 

 Delay in getting the goods to him is frequently fatal, and interferes 

 with the success of the manufacturer. But since he is not in a 

 position to anticipate the demand, except in the case of staples 



which can be depended upon, he is compelled to wait for orders, 

 and then must rush in order to get them out in time for use by 

 the retailer. 



That makes the big advantage of being several important steps 

 in advance of the usual procedure all the more desirable. If 

 instead of putting the lumber through the kiln and then having it 

 cut to size in his own machine-room, he can take the dimension 

 lumber from stock, where it was carried for just such an emergency, 

 he can save from three to four weeks in getting out the goods. 

 And that much time is often the difference between holding a 

 customer by good service and losing him because of slow deliveries. 



The flour miller seldom carries the finished goods in stock. The 

 chief reason is that flour values are much greater than wheat, and 

 interest, insurance and other carrying charges mount up too high 

 to make it profitable or practicable to have a very large supply of 

 flour ahead. But the miller does carry wheat in stock — all he can 

 afford to buy when the market is right. He wants to have his 

 material where he can get it at short notice, and in such shape 

 that he will not be delayed in beginning the important work of 

 converting grain into flour. 



The furniture manufacturers have learned that they can play 

 the same sort of game in connection with dimension stock. Instead 

 of manufacturing their furniture complete, and carrying it in 

 stock, a procedure which is difficult and dangerous, from the stand- 

 point of policy, because of the absence of exact knowledge on the 

 subject of demand, they work up their raw material as far as 

 possible, under the restrictions necessarily imposed, and are thus 

 ready, at any time the demand for a given item develops, to begin 

 its manufacture at a point much further along than would or- 

 dinarily be the case. Even in the case of numbers which are 

 doubtful sellers, standard parts can be provided, so that only the 

 odd items need to be made up when the order comes in. 



"We make a wide and constantly changing range of styles," 

 said a furniture man not long ago, "but we have found it to be 

 a considerable advantage to put in a big stock of standard parts, 

 such as legs, tops, etc. We order these for practically the entire 

 season "s requirements, as we see them, and then specify deliveries 

 from time to time in suflicient quantity to give us a big stock of 

 this material. The process of manufacturing, when orders are 

 received, is considerably shortened. We have much of the material, 

 even on the numbers regarding the demand for which we are not 

 certain, already made up, and the work of getting it out is there- 

 fore greatly expedited. This, we believe, is one of the greatest 

 advantages of using dimension stock, from the standpoint of the 

 consumer." 



A point which dimension men have been quick to take note of 

 is that the cost of handling a great number of small pieces is much 

 larger than the expense involved in taking care of the same footage 

 of lumber of standard lengths. Consequently, in order to meet this 

 objection, furniture material is now shipped in bundles, secured 

 with wire, so that a car can be unloaded quickly and economically. 



In the same connection it is worth noting that the dimension 

 men are performing a service not unlike that of the veneer manu- 

 facturers, some of whom match and tape veneers so that they are 

 ready to lay when received at the factory. That is, in many cases 

 the dimension manufacturer matches up lumber that is to be 

 joined, rips it fo size and keeps the various pieces together in the 

 bundle, so that each top is a unit, and the consumer is assured of 

 having uniformity as to color and figure. This is a real service 

 to the factory man, who ordinarily makes many blunders in set- 

 ting out solid tops through being unable to secure uniformity in 

 these respects. 



These and many other practical advantages, which are developed 

 only by actual operation of the system, have served to win many 

 permanent customers for dimension stock manufacturers, and to 

 increase the business of those mills which provide the right kind 

 of service regarding such things as matching up, inspection, etc. 



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