July/August 2005
Page 12

Strachan turns to Linkwood for turnkey manufacturing 

software solution.

They say first impressions count. And an initial scan of Strachan's impressive modern factory in Leeds speaks volumes for the company.

The investment is obvious. There at one end of the 30,000sq ft single span unit stand a co-ordinated trio of expensive Homag machines - beam saw, edge bander and CNC. Then there are the racks of stock which contain no fewer than 16 different décor Egger boards and the work in progress which tells you that this is a busy company that specialises in diversity.

Strachan manufactures more than 30 individual fitted bedrooms every week. Every job is different, and what sets Strachan apart from its mainstream competitors is that each one can include anything the customer wants, from a none-standard shaped cabinet to precisely fit into a recess, to a solid wood door stained to match Mrs Smith’s fifty year old bit of G-Plan. It’s quite an operation.

Overseeing the manufacturing, and responsible for its development is Consultant Project Co-ordinator Gary Holden. Aside from a lifetime’s experience in the furniture industry, much of it with Strachan, Holden is something of a renaissance man, combining his talents in manufacturing with such diverse ventures as a building company and a hotel. He is not a man who stands still and his characteristic certainly suits Strachan, who’s drive and energy is instantly obvious.

The company formerly operated in a two storey factory in Horsforth. As they grew, they out grew it, and the traditional manufacturing processes it employed. Holden explains, “My brief was to develop the manufacturing system. We had to upgrade the system with minimal running costs. Not capital investment costs, but one man to one machine and all the machines integrated and interlinked.”

If Homag was the choice for the machinery, where did Strachan turn for the software to revolutionise the company’s manufacturing systems? The choice was Linkwood, manufacturing software and system specialists for woodworking, who have for 20 years been the UK’s distributors and technical arm for Pattern Systems Intl Inc. 

For Strachan it wasn’t a choice made lightly. “It took us nine months to make our choices, and we were very rigorous in our selection. We looked at the competition to see what they were doing. We investigated deeply and we were forward looking. We wanted to install facilities allow us to move forward still further.”

So what was it that led Strachan to choose Linkwood at the conclusion of their research? “One of the reasons was the number of modular programs they have. We have bought a set of network software programs that, fully integrate with each other. Others could provide one element of manufacturing but Linkwood was the best suited company that could provide us with everything we need with the ability to link to a multitude of CNC machines from different manufacturers.

Strachan run the complete suite of Patten Systems software, all of which are inter-related. Jobs are processed into the core production planning software, Product Planner which provides cut lists hardware etc for both custom and standard products. Cut Planner at a single key stroke optimises all the components in the job and sends the cutting patterns to the Holzma Saw. At the same time Drill Mate creates the drilling template files for each and every panel in the job, and then places them in a job folder on the Weeke PC. 

Panel identification and manufacturing instructions are generated on a label through QuikTrak Parts. Strachan also uses QuikTrak on Demand, which lets the beam saw operator generate the label at the saw for each part as he cuts it. The next stage for Strachan, which is already integrated into the system, is bar code reading from the labels for automatic setting up of drilling patterns at the CNC.

The bespoke nature of Strachan’s work means it also has a real capability to be able to integrate all sorts of quirks into its product offering. To ensure the one-off, never to be made again products were also included into the mainstream manufacturing process. Strachan also selected Linkwood’s AutoCAD based Draw Power Machining. This program enables a technician to draw the product as a solid model and then automatically create a parts list and drilling programs that can be imported into and incorporated with other products within the job in Product Planner.

Whilst Linkwood’s range of software is running smoothly, and has transformed the way in which Strachan manufactures, their initial selection was a brave move.

Strachan explains “Linkwood’s software went much further than anyone else and it was a fairly dramatic choice for us, because Homag linked with an alternative software system, so between us we had to develop new ground.”

Initial experience with the integration of the software to machinery was the sort of thing every manufacturer dreads when they make that quantum leap to new technology. Getting them to talk to each other initially didn’t initially work, so we used the machines manually to start with while we worked together to crack the software problems”. 

Linkwood’s Adam Bumpsteed explains. “The Weeke CNC had Woodwop version 5 installed, and no-one in Europe had experience of it and it was new to us as well. The problem was that it couldn’t batch drillings from our Drill Mate software and with as many as 200 different drillings per job, doing them singly was a non starter”

A man perfectly at peace in front of a computer with a problem to solve, Bumpsteed set about cracking something which he was told was un-fixable. “I spoke with Pattern Systems, got onto a few USA forums on the net and asked some questions, which provided some answers. I tried some of these out and over a period of time got it working.”

This must have been an undoubted relief to Strachan. “It could have been a nightmare. We had to make it work, and Linkwood did that for us even when it wasn’t their problem. The experience didn’t exist in Europe, so it all had to come from the States where Pattern Systems has their base. All the drive to get things sorted out came from Strachan and Linkwood.”

Aside from these initial teething problems, the manufacturing upgrades were challenging for both companies. Strachan’s solution was to let the experts get on with it. “We hadn’t got the knowledge or the time to do it, whereas Linkwood had. “It was a very big project. There was the entire product catalogue to create. All the ranges varied dramatically, and then there were the individual quirks which every company has.”

“Another issue was reports. Strachan was very precise in the information it wanted. For example, breaking down delivery notes into rigid and KD components, and then further breaking down the list of hardware into items built into pre-assembled units and those which went into the fittings box for the job.”

The end results have been more than satisfactory though. Strachan says, “Product Planner is flexible and user friendly because it has been setup correctly from day one and our guys know how to tweak it to get what they want. On our old planning package few people could do that”

The manufacturing solution has to be flexible and effective. Relying on direct sales teams means Strachan employs an infrastructure to support them which allows them to carry on selling. As Strachan says, “that’s their job.”

The designer’s initial sketch is translated by one of four teams into a CAD format which then has to be checked by a site surveyor. These teams contain a mix of complementary skills deliberately matched together. Former CNC machinists work together with drafting technicians and share their knowledge.

These production teams incorporate any further changes the site survey brings up before the job passes to manufacturing. In a four to six week lead time, a huge chunk of the available time is often taken up with these rigorous checking procedures, so actual production time is always limited. “At the end of the cycle, manufacturing just gets a few days, so we have to be speedy and efficient.”

And has Linkwood software helped with this? Strachan says, “Enormously. It’s been a huge leap forward for us, and we’re really doing things the right way now. We’re more effective, efficient, we’ve reduced our waste and increased production.”

But Strachan doesn’t look like a company about to rest on their laurels. “We’re champing at the bit because the potential is there to do so much more. It’s still a learning curve. We came to this site with the intention not to produce stock, but experience shows us that with all the diversity we offer we do need certain stock parts. It’s constantly evolving.”

Of course it’s also added to the considerable sum of Linkwood’s knowledge and expertise. Managing director Bob Hockey says, “Each new project throws up fresh challenges which lead us to find fresh solutions, which in turn benefit all our customers.”