Fabricator Manpower

[Jonovdh]

Hi guys I'm wondering how you have your shop manpower set up?

Currently I am the general manager but I also template (sticks and glue) which only takes maybe a third of my time. Then I roam the office (one girl in the office quoting and coordinating), the shop and sites as needed (extra hands etc). I then have a full time saw guy, a full time CNC guy, full time polisher (an older fellow who can't help on install), and one install truck with 2 relatively younger guys who are on the road every day installing. Once in a while for trickier high skill/high profile/exotic material jobs I may pull one of guy from the saw or CNC since they have more experience.

I would like to do 2 kitchens a day but it almost seems too much, but then 1 kitchen a day doesn't seem like enough as the guys in the truck are back with 2 or 3 hours left every day, with not a ton to do because the production line with the 3 shop guys doesn't leave much for jumping into the production to amp it up.

Does anyone have suggestions for how I can be more efficient? I know it's a loaded question.

[Teef]

digital template! and a guy to run the router as a 3rd shift.. get that router woking. 2 kitchens a day for install is no problem. We are in the country and have drive times in there too.2 guys should be able to install 100-150 avg a day.

[AACabinetsAndStone]

im GM and i do templating, sales, quoting, and sawing along with payroll. we are a manual shop and have two fabbers (one experienced and one greenhorn) and two experienced installers. we do about 1-2 kitchens a day. depends on the job complexity and material. we dont miter and most of our jobs get euromiterd and either go to hand fab for flat polish or to our pro edge for any other details. things like ogee usually slow us down but we charge more for it so its all good.

[Jonovdh]

3rd shift? We've only got 1 right now. But I'll give thought to longer hours of router time...

Currently we do sticks and glue and then scan with the saw, and then do the lay out with the saw. This ends up with a lot of downtime for the saw. I do agree that digital will probably alleviate this. Thoughts?

On the crew doing 100-150 a day, is that just a standard 8hour day you figure? Just need to have everything go right too of course - good templating, good fabbing so not fighting it on site?

[Ken Lago]

Your problem is when machines ain't cutting you ain't making money. Figure out how to keep the machines running, that's the key imo.

[BReynolds]

100-150 a day shouldnt be a struggle for your guys if all the tops fit properly, faucet holes are drill in the shop, splash is pre cut to length, etc. Do as much work as possible in the shop and basically your installers are just carrying stone and setting seams.

Now if they are dragging pieces back outside and grinding them to fit then chasing down the homeowner to decide where she wants to put her faucet holes and soap dispensers, cutting and polishing splash on site, that sucks up alot of time. You said they come back with 2-3 hours at the end of the day - if they saved an hour at the first install then they would have enough time to install another.

[BReynolds]

also its amazing how much faster your guys work on the first install if they know they have to do a second one after that, no one wants to work late. Its a balance of providing just enough work but not overwhelming the guys.

[Andy Ross]

Or put installers on 4 10s to give them some more time each day without hitting ot. Plus three day weekend are a bonus for employees.

[j.d.seiler]

X2. We have had sucess with 4 10's. Day 5, if necessary, could be used as a " break glass in case of emergency " type of day.

[jbauer]

Hello,

First . go Digital. Laser template and double check measurements is for the most part flawless. When setting up a measure date and time, demand that sinks, faucets, and or extras are chosen and on site. I always used the ( well we can not start fabrication until we have that information). Customers are quick to jump on the decisions. Also what was mentioned before, have as much as you can done in shop, having to take pieces and modify on site is really time consuming. If you gather this information before hand, you can start getting that extra install done in that day

[Miles]

First thing is to understand the capacity of anything and everything in your business. I break our business into different areas- Marketing, Sales, Templating, Fabrication, Installation and administration. Each area has it's own capacity based on how much resources (manpower, equipment, budget, etc.) you devote to it. Each area effects each other area. So when you increase your capacity in one area, it creates pressure to create capacity in other areas. Or when your capacity is limited in one area, it limits the capacity of all other areas.

Concentrate on each area independently and then put an overall plan together. And also, read the book the e-myth.

[Miles]

Hi guys I'm wondering how you have your shop manpower set up?

Currently I am the general manager but I also template (sticks and glue) which only takes maybe a third of my time. Then I roam the office (one girl in the office quoting and coordinating), the shop and sites as needed (extra hands etc). I then have a full time saw guy, a full time CNC guy, full time polisher (an older fellow who can't help on install), and one install truck with 2 relatively younger guys who are on the road every day installing. Once in a while for trickier high skill/high profile/exotic material jobs I may pull one of guy from the saw or CNC since they have more experience.

I would like to do 2 kitchens a day but it almost seems too much, but then 1 kitchen a day doesn't seem like enough as the guys in the truck are back with 2 or 3 hours left every day, with not a ton to do because the production line with the 3 shop guys doesn't leave much for jumping into the production to amp it up.

Does anyone have suggestions for how I can be more efficient? I know it's a loaded question.
[

Did you ever consider that the problem is a sales problem? You said you have one person quoting and coordinating. The thing that kills production efficiency more than anything else is inconsistent production levels. Somedays you produce 150 square feet and some days 75. That kills work flow because some days you don’t have enough people and some days you have too many. Sounds like your sales may have you caught between one and two kitchens a day, but I’m just guessing. But the difference between being able to produce one and two kitchens a day is the ability to double your sales on a consistent basis.

[Darryl Miller]

I think Miles has hit on a big part of your problem. To keep the shop and installers busy there has to be volume coming into the shop. In my opinion, you have too many people and machines to be doing only one kitchen a day. If you are still doing templates with sticks you have to be converting those to a CAD file for the CNC. A digital template system will make a huge difference there. Depending on the size of your average jobs you should have no problem completing two kitchens a day and that will keep the installers busy all day. Look at your sales approach. What can you do to increase the amount of customers into your showroom? Since I don't know the details of how you operate I can only give you speculation. Do you have inventory on site for your customers to choose from or are they having to select slabs from suppliers? Having your own inventory makes it much easier to close sales. When you have to send them elsewhere to look at material there is a high chance that you may never see them again.

[Dave.Scott]

Do you have inventory on site for your customers to choose from or are they having to select slabs from suppliers? Having your own inventory makes it much easier to close sales. When you have to send them elsewhere to look at material there is a high chance that you may never see them again.

Great point!
I kick competitors around because of this. Because they have no inventory, the only way they can compete is to be the cheap guy.