Woodcraft Industries

DESIGN & OVERSIGHT OF NEW WOOD COMPONENT PLANT

Background: Founded in 1945, Woodcraft Industries manufactures wood components for kitchen and bath cabinetry, office, institutional and residential furniture, architectural millwork, building products, and store fixtures. Over the following half-century Woodcraft Industries grew to become one of the leading manufacturers of hardwood and laminated components in the U.S.  In 2005 the company had eight manufacturing operations situated in five states across the country and employed 1,800 people. 

Situation: In 2005 KraftMaid Cabinetry Inc. announced the construction of a kitchen cabinet factory in West Jordan, UT, with a design capacity of 6,000 cabinets per day.  The goal of the facility was to decrease order fulfillment time for customers in the western U.S. once the facility became functional in 2006.  To decrease inventory and minimize capital expenses, KraftMaid partnered with key suppliers to develop local facilities for delivering components into KraftMaid’s new facility on a JIT basis.  KraftMaid selected Woodcraft Industries as a key supplier for wood components.  Accomplishing KraftMaid’s service levels required Woodcraft to establish a manufacturing presence near West Jordan.

Woodcraft Industries retained A.G. Raymond & Company to research available building and land options within a 15-minute delivery time to KraftMaid’s new facility.  After extensive on-the-ground inspections were completed, A.G. Raymond & Company generated cost estimates for developing the best two building/site options into viable manufacturing locations for Woodcraft’s process.  Based on this analysis the Woodcraft/A.G. Raymond project team decided to retrofit an existing 50,000 square foot building, which was conveniently located 1-1/4 miles from KraftMaid in West Jordan.  On behalf of Woodcraft Industries, A.G. Raymond & Company negotiated a lease/purchase option with the building owner and investigated incentive options with Utah’s economic development agency.

After developing a conceptual siteplan and process layout, A.G. Raymond & Company assembled a team of local architects and engineers to retrofit/upgrade the existing building and handle state/local permitting.  With design documents in hand, A.G. Raymond & Company took the lead in (i) interviewing local contractors, (ii) requesting proposals for the various scopes of work, and (iii) recommending contractors.  A.G. Raymond & Company also designed infrastructure systems and assisted in the vendor selection/acquisition of these systems.

Throughout the project A.G. Raymond & Company acted on behalf of Woodcraft Industries as their owner’s representative with the contractors and suppliers.  Our objective was creating an efficient JIT operation for Woodcraft Industries while maintaining a rigid budget and tight implementation schedule.  From past experiences with A.G. Raymond & Company on their Greenville, PA project, Woodcraft Industries knew they would be provided with experienced ‘eyes and ears’ during the design, build, and commissioning process…and A.G. Raymond & Company delivered.

A. G. Raymond & Company Inc.  1033 Wade Ave. Suite 102 Raleigh, NC  27605
Phone: (919) 831-0070  Fax: (919) 831-0072  Email: info@raymondnet.com