When demand was beginning to outweigh production, Wessam and Bassam Issa of Paradise Kitchens considered whether nesting was the solution they were after.
Paradise Kitchens was founded by Alex Issa almost 24 years ago. Manufacturers of kitchens, bathrooms, vanities and laundries, they supply direct to the public, builders and tradesmen as well as home owners and self-renovators. The company is now run by Alex's sons, Wessam and Bassam Issa, who took over from Alex a few years ago.
In October 2011, Wessam and Bassam found that demand was beginning to outweigh their production capabilities with their current factory equipment. Their previous factory set up was comprised of a beamsaw and a point to point machine, which meant production involved staff manually loading machines and supervising them as they ran. The brothers began to investigate their options and considered that nesting may be the correct solution for their factory to keep up with the market.
The evaluation process led them to research the factors that were most important to them and their production needs. These factors included an appropriate running speed, the size of the main spindle head, size of the working table, automatic zoning of the vacuum table, a large drill head and of course the price to quality ratio. They found that in all these areas, Biesse came out on top. In fact, Biesse was able to supply the largest spindle head on the market and a wide choice of table sizes.
In early December 2011, the Issa brothers made the decision to invest in a BiesseArtech numerically controlled machining centre. The package they purchased includes the BiesseArtech Skill 1536 which has a 5' x 12 table size, sweeping arm, automatic loading, outfeed conveyor and includes BiesseWorks, BiesseNest and spreadsheet software.
"We were impressed that the machine was fully automatic, all software was supplied by Biesse and was user friendly. Most importantly, it could be run by one operator who now does both programming and machining. This reduced our staff from 5 men to just 3 on the production floor, reducing long term costs."
Now the operator can leave the machine to run on its own without supervision and in the meantime he can attend to other tasks, such as running the edgebander or writing programs for the next job. The BiesseArtech Skill will nest and drill all in the one operation reducing the need for double handling.
When purchasing a new machine, another important factor is any delay the change will have on production, both during and after installation as well as after-sales service. "The installation of the machine was a smooth transition even though we chose to do it in December; the Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year for us. The operator received full training by the technician so there was very little disruption to production."
"Service was also a big deal to us; we needed to know that we could rely on the service department. From the installation of the machine in December, we have been very happy with the support and fast turnaround we've received from Biesse."
The purchase of an automatic numerically controlled machining centre has resulted in a 60% increase in production within just a few months for Paradise Kitchens. They are now running 70-90 sheets per day and meeting demand even in their busiest times. Wessam and Bassam's are positive that choosing to invest in a nesting solution was the right decision for their production floor.
