Flat-line Furniture Manufacture.

The flat-line process is the furniture manufacturing system that maximizes the uses of woodworking machinery in the production process. It is the answer in the woodworking industry to the problem about the labor cost that is going to be more expensive according to the development of civilization. The woodworking technology keeps developing many new technologies and providing new machines to reduce the use of manpower in the woodworking process. The furniture manufacturing process traditionally could be well-known as the low-tech and labor-intensive process, but with the advanced technology, many woodworking processes can be done by modern machinery and high technology with less labor. Many woodworking processes, such as cutting, boring, sanding, and even finishing, can be done fast and consistently with fewer uses of manpower with modern woodworking machines.
Flat-line woodworking machinery will change the woodworking industry from the dirty, noisy, low-tech, and high-labor industry to the modern high-tech and low-labor industry. The concept of the flat-line furniture process starts with the construction and design. The furniture construction must be made in the knockdown in the simple component form as far as possible to let the machinery do the processes. The production processes from cutting, sizing, boring, and sanding until finishing are done by modern machinery. To do it, then we need to break down the furniture into the simple components and do the whole process in the component. Even the packing and shipping are done in the components. The assembling is the last process that must be simply done, since it may be done on the customer side.

woodworking industry

This system needs high precision and consistency. Every component must have the same size and can be assembled without any problem. This requirement can be fulfilled with the use of modern machinery and systems. There are many modern woodworking machines, such as CNC routers, molding machines, and even carving machines, that are reliable to cut and form the wood or wood product with high precision. They work automatically and are controlled by a computer program; the operator works to create the proper program to set the machine and let the machine do the woodworking process automatically. The modern machines now have the capability to cut and form the wood pieces, MDF, plywood, or other wood products to make the components.

The same way is in the finishing. The sanding and finishing must be done to the component. There are many wood sanding machines, such as the wide belt sander, brush sander, and stroke sander, to do the sanding process that work faster than the manually hand sanding of the built-up furniture. Even the manually sanding with the hand sander will be much faster when done at the component shapes.

In the finishing process, we need to reduce the manual spray and maximize the use of a flat-line finishing machine. With the flat-line machine, the finishing process can be done much faster and more efficiently compared with the manual spray application. With the UV coating and roller coater machine, we can coat the wood to build 3 mill film thickness, with the coating costing about US$1 per square meter of surface area. Whereas to get the same film thickness with spray application by using PU, NC, or acid-curing coating will cost about 4 USD per square meter. The other flat-line machine, such as the curtain coater or automatic spraying system, may not be as cheap as the roller coater, but it is still cheaper than the manual spray application.

Although the flat-line system will reduce the production cost in the furniture manufacturing system, in fact it is not suitable for every furniture manufacturer. There are some furniture models that are not economical or even cannot be made with the flat line machine. The furniture product with the complex form, such as carved furniture, chair, leg, or some special form, cannot be sanded with machine, either cannot be finished with the flat finishing line. The antique or special finish will need a lot of handwork that cannot be accommodated with the flat-line finishing system. The finishing for high-end products, such as the very high gloss finish, also still needs manual work, either the spraying application or the rubbing to get the perfect coating film. 

The flat-line finishing process is also not economically feasible to make the product with a small amount. The machine will be able to do the working process fast and consistently, but only for the same size product and with the same finishing material. To run the machine, we need the electricity, which could be expensive if the volume is small. The machine needs to be set up according to the product size and requirements, and every time there are changes to the product specification, he needs a new setting. Every change at the machine will be costly since the time-consuming and electricity start up. The flat line finishing is more suitable to do the mass product with high volume. It is suitable for the furniture manufacture, which makes products with the same form, size, and model with high volume.