Cosmo Cabinets CARES. The term, in fact, refers to its business model that asks its workers to Communicate, be Accountable and Reliable, and vie for Excellence and Safety. 

It is a philosophy that company leadership believes has helped this young company get, and stay, on its feet, and continue to grow despite enduring a pandemic and worker shortage.
Owner and CEO Umaesh Khaitan integrated these concepts about two years after launching the company in 2018. Just about the time COVID struck.  

The Eatonton, Georgia-based company manufactures full-access frameless kitchen and bath cabinets for the multi-family industry, specializing in conventional, affordable, and senior housing. 

While this multi-family market sometimes has a low-value reputation, Cosmo Cabinets believes that the company’s cultural climate, and its manufacturing philosophy, allow it to add those small touches usually found in higher-priced products.

“The mindset of the industry is ‘multi-family means cheap’ and we don’t believe that,” said Khaitan. “We use the latest materials, made with the most innovative technology in the most cost-efficient way, to make quality goods and meet our price points.”

Cultural mindset
This idea in some ways mirrors the CARES core beliefs. Encouraging communication, promoting excellence, putting people first come to mind.

Communication, for instance, is a main core value, said company president, and Umaesh’s son, Nirvan Khaitan. “It is a value that has improved our company.”

Recently, workers were producing a big order of gray cabinets on two different edgebanding lines, and  workers from 10-feet away noticed that two different colors of gray were being used. “We paused the process, fixed the problem, and saved hundreds of cabinets from going out with the wrong color. And, the team was immediately celebrated rather than, ‘hey, you’re not hitting your number,’” said Nirvan, who in 2022 was a Woodworking Network 40 Under 40 winner.

Producing quality boxes fast
Nirvan explained that the company’s full-access cabinet boxes are made with pre-glued bore and dowel construction. A style that makes for fast and efficient production of cabinet parts and that can be easily assembled. “There are no nails or screws holding it together. It’s all a friction-fit dowel system out of Europe. And no glue either. And it’s all been tested, so we know it all comes together perfectly.” 

Cosmo Cabinets offers Shaker style and slab doors. The slab doors and drawer fronts, made in-house, use thermofused laminate (TFL) over an engineered wood substrate, typically particleboard. For instance, the Sierra cabinet style features a 3/4-inch thick particleboard TFL door and drawer front with a textured wood grain look and feel. 

Its doors and door fronts are all 3/4 instead of 5/8, which Umaesh said is available at a price point that is “very popular among developers, and has helped drive growth.”

Other high-end touches include 3/4-inch thick white coated foil wrapped doors, the use of 60 gram paper thickness on white, as opposed to typical 30 to 45 gram papers, and soft-close drawer hardware.

A new door style developed at Cosmo Cabinets are UV coated to achieve a durable, fresh look. “You can run your fingernails on it as hard as you want, they won’t scratch,” Nirvan said. “It has a super matte finish and you can literally write on it with a Sharpie and clean it off with some rubbing alcohol on it. So, it’s perfect for tenants with children.” 

All of the base cabinets feature a proprietary leg leveler system that is designed to hold up to 800 pounds between the four of them, keep the cabinet 4.5 to 6.5 inches above the floor, and are adjustable to help compensate for uneven flooring. They use a dowel connection; there is no need for special screws or tools. It comes with a matching toe kick with C-clip attachment. 

“We’ve had cases where the legs have saved the cabinets after a roof leaked or a water main breaks. Normally, all the base cabinets would be ruined and have to be removed. With our system, remove the legs and replace the toe kicks, and your cabinets are  saved,” Umaesh said.

Room for growth
To produce its full-access cabinets and their components, the company operates on a sprawling, multi-acre property. It currently has three buildings on site. Manufacturing is conducted in a 350,000-square-foot facility with high-speed equipment. Multiple conveyor lines run simultaneously using a real-time cloud-based IT system, to complete and ship orders with a short lead time. 

“We set up the plant on a European, one-direction flow, model,” said Nirvan. “It wasn’t set up with a frame [cabinet] mindset.”
Along this conveyor-fed workflow layout is a variety of equipment including a high-end IMA Schelling fh6 panel saw, Homag CNC machining center, Hessan laminating line, Homag edgebanders, drill and dowel machines, a Bonacin case clamp, and boxing and packaging equipment.  

The company utilizes online project management software in addition to 2020 Insight software from Cyncly for design and ERP, which helps propel projects quickly and efficiently in a paperless process.

“Everything we do lives on an electronic system,” said Umaesh. “This allows us to be very diligent about looking ahead for planning.”

For example, in November 2023 the company was producing 450 cabinets a day. A few months later, that number jumped to 950 per day to meet sold orders. The system allowed them to make the parts that were actually needed, reduce work-in-progress, and meet deadlines.  “We can plan with sold contracts, not guessed projections,” said Umaesh.

Critical objectives for a company that cares.