The plant at FrameZero Custom Cabinetry in Huntsville, Alabama, is a little different compared to many other cabinet shops. Not the least of these differences is that woodworking equipment is few and far between. 

This factory runs lean. It operates in a one-piece flow philosophy and follows a production, shipping, and installation model fashioned on European operations. Its business model emphasizes efficiency and ease of operation. The company’s overarching motto, according to cabinet engineer, founder and chief visionary, Chris Mason, is to “keep it simple stupid.”

“I say that every day,” he said. “We try to be very compact in what we do. When doing an installation in a home, we want to take just what we need so that we’re not invasive.”

The same holds true in the factory. “I like things to be close. That way you reduce the steps between each process. Keeping it simple, reducing steps; those things are very important.”

FrameZero recently transitioned from a traditional face frame custom cabinet shop and committed to the FrameZero 32mm concept. Previously known as Oldwood Custom Cabinets — named for the street on which it previously resided — the company rebranded itself FrameZero. 

It is a True 32 Custom Cabinetry Manufacturer affiliate, which is a diverse group of manufacturers spread across North America that share common sensibilities and agree on common concepts. Since 2020, Mason has been a charter member of the Good Profit Group Peer Advisory Board of Cabinetmakers. The group helps each other on business and cabinetmaking best practices and utilizes  “extremely effective manufacturing methods.”

The goal is to integrate the best of lean and flow manufacturing methodologies into its processes, eliminating non-value-added time and work-in-process.

The company makes cabinets for every room in the house, and in a variety of styles and dimensions. Cabinets are manufactured in widths or depths as required and in height increments of 32mm. Hundreds of door styles and configurations and thousands of finish combinations are available. Consumers can choose hardwoods or laminates.

“We show people the difference between a hardwood door and a laminate door. They can touch it and feel the texture. If they want a traditional look, they can have that. Or if they want a door in different colors or look like copper, we can do that. 
“We still do a lot of hardwoods, and paint, but the modern style is growing (because) we can do things that you can’t do with wood cabinets.”

Fast finishing
Working primarily with Cabinotch, the company outsources most box components and accessories, including soft-close drawers, hardwood dovetail drawers, and organizational products, relieving the company from producing those items in house. As a result, the FrameZero factory has almost no equipment other than a downdraft sanding station, and a short finishing line. 

“Rather than investing in one CNC machine, I went the route of partnering with a company that has 12 CNC machines and get a better quality part when we need it.”

The shop’s finishing line is the most prominent feature in the shop. The company uses water-based paint and stained products and sprays both sides of a component utilizing a paint line hanging system from Guffey Systems.

A fixed line rail has rotating hangers from Guffey Systems. Operators can move the hanging components with one finger no matter its weight and can turn it 360 degrees to spray both sides of the component.

Once sprayed, the component slides off the fixed rail onto a Guffey Systems mobile unit for transport as needed.

For example, parts that need sanding between coats are wheeled to the downdraft table for sanding and then wheeled back to the finishing line.

Despite being a manual system, the Guffey System helps the company efficiently finish hundreds of doors a day. “The Guffey System has reduced material handling by 80%,” Mason said. “The old way of spraying horizontally, you had to pick up a door off of a door tree, set it down, spray it, pick it up, set it down, wait for it to dry, pick it up again, flip it, spray the other side, and pick it up again. 

“With this system, you don’t have that material handling and by doing both sides of the door, dry time is reduced by 50%.”

One piece flow
Mason said that the company’s one-piece production flow philosophy makes sure each piece is accurately constructed and has greatly reduced callbacks. 

At the assembly table, each cabinet job is built in an organized fashion. All components, hardware, and assembly tools are in place at the assembler’s fingertips. That creates less work in progress and less damage, said Mason.

Components, including bottoms, sides, tops and doors, are loaded onto one cart. One cart, one job. The components are premilled with shelving holes, hinge holes, and suspension block cutouts by the CNC contractor. Labels generated at the CNC company is attached to the component that fully details the job.

For one particular job, a cabinet features a white oak laminate and a matte black acrylic door. Lamello joining systems are used to fasten the cabinets together and hold it in place before assembly screws are attached. 

The process has a distinct order. Checking the label, the worker determines which are the left and right side components, what is the top, what is the bottom. First, suspension block covers are installed.(Suspension block covers hang onto a steel rail attached to the consumer’s wall, which gives the installer the ability to perfectly level and plumb the cabinet.) After the hinge plates are inserted, the worker starts the actual box construction.

Lamellos securely fasten the components together, which Mason said makes building the cabinet box easy to do. Once the sides are snapped onto the bottom board and the top is added and made flush, the operator finishes the job with assembly screws using a drill pre-loaded with the appropriate bit. 

After building the box, cabinet doors are installed onto the pre-installed Blum hinges. The cabinet is then ready for shipping. 
The cabinet is placed in a red square, which is a section of the floor delineated with red paint to alert workers that the cabinets are ready for delivery. 

With the bar code label, and workflow process, Mason said that new workers can be quickly trained. “I could hire someone who doesn’t have any experience and they can come in on day one and with just a little bit of training and assemble this cabinet box entirely. There’s nothing that I love more than someone with no experience can look at a cabinet they put together and feel like they accomplished something and be able to start a new career. That’s what I want for the next generation.”