04-11-2017, 10:21 PM
I went to the Stickley factory in Manlius, NY today on my way home from spending a few days with my mom. I timed my trip so that I could go to the Stickley factory tour at 10 AM on Tuesdays. I was the first person to sign in for the free tour, but soon about 7 or 8 other people showed up and promptly at 10 AM a tour guide with 42 years at Stickley came out, made sure everyone had safety glasses, and off we went into the cavernous factory.
I'm not sure how large the factory is, but it's big, maybe 200K sq. ft. I asked and was told 800 people work their over 2 shifts. The guide said they had people from 28 countries working there, IIRC, and from all the folks I saw I believe it.
The Stickley brothers used the latest technology available to them to make furniture in their day, and the currently Stickley operates much the same. They have a completely automated sorting and cutting operation for lumber at the beginning of the process. The operator loads whatever species and thicknesses they need for the day and a computer and vision system sorts each board to give the sizes they need with maximum yield. It also sorts out defects and all the scrap is sent off to the chipper where it's used for fuel to heat the plant in the Winter and sold for pellet production in the Summer. The parts are stacked by operators onto carts and are then wheeled off to subsequent process locations.
While there is a prototype shop where pieces are made just like you or I would in our shops, production furniture is pretty much a fully automated operation after panels are glued up by hand. BTW, they use Titebond to which a red dye is added to make it easier to see. I saw automated tenoning and moulding machines, a couple of massive multi head CNC machines, and several really large wide belt sanders processing parts and sub-assemblies. From there, each piece of furniture was assembled by one of a bunch of workers, after which, more workers manually sanded each piece to 150 grit in preparation for finishing. Finishing was completely manual. Alcohol based dye was sprayed on each piece. We didn't see the staining operation, but that was next, followed by manual spraying of the finish coats. Or a sealer then a glaze, then the finish coats. Quite a few pieces were being sent back for rework due to sanding defects. I was rather surprised to see how much orange peel was in the finish. Every piece was hand rubbed by another group of folks; not just the tops, but every surface. When done the surfaces were silky smooth but it would be a stretch to say the surfaces were perfect. I could see undulations in table tops, some inconsistent sheen in others, a few joints that weren't perfect; not the image of Stickley I had in my mind.
Cycle time was 12 days for a piece to be made.
The tour lasted about 90 minutes and the tour guide was very open and honest. He pointed out what they believe makes Stickley unique and worth the price but made no sales pitch other than saying he hoped people would buy their products. There is not much about production furniture making that is similar to how most of us work, but it was enjoyable to see how such a large operation works and that a company can continue to be successful making furniture in the USA and NY state, at that. If you are ever in mid NYS on a Tuesday you might enjoy taking the Stickley factory tour, too.
John
I'm not sure how large the factory is, but it's big, maybe 200K sq. ft. I asked and was told 800 people work their over 2 shifts. The guide said they had people from 28 countries working there, IIRC, and from all the folks I saw I believe it.
The Stickley brothers used the latest technology available to them to make furniture in their day, and the currently Stickley operates much the same. They have a completely automated sorting and cutting operation for lumber at the beginning of the process. The operator loads whatever species and thicknesses they need for the day and a computer and vision system sorts each board to give the sizes they need with maximum yield. It also sorts out defects and all the scrap is sent off to the chipper where it's used for fuel to heat the plant in the Winter and sold for pellet production in the Summer. The parts are stacked by operators onto carts and are then wheeled off to subsequent process locations.
While there is a prototype shop where pieces are made just like you or I would in our shops, production furniture is pretty much a fully automated operation after panels are glued up by hand. BTW, they use Titebond to which a red dye is added to make it easier to see. I saw automated tenoning and moulding machines, a couple of massive multi head CNC machines, and several really large wide belt sanders processing parts and sub-assemblies. From there, each piece of furniture was assembled by one of a bunch of workers, after which, more workers manually sanded each piece to 150 grit in preparation for finishing. Finishing was completely manual. Alcohol based dye was sprayed on each piece. We didn't see the staining operation, but that was next, followed by manual spraying of the finish coats. Or a sealer then a glaze, then the finish coats. Quite a few pieces were being sent back for rework due to sanding defects. I was rather surprised to see how much orange peel was in the finish. Every piece was hand rubbed by another group of folks; not just the tops, but every surface. When done the surfaces were silky smooth but it would be a stretch to say the surfaces were perfect. I could see undulations in table tops, some inconsistent sheen in others, a few joints that weren't perfect; not the image of Stickley I had in my mind.
Cycle time was 12 days for a piece to be made.
The tour lasted about 90 minutes and the tour guide was very open and honest. He pointed out what they believe makes Stickley unique and worth the price but made no sales pitch other than saying he hoped people would buy their products. There is not much about production furniture making that is similar to how most of us work, but it was enjoyable to see how such a large operation works and that a company can continue to be successful making furniture in the USA and NY state, at that. If you are ever in mid NYS on a Tuesday you might enjoy taking the Stickley factory tour, too.
John
