Furniture manufacturers are facing an ever-increasing degree of complexity in their production processes. This challenge is further compounded by the high cost of raw materials. LAP, a company based
in Lüneburg, has come to the aid of furniture manufacturers by developing the Assembly Pro digital laser template. Assembly Pro eliminates complex, error-prone and time-consuming manual calibration
and marking processes. It also preserves system resources by avoiding scrap and minimising offcuts.
Buyers are becoming more and more critical when it comes to purchasing new items of furniture. Not only does it have to be affordable, it also has to be safe, durable and of a good standard of workmanship.
Ultimately purchasers want to enjoy their new item of furniture for as long as they possibly can.
The German furniture industry has received higher than average benefits as a result of this trend. In the furniture world, the value of the label 'Made in Germany' is held in equally high regard as it
is in the car or machine manufacturing sector. Factors such as quality, reliability and adherence to delivery deadlines are convincing selling points anywhere in the world.
Technical refinements lead to production challenges
Domestically manufactured furniture is desirable not just due to its quality, but also its technical sophistication. Manufacturers are increasingly combining comfort with technology.
Modern furniture is often multifunctional: LED strip lighting is incorporated into cupboards, for example, and tables can be concealed inside shelving units if required.
Electrically-operated drawers, pullout shelves and overhead cupboard doors are becoming standard features in the luxury segment in particular. High-level kitchen cabinets lower automatically with a
gentle tap of the finger; sliding doors in the living room glide softly to one side. And, before customers can really feel comfortable with new furniture, strict quality requirements must be met by the
industry during production.
The Assembly Pro digital laser template avoids errors and saves resources
Current developments are putting furniture manufacturers at a disadvantage because the complexity of the manufacturing process has increased drastically. Where comfort and technology are combined,
the number of production steps involved increases considerably which makes the process more prone to errors. The high cost of raw materials is also a problem faced by the furniture industry.
Particle board, glass or leather, whatever, the cost of most raw materials used in furniture production has increased considerably.
Assembly Pro, the digital laser template manufactured by LAP, supports the manufacturing process. "Assembly Pro helps furniture manufacturers eliminate errors, e.g. when incorporating
hardware/fittings and complicated pullout shelves during final assembly, thus saving time and precious resources", assures Martin Hegemann, manager of sales in the timber industry at LAP.
"Laser beams project the CAD data onto the workpiece directly. This is much quicker than marking up each time with templates or calibrating with a folding rule.
Assembly Pro marks each work step; machine operators do not miss a single screw."
Reliable and efficient, even with very small quantities
Assembly Pro shows the exact location of individual elements and the position of cutouts and built-in units with millimetre precision. As the outlines are projected on work surfaces and workpieces,
this completely dispenses with the need for manual calibration and marking. Assembly Pro thus significantly improves two decisive factors: time and quality. The system preserves resources by avoiding scrap
and offcuts.
"Assembly Pro guarantees that, whatever the envisaged construction, the product is built professionally and reliably. You can use LAP laser projectors right from the initial workpiece,
and it's worth doing" Hegemann continues, "as the necessary projection data are normally available in the CAD program". This means that individual items of furniture can also be produced efficiently in
small quantities.
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