QualityInspection.org

Quality Assurance, Product Development, and Purchasing Strategies in China

  • Home
  • Articles
    • How To Manufacture A Product In China (without losing your shirt)? [Importer’s Guide]
  • Best Of
  • About Us
  • Contact us
X

Don't miss a post

It's easy to subscribe to our newsletter where you'll receive weekly updates for professional importers and manufacturers on better understanding, controlling, and improving manufacturing & supply chain in China, India, Vietnam, and beyond.

You are here: Home / Process Improvement / Auditing Wood Machining Processes in a Furniture Factory in China

Auditing Wood Machining Processes in a Furniture Factory in China

June 4, 2014 by Renaud Anjoran

Process ImprovementWe work on more and more furniture-related projects, so we thought setting up a checklist specific to these processes was necessary.

The difficulty we encountered was the many types of wooden furniture that we see in Chinese factories. We were forced to make certain assumptions in order to limit the range and make the physical audit manageable:

  • All wooden furniture starts off as raw material
  • All wooden furniture has some sort of shaping process in order to get the wood looking like the end product
  • All wooden furniture has some sort of finish applied to the wood
  • All wooden furniture ends up as a finished product in either a fully assembled piece or as a product in a kit form where the consumer assembles the product when they get it home

So, taking these assumptions into account, we looked at the wooden furniture manufacturing process in more detail.

We cover topics like timber moisture and the drying processes and how they are controlled. It is very important to understand the moisture content of timber, particularly when changes in moisture content can change the dimensions of the wood, which could cause serious defects in the final product.

Turning a piece of timber into a piece of wooden furniture requires a number of different steps: cutting, sanding, shaping, laminating, gluing, drilling, painting and/or varnishing, screwing, stapling, printing (logos or names), assembly, and in some cases like a sofa or chair it is the addition of soft furnishings like foam and fabric covers.

We have reviewed these process steps and broken them down into sections where we examine the operational elements to assess the risks to the customer. It is at this level where we look at attention to detail, how repeatable the process is, the use of jigs and fixtures, and how safe working conditions are for example.

The objective of this type of process audit is to allow the customer to determine the risks related to a particular manufacturer, and to make a list of high-priority improvements.

Sections covered in this audit are:

  • Receiving Timber
  • Drying Timber
  • Cutting Timber to Size – Shaping
  • Drilling
  • Sanding
  • Gluing
  • Painting / Spraying
  • Polishing / Varnishing
  • Assembly, Screw Fixing
  • Screen Printing
  • Pad Printing
  • Health & Safety
  • In Process Quality Control (IPQC)
  • Work in Progress (WIP)
  • Fitting Upholstery
  • Packing

Did we forget something important?

Filed Under: Process Improvement

Comments

  1. Tyler says

    June 11, 2014 at 4:00 AM

    Great list, I think another area to note is not just drying the wood at the beginning, but keeping it dry throughout the production processes. My factory in Southern China experiences moisture content changes of 2% in 24 hours sometimes.

    • Renaud Anjoran says

      June 11, 2014 at 9:09 AM

      Great comment. Thanks.
      So, how do you prevent this from happening? It seems pretty difficult to do. Do you need to add a process step to get the moisture content down again?


Weekly updates for professional importers on better understanding, controlling, and improving manufacturing & supply chain in China.

This is a blog written by Renaud Anjoran, an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer who has been involved in chinese manufacturing since 2005, and his team.

He is the CEO of The Sofeast Group.

Hit the button below to get in touch:

Contact Us!

Subscribe to our email newsletter

Connect with us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
sofeast
sofeast

Latest Articles

  • The Hidden Cost of Non-Compliance: Can the EU Keep Unsafe Imports at Bay?
  • Contract Manufacturing in China FAQs (Pt.2): Common Mistakes, Compliance, and Samples.
  • Contract Manufacturing in China FAQs: Communication, Quality Control & Strategic Sourcing
  • Why Process Controls Matter: The Secret to Reliable Manufacturing
  • Mastering Quality Inspections: When and How to Check Your Products?

Categories

  • Quality Control Tips
  • Sourcing New Suppliers
  • Supplier Management
  • New Product Development
  • Process Improvement
  • Ethical Sourcing

Archives

© 2025 QualityInspection.org