Looking at the custom cabinet business, the term custom relates to building exactly what the customer wants. Certainly custom is about choices in materials, color and finish, meeting space requirements, looks and sizes.
     When we speak about size we look to accommodate the customer's needs with the available space to house them. A kitchen, for example, may well be filled with standard cabinetry in fixed incremental sizes. Or, we could introduce special sizes to create symmetry, thus appealing to a particular customer need.
     The design, parts generation, material needs and production planning are more time consuming in custom work. But when it comes to actual manufacturing, a modern CNC nesting machine does not care much as to what size the pieces are. Efficiency comes from loading and offloading the machine only.
     The essence of the custom cabinet business is about being able to deliver a product in an efficient and cost-effective manner while delivering real value. After all, stock cabinet companies make only cabinets, while the custom cabinetmaker makes a kitchen.
     The custom cabinet business is not a walk-in-the-park. It is about making the right choices amongst a thousand little things.