A quality improvement system for the kitchen cabinet industry

A primary objective was to develop a product engineering methodology which will enable kitchen cabinet manufacturers to design and manufacture high quality cabinets in keeping with consumer expectations. A procedure was developed for detecting customer requirements and translating these requirements into technical specifications. A product engineering methodology was also determined for designing a kitchen cabinet including structural design of cabinets. Technical recommendations for quality improvement were also provided in order to be applied in the stages of product design and manufacturing. A secondary objective was to develop guidelines for a quality improvement system for the kitchen cabinet industry which will provide a methodology for detecting and reducing quality related problems in (a) supply of raw materials, hardware, and parts, (b) cabinet design, (c) manufacturing, (d) handling and installation, and (e) customer service. A set of quality improvement guidelines was developed for the Costa Rican kitchen cabinet industry. A procedure was also developed for documenting and designing a quality system and quality manual. Finally, robust design construction methods of kitchen cabinets and a design example were provided based on the characteristics of raw materials found in Costa Rica coupled with recommendations for quality improvement for the Costa Rican kitchen cabinet industry