Leuco p-System Case Study

p‐System jointing cutters from LEUCO at kitchen cabinet manufacturer nobilia

Six‐figure annual savings thanks to high‐end tooling

Nowhere else in the world are more kitchen cabinets produced than at nobilia. Part of the success in terms of quality and cost‐effective‐ness is attributable to the 70° cutters from the p‐System of LEUCO. 

Producing 783,000 kitchens per year, nobilia is the largest European kitchen cabinet manufacturer. The two plants in Verl in eastern West‐phalia are among the most modern and efficient production sites for kitchen furnishings in the whole of Europe. The clean joining of 16 and 19 mm thick particleboard is an important production step in cabinet body manufacturing. Because of the enormous production volumes, the tools used must be not only real endurance runners, but also deliver flawless quality. After all, demanding customers do not tolerate chipped edges. A high demand for quality, coupled with economical production ‐ this is exactly the field of application for LEUCO's p‐System.

Quality control at nobilia is largely automated. For instance, optical quality inspection systems are used and tools are changed regularly at planned intervals in cabinet body production. Under these high‐end technical conditions and in an environment focused on predictability, the cost‐effectiveness comes from the extremely long tool life of the diamond‐tipped LEUCO p‐System cutters with 70° shear angle. The change cycles are set at 500,000 running meters. A scheduled tool change is on average 15 minutes faster than an emergency change and is integrated into the maintenance and pauses of the rest of the machines. This means downtimes reduced to a minimum by optimized setup times, and virtually no rejects thanks to continuous quality control. The quality of the core layer and the edges is prepared perfectly for the immediately following edging due to the draw cut of the p‐System despite different panel suppliers. Joining at nobilia takes place at feed rates of 60 or 80 m/min. Continuous improvement in processes is part of daily business at nobilia. Since the p-System cutters have been in use, annual savings in the 6‐figure range have been recorded as the result of setup time optimization and scrap reduction. With the 70° shear angle p‐System jointing cutters, cost‐effectiveness is a natural result when processing such an enormous volume of panels.