![\"woodworking\"](\"https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Yorktowne-Pole.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDesigning a kitchen or a bathroom is not just about where to put the sink \u2013 there is an art to it, from the layout of the room to the materials used in the actual design.<\/p>\n
The quality of not only the appliances but also the furnishing materials makes a huge impact on the overall effect, although the amount of moisture generally prevalent in these two rooms often proves to be a challenge to manufacturers of furniture. Yorktowne Cabinetry has faced this challenge for more than a century and has grown to become one of America\u2019s largest producers of fine quality, semi-custom cabinetry.<\/p>\n
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To ensure the best quality of the finished product, Yorktowne manages the entire manufacturing process. It begins in the Mifflinburg facility with green lumber, which is dried and cut down to frame, door, and drawer components. These components are then shipped to the Red Lion manufacturing plant, where they are stained, assembled, and finally sent to customers.<\/p>\n
Phil Hersey, erstwhile Quality Technician at Yorktowne\u2019s Red Lion plant, explains that the effect of humidity on wood plays an important role in the production of cabinetry. \u201cIf there\u2019s too much moisture in the air, the wood will swell. Too little, the wood could crack. It\u2019s a tricky task, but we strive for a balance,<\/em>\u201d Phil says.<\/p>\n Yorktowne uses a central humidity system to control the environment at the Red Lion facility. \u201cThe wood comes to our location in an unfinished condition,<\/em>\u201d explains Phil.<\/p>\n \u201cWe get shipments of cut raw wood from Mifflinburg, so we color, treat, and then assemble it into full cabinets. We need to constantly monitor and control the humidity. If the wood is well conditioned here, then by the time it gets to our customer\u2019s home and balances in that environment, we should have a successful product.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n The cost of failure drastically rises if the wood is not stored in a proper environment. \u201cOur ongoing quality culture entails constantly looking for improvement opportunities. We want to minimize\u00a0wood component loss,<\/em>\u201d says Phil.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest hurdle here is to stabilize\u00a0the wood by controlling the humidity; we need to build cabinets without the wood splitting.<\/em>\u201d Yorktowne wanted to monitor their central humidity system in an effort to minimize losses, and they first chose a shelf recorder to do so.<\/p>\n Phil recalls, \u201cWe used a device that only recorded statically, and since we had to manually log the information, we had no idea what the environment was like when the plant shut down for the weekend. This just didn\u2019t work \u2013 we had to regulate the humidity more dynamically.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Phil knew he had to look for a better way to measure temperature and humidity consistently, and he soon came across the data loggers on Lascar Electronics\u2019 website. \u201cI had been going through the internet and found these loggers, and two days later our Quality personnel at the Mifflinburg plant said they had something we needed to try,<\/em>\u201d Phil laughed.<\/p>\n Yorktowne began in several locations to utilize Lascar\u2019s EL-USB-2<\/strong><\/a>, a low cost temperature and humidity USB data logger. Using the configuration software provided free of charge with each unit, Phil was able to program the devices to take readings every five minutes and then leave them in key areas of production or storage to track the humidity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a logger in nearly every part of the plant where our product will go. We wanted to track what conditions our wood experiences at Red Lion,<\/em>\u201d he explains. \u201cOne particularly important area is where we store the decorative accessories \u2013 shaped legs for a table or other pieces of wood with carved scrolls and patterns \u2013 to have those split is especially costly, and could impact our ability to deliver in a timely fashion.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n After leaving the units to log for seven days, Phil later downloads the readings and graphs a full week\u2019s worth of data. \u201cThese data loggers are priceless,<\/em>\u201d he says. \u201cThey made it easier for me to convey our need to monitor our plant\u2019s environment constantly \u2013 even when we\u2019re not physically closed. All I had to do was distribute the graph.<\/em>\u201d Once they tightened control of the plant\u2019s central humidity system based on data from the EL-USB-2<\/strong><\/a>, Yorktowne quickly noticed a significant drop in the amount of scrapped wood.<\/p>\n![\"Yorktowne](\"https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/Yorktowne-Workshop.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"EL-USB-2](\"https:\/\/lascarelectronics.com\/intl\/wp-content\/uploads\/EL-USB-2-Data-Logger.jpg\")
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