Full Scale Woodworking: Press

Taken from the June 2001 issue of Cabinetmaker.

Building A Business
Within A Business

Three brothers branch out to manufacture
dovetailed drawers as a successful
sideline to their cabinet shop

by William Sampson
wsampson@chartcomm.com

This is a tale of three brothers and two businesses, all in the same shop. Architectural millwork and custom cabinetry, especially entertainment centers and home theaters, is the foundation for Full Scale Woodworking Inc., Union, N.J. But the business, which is run by brothers John, Bill and Scott Bretz, recently launched a major new venture manufacturing high-quality dovetailed drawer boxes for sale to other shops. The shift has helped propel their seven-man operation to $1 million in annual sales.

In the process, the company has learned how to balance the requirements of two different businesses with the shared management skills of the three brothers. Many of the lessons they’ve learned are applicable to other shops, such as how to efficiently divide management responsibilities, and how to effectively plan for machinery acquisitions and business expansions.

From Partnership to Triumvirate

The two older of the three brothers, John, now 34, and Bill, 32, started Full Scale Woodworking in 1993. Both have college degrees, although neither in a field related to woodworking. While they were in college, they began to work for cabinet shops to pay for school. On graduation, John says he had second thoughts about using his biology degree to spend the rest of his life in a lab. And Bill quips that after he got his administration of justice degree and was turned down by the Secret Service, cabinet making looked pretty good.

After two successful years making high-end residential cabinetry, furniture and architectural millwork, the brothers were joined by their younger sibling, Scott, now 28. Scott also had no formal training in woodworking, but he brought a college degree in marketing to the business. His older brothers immediately made him an equal partner in the company, and he set about streamlining Full Scale’s business practices. He introduced innovations such as line-of-credit financing and intensive analysis to the company. It was while doing ongoing analysis and planning for the company that Scott conceived of branching out into manufacturing dovetail drawers for sale to other shops.

Birth of a Drawer Business

Although the cabinet business has been and continues to be booming for Full Scale Woodworking, Scott began looking ahead to any possible change. "I asked, ‘What can we do to take advantage of other upturns (in business) when we’re down?’" He realized there was no one in the area making high-quality hardwood dovetailed drawers. He figured the shop could branch out into that business as a way of evening out the highs and lows in a possibly volatile economy.

Using his marketing training, Scott developed a full business plan for the drawer business, even to the point of considering launching it as a separate company owned by the three brothers. The more he studied the tax and accounting implications, the more he decided it would be best set up as a part of Full Scale. After he presented the plan to his brothers, they jumped onboard and work began to get the drawer business up and running.

"We were spending quite a bit of money ourselves on drawers, almost enough to support a business by our own needs," says Bill. "Scott did all of his homework." Scott adds, "The startup costs were negligible."

After deciding to go ahead, the brothers did intensive research to find the right equipment and settled on a Mereen-Johnson CNC dovetail machine. The machine allows the Bretz brothers to offer a wide variety of custom drawer sizes to customers. Scott says one of the machine’s best features is the computer interface that allows a Mereen-Johnson technician to troubleshoot any problems by modem without even having to see the machine. The brothers also picked up a Mereen-Johnson drawer box clamp to make assembling drawer boxes fast and efficient.

To find customers, the brothers started with their guild. John is vice president of the Professional Woodworkers Guild of Upper New Jersey, and he knew many other guild members were looking for higher-quality drawers with shorter lead times and more custom features than they had been getting from existing suppliers. Guild members embraced the new product with enthusiasm, John says.

Main Shop Still Important

Despite the success of the drawer business, it is so far only about 10 percent of the shop’s revenue, and the brothers are in no way abandoning or reducing their custom cabinetry business. Typical jobs in the custom shop come from architects or referrals from previous customers. After meeting with a client and pricing the job, the Bretz brothers get a 25 percent deposit to begin work. Another 25 percent is required on approval of the drawings before actual construction begins. They invite the customer in when the piece is done and fully assembled but has still to be finished; a 40 percent payment is due before finishing. The balance is due when the piece is installed by Full Scale’s in-house installer, Steve Hanko.

"None of us likes the idea of building something and handing it over to someone else to install," says Bill. "The finisher and installer are the most important people. That’s what the client looks at."

Machinery in the custom cabinet part of the operation ranges from antiques like a behemoth Do-All 36-inch bandsaw to modern machines like the SCM sliding-table saw and SCM widebelt sander. There’s also a Brandt edgebander and a Grass hinge insertion machine. For veneer work, the shop also mixes old and new with an ancient screw veneer press sitting right alongside a modern Accupress vacuum bag veneer system.

How To Buy Machines

When the brothers talk about buying machinery, it reveals the deliberate, analytical process they apply to their business. "It’s a very simple process," says Bill, explaining how they decide to buy new machines. "You look at where you are spending your time. A lot of people don’t take time to analyze." John chimes in, "A lot of shops do things by feel. Here, Scott comes out with the numbers. Argue with that."

In the case of purchasing the widebelt sander, Scott looked at how many hours they spent sanding wide, flat, square stock. When he presented the findings, the purchase was obvious. Says Bill, "I couldn’t believe I didn’t have that before."

Scott says the time studies are essential. "Payroll is the highest expense," he notes, and time studies help to make more efficient use of manpower. And the Bretz brothers also share their research with their staff. "We’re an open book with these guys," says Scott. "I love to share with the guys. We want them to feel a part of this business."

Besides sharing information, the Full Scale owners also do other things to help make their investment in quality employees pay off. They offer flexible hours, as well as full medical and retirement packages that encourage employees with families — the kind of employees the Bretz brothers feel are more responsible — to stick around.

"We pay people what they’re worth, sometimes even more than what I’m making," says Scott. "You have to put your pride aside and see them as a vehicle to get us where we want to go."