For cabinetmakers, subcontracting out door construction is a major question that comes up during the course of doing business. It is not an easy question to answer as it depends on many factors. If we first understand the process of constructing a wood door yourself, then maybe it will be easier for you to make a decision.
It sounds simple, but the construction of a door takes many steps. First off, you will be designing the door. Not only the size of the door, but the frame width, router profile, panel profile etc. Unless you had many different bits and profiles, you would only be able to offer a limited number of styles. Outsourcing the doors to a specialized manufacturer would allow you to give an enormous amount of choice to your customer.
Having the solid wood on hand to make the doors is another consideration. If you already have the machinery capable, (jointer, planer, router/shaper) then this is in favor of you building your own doors.
However some cabinet shops who deal with melamine cabinets do not even have these primary woodworking tools. They construct boxes out of melamine sheets and outsource everything else. (Many times their doors will be of made of melamine as well.) They find that the space needed for these tools, as well as their maintainance, makes it more cost effective to outsource the doors. Hiring better skilled workers at a higher wage is also another cost of this kind of shop.
You also have to order, store, and mill the wood. Then you have to setup for the cuts, setup for the profiles, glue, and sand. How many hours of time does this take per door? Also take into account time wasted on mistakes and errors. Now, take your overhead shop rate plus employee time and determine how much it really costs you to make your own doors.
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Outsourcing
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