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MILLERSBURG, Ohio — Domestic wood furniture manufacturer Canal Dover recently has launched a new quick-ship custom case goods offering that could end up having among the shortest lead times for a program of its kind.
The five-day lead time the company quotes represents the number of business days from when it receives an order to when it is completed and ready to ship out the door.
This differs from the current four- to six-week lead times for its existing custom offerings available on multiple bedroom and dining sets. Its Square One program in dining, for example, offers four wood species as well as six different table top shapes, eight different edge styles, 30- and 36-inch table heights, plus some 70 finishes.
The quick-ship program is possible thanks to fewer options, including one dining set and three bedrooms available in one wood species, solid brown maple. The number of finish options has been narrowed to 17, including 12 wood stains and seven painted finishes, plus two-tone options.
The three bedrooms available for quick ship include the modern and clean-lined Sutter Creek and Manhattan, which retail at $6,400 for a five -piece set, and the American Craftsman-inspired Uptown, which features an upholstered panel bed. A five-piece set retails at $7,600.
The dining program offers one 60-by-42-inch table with two leaves and five different chairs.
The program was made possible largely due to a 50,000-square-foot expansion at its headquarters that doubled the size of the facility to 100,000 square feet.
Begun last October and completed in March, this project included a 20,000-square-foot transportation operation that not only created more space for its own warehouse and distribution operations, but it also separated the space needed for the shipping of its own product and the product it ships as a third-party resource for other manufacturers from nearby Amish workshops in Lancaster, Pa., Indiana and Ohio.
“Product comes in from several parts of the country and gets shipped to the retailer,” said Nicholas Pickrel, general manager, noting that the company ships up to 11 truckloads a week, including its own product. “It is a big service to the stores.”
The expansion also created space for additional inventory in the building. The company is using the warehouse to store additional whitewood parts and assembled pieces that are awaiting either final assembly and/or finishing. Having that product in stock allows the company to complete orders within five business days.
“That freed up space in our facility and gives us room to stock this product unfinished,” Pickrel said, noting that Canal Dover has an advantage over many other manufacturers as it is able to stock parts and fully assembled pieces of both bedroom and dining room furniture.
He said while the program is still new, it has received some positive response, particularly as it makes the options easy to understand for both the retail salesperson and the consumer, while still affording well-designed furniture still available in plenty of configurations.
“With quick ship, we will start to simplify everything,” Pickrel said. “We will design as much as we can around components and not sacrifice the (overall) design. … Simplicity, design and quick ship is where we are pushing toward the future.”
