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The Shop Floor Blog
Practical lean for cabinet, millwork, and small manufacturing shops — from people who run one.
Browse by topic
Dashboard & Metrics
Throughput targets, daily reports, and running the floor by the numbers.
6 posts
Quality
Logging defects, costing rework, and fixing the issue that costs you most.
3 posts
Kanban & Inventory
Kanban cards, two-bin systems, and reorder points that end stockouts.
2 posts
SOPs & Training
SOPs your floor will actually use, plus tracking who's trained on what.
2 posts
Lean for Small Shops
Boards, tools, and the software decisions small manufacturers face.
1 post
Latest posts
Cost of Poor Quality in a Cabinet Shop: How to Calculate It and Where It Hides
Rework, scrap, remakes, downtime — the cost of poor quality is real money most shops never add up. A simple formula, a worked example, and where to start.
Lynn · August 19, 2026 · 7 min read
Read articleManufacturing KPIs for Small Shops: The 5 Numbers That Tell You If You Made Money
Most KPI lists have 30 metrics. A cabinet shop needs five. What to track daily, how to read the numbers, and how to start on a whiteboard this week.
Lynn · August 17, 2026 · 7 min read
Read articleHow to Increase Cabinet Shop Capacity Without Hiring More People
Capacity in a custom shop hides in rework, waiting, and stockouts. A five-step order to recover it before you hire, plus a printable checklist.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 7 min read
Read articleDefect Log Template for Manufacturing (Free, Plus the Two-Week Method)
A six-field defect log a shop floor will actually keep, why found and caused both matter, and the two-week method that shows which defect to fix first.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 6 min read
Read articleShop Floor Management: What It Is and How Small Shops Do It
Shop floor management is the daily routine that runs production: what to measure, who does what, and how it differs from scheduling and ERP.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 8 min read
Read articleThe Daily Production Report a Small Shop Actually Needs (Free Template)
One page, five lines, filled at end of shift and read at 7am. What a daily production report is for, who fills it in, and a free template for small shops.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 5 min read
Read articleOur Cabinet Shop Is a Mess — Where Do We Start?
Disorganized, late on orders, no idea what to fix first? The honest first four weeks: one number, one log, ten Kanban cards, one SOP. No software needed.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 7 min read
Read articleHow to Measure Throughput in a Shop (and Set a Daily Target)
Throughput is what shipped, not what started. How to pick a unit for a cabinet shop, set a daily target from real capacity, and read a miss.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 6 min read
Read articleDowntime Tracking for Small Manufacturers: A Simple System
Six downtime categories, ten-second capture at the cell, and one rule for reading it: the biggest bucket is usually not the machine. Free tracking sheet.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 6 min read
Read articleKanban Card Template for a Cabinet Shop (Free Printable + Reorder Points)
A printable Kanban card for hardware, edgebanding, and finish, the two-bin method with a shop example, and how to set the reorder point on the card.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 7 min read
Read articleReorder Point Formula for a Cabinet Shop (With Examples You Can Actually Use)
Reorder point = daily usage × lead time + safety stock. What each part means for a shop, three worked examples, and how to set it without perfect data.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 6 min read
Read articleHow to Write SOPs for a Woodworking Shop (With a One-Page Template)
The one-page, photo-first SOP format floor teams actually use, how to film it in three minutes, where SOPs live, and which one to write first.
Lynn · August 16, 2026 · 7 min read
Read articleLynn
Co-founder, Kaizenify
Works with cabinet and millwork shops on lean daily management. Writes everything here.
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