On Wednesday, January 20, 2016, IPI's Sales & Marketing Team traveled to Fort Madison to tour the new furniture operation and receive training on IPI's cabinetry capabilities.
Bryan Koechle, State Industries Production Coordinator, first gave the team a tour of the new facility. The 50,000 square foot facility is designed for efficient production of dorm furniture and cabinetry as well as providing space for custom furniture orders. Production flows around a second floor center office area that provides staff clear site lines to all areas of the shop. Several work order boards throughout the shop provide staff and inmates a visual status of all current orders in process.
Now that the new facility is up and running, production capacity will allow IPI to increase cabinetry sales to eligible organizations. Bryan and key incarcerated associates discussed the shop's cabinetry capabilities; sales and marketing staff learned key cabinetry terminology and information such as:
- the difference between face-frame and non-framed cabinets
- the pros and cons of Baltic birch versus laminate cabinet boxes
- the different types of edge-banding available
- what is takes to put together a cabinetry bid / quote
- and much more
The Sales & Marketing Team thanks IPI Fort Madison Furniture shop for taking the time for the tour and informational session; we look forward to putting this new knowledge to use with our customers.
For more information on the set-up of the new Fort Madison Furniture Shop, please read a prior blog post by Becky Jones on the move.