Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers
Cabinet manufacturers provide a wide variety of styles, configurations, colors, materials and finishes to suit any kitchen. Wood cabinets account for the largest portion of sales, followed by laminates and metals. Wood cabinets are either solid or hewn from a single piece of lumber, or they may be made from plywood — many layers of real wood bonded together perpendicularly — or veneers, a thin sheet of real wood glued to the face of particle-board or multi-density fiberboard (MDF). Cabinets made from thermofoil or melamine resin also make up a small share of the market.
Despite the current housing market slowdown, cabinet demand continues to be strong. Homeowners who are hesitant to purchase new homes, but who are eager to upgrade their current homes, continue to support cabinet makers and retailers with remodeling purchases. Additionally, the resurgence of interest in gourmet cooking and entertainment has resulted in larger kitchens that require more storage space.
Many cabinet manufacturers offer their products through a network of independent dealers. These dealers are usually local millwork shops, which can produce cabinets to a specific design. In addition, some cabinet makers offer their products through direct-to-consumer channels such as online retail sites or through a network of local builders who use them to supply the new homes they build.
The cabinet industry’s production processes are complex, with raw materials often passing through several stations in order to be finished and ready for shipping. According to a recent article in Wood and Wood Products magazine, completing just one cabinet can take some 250 separate processing steps. kitchen cabinet manufacturers