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Fand_igor

Specification Processing System for Furniture Production

I developed and evolved an internal specification processing system for furniture production based on exports from Bazis-Mebelshchik. The project addressed an applied task: translating design data into working production documents, supporting the technological preparation of parts for processing, and forming tasks for different production stations.

My role involved the full project lifecycle: from analyzing the production problem and formalizing requirements to designing logic, developing the interface, and implementing user scenarios.

Project Context

The project evolved through at least two versions:

  • v1 - the first working version of the tool for parsing .txt exports, manual data adjustment, and preparing printed specifications.
  • **v2 - a more mature version with expanded production logic, discrete processing of hardware and edge banding, improved export for saw cutting, and additional tools for technological adjustments.

Purpose of the Project

The system closed the gap between product design and the actual preparation of a production task. Instead of manually processing exports, employees uploaded a specification, after which the system:

  • verified file correctness and export structure;
  • parsed the order, product, materials, positions, dimensions, and edge banding;
  • allowed for technological adjustments directly within the interface;
  • generated printed specifications for the shop floors;
  • prepared a discrete export for saw cutting.

What has been implemented

  • Import and parsing of .txt specifications from Bazis-Mebelshchik, accounting for file structure and cp1251 encoding.
  • Display of product composition in a structured format: order, product, materials, positions, dimensions, allowances, notes, edge banding, and hardware.
  • Generation of tasks for various production sections: saw cutting, CNC, edging, assembly, metalwork, aluminum.
  • Generation of printable PDF specifications via FPDF.
  • Preparation of a discrete text file for saw cutting.
  • Editing of material names, product SKUs, allowances, and technological parameters directly in the browser.
  • Automatic assignment of a part's technological route according to internal production rules. The system formed a chain of processing stages depending on the position type, presence of edge banding, and the selected technological scenario, including Ch, F, F2, FF, K, P, Sh, T.
  • Step-by-step processing of parts with recalculation of blank dimensions, allowances, and transitions to final operations, considering technological production constraints and minimum equipment parameters.
  • Interactive technological processing of positions through interface actions: users could manually apply processing scenarios to a part, and the system recalculated dimensions, allowances, technological notes, and row structure, including change reversal.
  • Support for special scenarios to bypass equipment limitations. For example, F2 allowed combining two small parts into a common blank, and FF increased the current part to the machine's minimum allowable dimensions to form a correct production task.
  • Support for merging parts into a common blank with recalculation of final parameters via formulas.
  • Discrete edge banding processing with calculation of linear footage, gathering parameters for part sides, and percentage-based allowance adjustment.
  • Data export for saw cutting with material separation by processing types, including discrete scenarios for sheet and linear materials.
  • Autocomplete for employee names, edge banding descriptions, and other frequently used data.
  • Storage of local registries to speed up repeated user workflows.

The key value of the project was that the system did not stop at specification import. It adapted parts to real-world equipment constraints, translated production rules into formulas and processing scenarios, and reduced the volume of manual document preparation before launching an order into production.

Additional Research and Development

  • Research was conducted into supporting .xml exports from Bazis-Mebelshchik as the next system evolution.
  • While full implementation of this scenario was not completed at that stage, it was architecturally worked out.

Planned Development

The next stage involved evolving the project into a full-fledged order calculator on the website linked to furniture production. The idea was to move part of the production logic to the client level with the ability to calculate the cost of furniture elements, packaging, and delivery, and then form an order in several steps.

Within this concept, it was planned to:

  • account for materials, thicknesses, dimensions, quantity, hinge cutouts, milling, technological operations, decor, veneering, painting, comments, and sketches for each position;
  • link calculations to the material database, stock levels, and suppliers;
  • add user roles, order statuses, and production process tracking;
  • provide for further integration via API and with a mobile application.

In effect, this was the development of the project from an internal production document preparation tool to a unified digital system for calculating, processing, and tracking orders.

Technologies

  • PHP
  • JavaScript
  • jQuery
  • AJAX
  • Bootstrap 3
  • FPDF
  • MySQL
  • Data exchange via text files

Practical value of the project

This is an applied internal system with real-world production logic, not just a data entry interface. The project demonstrates experience in:

  • integration with specialized external software;
  • processing non-standard data formats;
  • industrial process automation;
  • describing and implementing technological material processing rules in an interface;
  • adapting production tasks to real equipment and machine constraints;
  • translating production logic into formulas, scenarios, and user actions;
  • managing a project end-to-end: from problem analysis to implementation of a working tool;
  • developing interfaces for internal users;
  • generating documents and preparing data for different production stations;
  • evolving a product from its first working version to a more mature system.