In this guide 6 sections
The old revision survives because the cut list is a separate file, and nobody is forced to replace it when the layout changes. Stop it with a revision lock, a named client sign-off and a release step that sends only the latest cut list to the shop floor.
How the first cut list outlives the revised layout
A client approves the layout on Monday. The designer exports a cut list to the factory on Tuesday, but by Thursday the client moved the hob to the far wall and the base units are redrawn.
The new drawing goes to the client, but the old cut list is already on the shop floor, with the panel saw operator halfway through the carcass boards.
Nobody lied. Nobody was careless. Nobody checked. The drawing and the cut list lived as two separate files in two folders, and nothing in the process forced anyone to replace one when the other changed.
Where the gap opens in kitchen and wardrobe work
Revisions come by chat, email, site visits. The layout is updated in the design tool, yet production keeps working from a printed sheet with a pencil note in the margin.
Edge-banding schedules, hinge boring positions, shutter sizes, channel lengths and hardware lists all hang off the cut list, so one stale copy corrupts every downstream sheet. Leave any one on the older version and you get a wardrobe door eight millimetres wide of its frame, plus a customer who notices at once.
Check where your own jobs slip. Most factories find the same two or three handover points, and they are usually dull ones, like a printout made an hour too early.
- Designer exports from an older saved layout
- Production prints the cut list before the client signs
- Hinge and channel order goes out on the first quantity
- Site measurements change after boards are cut
Three controls that stop it
First comes a revision lock. Once approved, a layout carries a letter such as Rev C, and any later edit creates Rev D while the old revision is marked superseded on every printout.
Second is a named sign-off. The client approves a specific revision, not a general idea, and one person confirms the dimensions against the site measurement sheet while another confirms board and hardware stock.
Third is a release step. Only an approved revision can be released. Releasing produces the cut list, hardware list and label sheet together, each stamped with the same letter, so the operator cannot mix them.
What to do with jobs already in production
A late revision stops the job. List which boards are cut, which are edge-banded, which carcass panels are bored and which hinges and channels are already on order with the supplier.
Compare the two revisions line by line. Often only a few panels change. Pull the cut ones aside and mark them with the old letter, so that none slips into the new carcass when the assemblers are rushing on a Saturday.
Count the rework. If the client asked for the change, the rework cost belongs on a change order that the client signs before the next board is cut.
- Halt the job card at its current station
- List boards cut, banded and bored
- Mark old-revision parts with a paint pen
- Raise the rework cost to the change record
A weekly habit that catches what the system misses
Every Friday, walk three live jobs. Check each printout. Compare the revision letter on the drawing, the cut list and the job card, and if any two differ, find out why before Monday morning.
Over a month a pattern appears. It might be one designer, one hardware supplier, or one site supervisor who sends measurements late and then asks for a rush.
Fix that weak link first, then add the lock and the release step to every new job, starting with the next kitchen on the schedule.
Revision release checklist
A printed sheet is headed by job number, client name, designer and revision letter, so the paper trail starts at the top of the page. Four blocks follow for client sign-off, designer check against site measurements, stock check for boards and hardware, and the release record with the date and name. A bottom table lists each superseded revision with its date, its reason and the person who retired it from use on the shop floor.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Who should own the revision letter?
The designer raises the letter, but the production manager should confirm receipt on the job card before any board goes to the panel saw. Two names stop a drawing changing silently.
Can a spreadsheet do this job?
For a few jobs a month, yes. A shared folder of locked PDF files with a revision column and a release tab works well enough while one designer owns each job. It strains once several designers edit the same job, because nothing stops two people saving over each other or printing from a stale copy.
What if the client changes the layout after boards are cut?
Pause the job, compare both revisions line by line, and decide which cut panels survive, which go to scrap and which can be re-edged. Charge the rework through a change order. Get written approval first.
Does this apply to windows and doors?
Yes, because frame sizes, glass specifications, hardware sets and gasket lengths all follow the same pattern as a kitchen cut list, with the same risk of a stale copy. Replace the old schedule before cutting.