In 1991, Thomas Riley assembled a small team of master cabinet makers and finishers “to provide nothing less than monumental quality craftsmanship and white glove customer service.” Decades later, Thomas Riley Artisans’ Guild is now a team of more than 70 passionate artisans and support staff providing high-end interiors for the finest residences in the area.
Based in Naples, Florida, Thomas Riley Artisans’ Guild (TRAG) primarily works within their home state, but has completed significant projects in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Southern California, and even the Caribbean. From cabinets and millwork to custom furniture, the complexity of their jobs range as far as refinishing a dining set for a local customer to completing entire interior millwork packages for entire luxury estate homes.
With such a large range of projects, despite having 42,000 square feet of space, the business needed a smooth and seamless workflow to optimize production capacity. Previously, their finishing area was in the same building as assembly, which made it very cramped. To provide space for production and logistics, as well as help with dust control, TRAG recently converted a 10,000-square-foot material storage facility into a dedicated finishing and shipping location.
President & COO, Ben Riley, and VP of Finishing Operations, Scott Jenkins, did their research and started looking for finishing systems and equipment manufacturers to outfit their new workspace into a complete finishing facility. After attending an industry trade show and learning about their local distributor network, Ben and Scott narrowed down their selection to Global Finishing Solutions (GFS).
Joe Jones of Dietz Supply Company assisted the Riley brothers in outfitting their new finishing facility with a standalone Open Face Spray Booth for priming, as well as a Prep Room, Large Equipment Spray Booth and Drying Room/Clean Room. In this new facility, all of their finishing equipment is connected to create a nice pushcart workflow through the workshop.
“We expect the new equipment and setup to increase our capacity by 50 percent,” said Ben Riley.
Changing their production flow, as well as adding a complete lineup of premium finishing equipment, has set Artisans’ Guild up for continued success for years to come.
