9Wood Turns Uncertainty into Reliability with Intuiflow (formerly DBR+)

9Wood is the only U.S. manufacturer that exclusively fabricates custom suspended wood ceilings and walls.

Specialty construction means unique specs, shifting schedules, long supplier lead times—and industry-typical on-time rates around 50–60%. 9Wood chose to compete on what the market lacks: speed and reliability.

“We’re engineer-to-order and make-to-order—we don’t build to stock. To win, we had to get faster than the market and be reliably on time.” — Craig Jolly, Operations Manager

The Challenge: High mix, uncertain schedules, long leads

• Architects drive one-off designs (shape, species, color, attachment), so every job is different.
• Construction schedules are inherently uncertain; many materials have long lead times 9Wood doesn’t stock.
• Hand-applied, multi-pass finishing created hours of dry time and circular routing—confusing priorities and fueling firefighting on the floor.

The Solution: Intuiflow as the backbone + focused flow changes

Intuiflow (formerly DBR+) became 9Wood’s planning and execution backbone—so central it served as the system of record for shipments and on-time metrics, even without a traditional ERP (the company ran on Excel).

The team then layered targeted operational changes on top:

1) Finishing transformed

• Replaced manual spray booths with a flat-line finishing system (four-strand).
• Dry time dropped from hours to minutes; pieces exit stackable and ready.
• Treated the entire finish sequence as one work center in Intuiflow so parts enter once and never loop back—restoring clear buffer priorities.

2) Decoupling with a production buffer

• Split operations into two stages with a production buffer between them, pulling work ahead so released orders can start immediately when capacity opens.

3) Reserved capacity for speed

• Reserved finite capacity inside Intuiflow (e.g., dummy reservations / under-target scheduling) so urgent work can drop in without blowing up the plan.

4) Raw-material readiness

• Mapped a small set of common raw materials that covers many finished products.
• Local suppliers held inventory; with one week’s notice they molded to spec and delivered—shrinking inbound time.

5) Plant reorganization for flow

• Re-laid out the shop to move once through from receiving to shipping.
• Clear feeder/primary zones, control points, and a visible “drum” at finishing aligned dispatch lists with true priorities.

What changed: Speed + reliability became the offer

• On-time performance rose to the high 90% range.
• Launched FastTrack: very fast shipments with a guaranteed ship date.
• Added an on-time shipment guarantee: automatic 5% refund of shipment value for every business day late.

Real stress test: during a severe snow event, the plant was closed one day, then at ~50% staffing for two more.

Using clear Intuiflow buffer boards and priorities, the team shifted the entire schedule by one day—resulting in only five late orders (one due to carrier pickup).

How scheduling runs in Intuiflow (day-to-day)

• Scheduling converts projects to work orders in Intuiflow, coordinates with supply chain, and sets ship dates.
• If damage or rework occurs, schedulers split orders and use alternate routings to catch up—releasing expediters early from the production buffer to protect ship dates.
• With visibility to upcoming load, the team pre-allocates FastTrack slots and can approve extras when materials are confirmed.

“With functioning buffer boards we had fast, confident decisions and clear priorities. I can say ‘yes’ to FastTrack because I can see the capacity.”

Future-Proof Your Supply Chain with Intuiflow

9Wood’s story shows what Intuiflow was built for—bringing clarity to high-mix, make-to-order operations so you can promise confidently and deliver reliably.

Intuiflow is a single, unified platform that connects materials planning, scheduling, and execution to real demand. Instead of chasing shortages or rescheduling by hand, planners see live priorities, AI-optimized buffers, and one version of the truth across teams.

Intuiflow: One Platform. Four Core Solutions

• Materials Planning: Keep inventory aligned to true demand—prevent shortages and overstocks with AI-optimized buffers and automated replenishment.

• Scheduling & Execution: Turn production priorities into predictable performance by sequencing work to actual capacity and demand.

• Sales & Operations Planning: Link strategy to execution with real-time visibility across sales, finance, and operations.

• Demand Planning: Replace static forecasts with adaptive, data-driven plans that flex as the market shifts.

Intuiflow is Smarter by Design

Autopilot, Intuiflow’s built-in AI engine, continuously fine-tunes parameters across every module—removing manual effort while keeping plans responsive to change. Embedded Power BI dashboards provide instant insight, and secure ERP integrations make deployment straightforward.

See how Intuiflow can help you cut variability, guarantee reliability, and keep production flowing.

👉 Book an Intuiflow Demo

Meet Craig Jolly - Production Operations Manager at 9Wood 👇