Quarter Four 2026 Production and Maintenance Plan
v1.1
Purpose. Plans production capacity, staffing, materials and planned maintenance for October to December 2026, the busiest quarter of the year for builder handovers before Christmas.
1.Context
Volume builders hand over more homes in December than any other month, and hospitality clients want fit-outs finished before the summer trade. Confirmed job orders for the quarter are 24 percent above the same quarter last year. This plan sets out how the business will meet that demand without compromising safety or quality, and how planned maintenance will be fitted around the peak.
2.Capacity and staffing
The cabinet factory will run a Saturday morning overtime shift from 3 October to 12 December, staffed by volunteers on a rotating roster with a maximum of two consecutive Saturdays per person. Two additional casual installers will be engaged from 19 October. The glass plant will bring forward its toughening furnace runs to Tuesdays and Thursdays to align with installation days.
- Saturday shift 6:30 am to 12:30 pm, cabinet factory only
- Two casual installers from 19 October
- Furnace runs Tuesday and Thursday
- No annual leave in the last two weeks of November without General Manager approval
3.Materials
Stores will hold six weeks of white and woodgrain melamine board, hinges, runners and standard handles from 1 October. Long lead items including stone benchtops, imported hardware and specified fabrics must be ordered within two working days of job confirmation. The materials and stock register minimum levels will be raised for the quarter.
4.Planned maintenance
The CNC machining centre annual service is scheduled for 12 and 13 October, the edge bander for 26 October, and the dust extraction system for the weekend of 7 and 8 November. The glass toughening furnace element inspection is set for 21 November. All services must be recorded in the plant and machinery register with the next service date.
5.Quality and safety controls
Fatigue is the key risk in an overtime quarter. Supervisors must monitor hours, ensure breaks are taken and stop any worker who has exceeded 50 hours in a week. The incident register will be reviewed weekly rather than monthly during the quarter, and an additional toolbox talk on manual handling will run in each department in early October.
6.Milestones
Key dates are the builder program lock on 2 October, the last date for new kitchen orders with a pre-Christmas installation on 30 October, the last production day on 18 December and the shutdown from 19 December. Progress against this plan will be reported at each weekly production meeting.