Beginning the Engineering Phase

In the Engineering phase, the Rangate team designed a project plan and work with its European machinery and tooling manfacturers on the engineered solutions. Rangate created a comprehensive project plan with everything the Bhutanese facility would require to begin window productions. This included:

• Identifying each piece of machinery required, sourcing it, purchasing it, and consolidating container shipments. Each piece of equipment was subject to a thorough analysis- is it suited for the production's shop flow and volume? Will it scale up for long term production goals? Reliability and ease of use were also the key criteria. The team selected a set of proven manual equipment including jointer, thickness planer, shaper, clamping and gluing machines. These items were all straightforward to operate and have demonstrated their long-term value in window production.

• Designing a complete material flow for the shop. Years of experience in laying out window and door factories enabled Rangate's team to create an optimized process, from materials entering the factory to finished products ready to be installed.

• Hosting two key members of the Bhutanese production staff at Alpine Technical Workshop in Ouray, Colorado to get hands-on training in building performance windows. After all, “It starts with knowledge….” .

Alpine Workshop

In April of 2016, the plant manager and lead hand of the new production facility traveled from their homes in Bhutan to Alpine Technical Workshop for two weeks of intensive joinery training. For most attendees, traveling to the peaks of Ouray, Colorado requires some altitude adjustment, but for these guests, it was nothing new- both Ouray and Thimphu, Bhutan are about 1.4 miles above sea level.

Alpine plays a critical role in every new production Rangate leads. At the workshop, the lead Bhutanese personnel got hands-on experience building the same windows they would be producing in their new facility. In addition to the one-on-one specialized training with Joe Calhoon, Alpine's instructor and a master joiner, they participated alongside American woodworkers in regularly scheduled Alpine courses.

Barriers began to break down as the American and Bhutanese attendees began to share the camaraderie of working in the shop. Ultimately, this experience wasn't just about woodworking- it was about establishing effective communications and aligning expectations early, which would serve this project well when the Rangate team traveled to Bhutan for the install.

Next: Chapter 3 | Implement