STEROPAL × Corpus: From Design to Automated Production

The journey from a furniture design to a finished component depends on accurate information transfer. At STEROPAL, Corpus connects design, costing and production preparation in a shared digital workflow. This reduces manual data re-entry and helps the team transfer project requirements to the machines more consistently.

Behind this workflow is a fundamental shift: libraries, production rules and machine information embed expertise into the process, without replacing the people who design, operate the equipment and check quality.

Before Corpus

Job preparation relied either on manually entering the dimensions of each individual component into the optimisation software or, in the best cases, transferring them via Excel. Each additional data-entry step created scope for human error and unnecessary work for both the customer and STEROPAL. Preparing and sending quotations took considerably longer.

At the time, the machining service focused mainly on cutting and edge banding. With Corpus, drilling took on a much larger role, enabling customers to receive components with more of the machining completed.

One set of information, from design to production

A customer can send a floor plan, a drawing or a design created in other software. STEROPAL’s organised design department quickly recreates the project in Corpus, using the extensive library the company has developed. The team can also produce a detailed, rapid cost calculation from that same digital project.

Once the quotation is approved, production data moves to the machines through a highly automated workflow. Operators do not need to recreate project information at each station. Barcode labels and machine-ready information accompany the components through the next stages, reducing manual intervention and the chances of data-entry errors.

1. Customer design

   A floor plan, drawing or file from other software.

2. Design in Corpus

   Model the project using STEROPAL’s existing library.

3. Costing

   A detailed calculation based on data from the same project.

4. Approval

   The customer approves the quotation and the project.

5. Production data

   The relevant files are prepared for the production environment.

6. Barcode

   Labels carry information for the following stages.

7. Machine

   The operator retrieves the relevant file and carries out the machining.

8. Quality control

   Operators remain responsible for execution and quality.

When the customer also works in Corpus

The most direct version of the collaboration is when the customer designs the project in Corpus themselves. They can view the costing without waiting for STEROPAL to prepare a quotation and, once the project is ready, transfer the production data into the company’s workflow.

For STEROPAL, this is a modern collaborative model: the customer and the machining facility work from the same digital information, rather than re-entering project details every time they change hands.

Connecting with actual production

Corpus supplies data to different production environments at STEROPAL. For cutting, the company operates a HOMAG panel saw with automatic feeding.

For nesting, two SCM CNC machines with automatic feeding and label printing are used.

Drilling is carried out on a HOMAG / Weeke machine and an SCM Morbidelli. Edge banding is performed using three HOMAG S-500 machines and one HOMAG KAL-210.

The goal is not simply to have a list of machines, but to maintain continuity of information between them. Labels contain what the next production stages need, with barcode handling adapted to the relevant machine and workflow. In STEROPAL’s implemented environment, Corpus automatically generates production files, including PGMX and MPR, on the machine computers. Each operator retrieves the relevant file instead of programming the project again from scratch; this does not mean that every machine uses the same file type.

From cutting to more complete machining

Before Corpus, STEROPAL’s service focused mainly on cutting and edge banding. Drilling now accounts for a much larger part of the work. Customers can therefore receive components with more machining stages already completed, reducing the work remaining in their own workshop.

A real project: made-to-measure wardrobes

For a large customer project, STEROPAL took on fully customised wardrobes with special dimensions, specific drilling requirements and production specifications tailored to the project. The team modelled and prepared them through the Corpus workflow. The project was completed successfully within the required timeframe.

Embedding expertise in the process

STEROPAL’s organised design department consists of four people and is also responsible for Corpus installations. The team’s experience is reflected in the libraries, production rules and configuration of the machine connections.

When the project and these parameters are set up correctly, trained users can send even complex jobs to production without needing in-depth knowledge of each machine’s programming or traditional woodworking at every individual step. This does not remove the need for experienced people. Operators remain responsible for running production and checking quality.

The impact on day-to-day workflows

STEROPAL prepares quotations faster, transfers less data by hand and reduces the opportunities for data-entry errors. More information reaches production automatically, while operators can focus on execution and quality instead of recreating technical details.

The most important change is organisational: knowledge of how to manufacture a complex project no longer needs to depend exclusively on one specialist’s memory at every stage. With Corpus, STEROPAL embeds some of that knowledge in a reusable digital process, while retaining human oversight wherever it is needed.