The latest trend in outdoor kitchens is making them an extension of indoor kitchens. That means less boxes of steel just for grilling and more focus on finish, color, and features.

A brand that does that better than anybody is WeatherStrong. It’s a big differentiator for them because the brand was created by Ideal Cabinetry, a leader in the indoor kitchen space. That gives them the ability to not only offer complimentary finishes for an indoor kitchen but they can actually match the indoor kitchen if it uses Ideal Cabinetry.

The difference between their indoor and outdoor brands is they build their outdoor cabinets to withstand the elements. WeatherStrong is based in Florida, so they test their outdoor kitchens in some of the most extreme heat and rain.

I had the opportunity to tour their factory in Bartow, FL and witness first hand sheets of All-Weatherboard and HDPE get transformed into fully finished cabinets. This was a real treat for me because not only do I write about the outdoor cooking industry, I also started my career in manufacturing engineering, setting up assembly lines for Chrysler.

Made to Order

WeatherStrong isn’t buying completed cabinets from elsewhere and reselling them, or buying the parts for cabinets and assembling them, they’re making them from raw materials. In a world of white labeling, it’s so refreshing to see products built like this.

At the start of the process, there are stacks of raw sheets of HDPE for the cabinet fronts and All-Weatherboard for the boxes. The sheets are picked up with suction and automatically loaded onto the assembly line.

It’s very much an assembly line too, compared to operating more like a job shop, like some manufacturers. That ensures consistency in manufacturing.

A great example of this is after the sheets are loaded onto the line, they’re transported on a conveyor to a computerized milling machine. The machine automatically aligns and loads the stock, then has pre-programmed cutouts to maximize the material used and minimize waste.

You can see that focus on reducing waste through the whole process. It’s good for the planet, good for the customer with reduced cost, and good for WeatherStrong.

They also are focused on traceability throughout their process. That’s key for manufacturing quality and for ensuring customer quality after a product is delivered. The cabinets are barcoded through every step of the process. From the time the cabinets are cut until they’re shipped, they always know what happens with every cabinet.

Manufacturing made to order cabinets doesn’t mean they take a long time to build though. They only require 7 to 10 business days, which is an impressively short lead time.

Quality

The cabinets are all assembled with a focus on quality. The whole time I was there I saw their internal quality team inspecting cabinets as they went through production. That’s important for ensuring their cabinets last, and so they don’t arrive to customers damaged.

Quality isn’t just about inspection on the production side either, it’s also about minimizing points of failure from production through delivery. WeatherStrong makes their own packaging to make sure cabinet surfaces and components are protected for their customers.

Having cabinets arrive without damage and on-time is only part of what they do for customer satisfaction. They also extend their barcode tracking through loading trucks for delivery. There are monitors on the shipping that require scanning all the barcodes for the order as they’re loaded. This eliminates the frustration of a customer not receiving the cabinets they ordered.

Details

Walking the production line showed how buttoned-up their process is, but it also showed the little details they designed in their outdoor kitchens for better consumer satisfaction. An example of this is on the handle for pull-out cabinets.

They offer some different pull-out options that you don’t find on other outdoor cabinets. They have pull-out cabinet for a propane tank and one for a trash bin.

The holes that they cut for handles on those get weather treated. This adds an extra layer of protection to keep moisture out.

Another example is how they designed the fronts of the cabinet boxes. For some color options they made those dark, so you can’t see the box through the cabinet fronts. Small details like that give their cabinets that luxury look that consumers are after.

Scale

The outdoor living space is evolving rapidly, moving away from utilitarian metal boxes and toward design-focused extensions of the home. WeatherStrong sits at great spot of having the scale to support retailers and builders of any size while still having those family-owned company values. It allows WeatherStrong to push the boundaries of what consumers expect from an outdoor kitchen and still deliver on quality.