Abstract. Generally speaking,the quality and cost of goods and in particular of the wood products is a decisive condition in their sales on the market, attracting buyers to satisfy their wishes and requirements. Starting from the general idea, by which it is considered that the manufacturing activity is effective if production is obtained at maximum quality with a low (minimum) cost, or when the revenue from the sale of products exceeds the market expenditure which is necessary to achieve it, this research article aims to study ways to make production more efficient by methods which could also be applied in the wood industry, by presenting a comparative study on production optimization methods in this industry.

In a modern manufacturing system for furniture production, raw material and material, energy and information flows are directly interconnected to obtain competitive products while increasing the productivity, profitability and environmental performance of the enterprise. In the wood industry manufacturing system, raw wood undergoes physical and biological transformation processes (drying and transformation of the biological properties of wood) as well as disruptive actions that are compensated by the order quantities. Energy as a resource has an important role to play in this production process, and it involves consuming a certain amount of energy. It is one of the biggest and costliest resources involved in the manufacturing process. The required energy is generally transmitted from the outside in the form of electric or thermal energy. From the energy input, only a part becomes useful energy, the rest representing energy losses. By reducing energy consumption, reversing energy losses and integrating materials and material losses into energy recovered through retrofitting, revenue and profit can increase, leading to an increase in employee satisfaction. The easier it is to maximize profits and lower the operating costs, the quicker is the recovery of the investments, and that will change in the operating mode in: “WORKING SMARTER NOT HARDER”.

Of many techniques that are used to optimize production and costs, the studies conducted within a profile company lead to our choice for testing the 6Sigma method (the most used method in the automotive industry) in view of the economic efficiency applied in the wood Industry company. This method measures how many flaws exist in a process and determines in a systematic way how to improve it by technical overhauling and eliminating or minimizing the process for efficiency. This research article aims to study the state of research on the optimization of the production process through technical overhauling for panels reconstituted from solid wood and ways to make production more efficient by cutting costs through technical overhauling. From preliminary research, we estimate that all the items founded and others that will result from further research will result in a significant decrease in production costs that are reflected in the cost of the finished product and consequently in increasing the yield of the company by maximizing its profit. At the same time it may be the basis of future research studies in the field. The easier it is to maximize profits, the lower the operating costs are and the higher recovery rate of investments are, that will result a change in the operating mode: “working smarter not harder”.