Trainees working at panel machines on a cabinet factory floor

Build cabinets for a living.

13week program
8trainees per intake
2partner factories
Sign upSee fees
Built-in wardrobe, door open, clothes hanging Full-height office cabinets Kitchen cabinets with a sink Birch plywood cabinets

Welcome to the trade.

A 3-month program that turns beginners and existing staff into cabinet makers who can cut, build and install to spec. Studio training at KitaBina (Subang Jaya), real factory practice at our partners.

Malaysia's interior fit-out industry keeps growing, and every kitchen, wardrobe and built-in needs someone who can make it well. Skilled cabinet makers are hard to find, and harder to train on the job while orders keep coming in.

Learn it in the studio. Do it in the factory. Same week.

Every skill is practised on real machines within days of being taught.

A trainee cutting a panel on a mitre saw at KitaBina

100% hands-on, 100% intensive.

For employers

Stop losing your best hours to training. Send existing staff or new hires, and get them back able to read cabinet shop drawings, run machinery safely, and build and install to your customer's spec. Machines last longer when the people using them know how to care for them.

  • Read cabinet shop drawings
  • Operate machines safely and with care
  • Produce, assemble and install to spec

For jobseekers

Love using your hands and building things? This course covers the skills a cabinet-maker job asks for, from the first cut to the final install. Most of each week is spent on a real factory floor, so you finish with practice behind you.

  • Learn a high-skill, in-demand trade
  • Train in a studio and a real factory
  • Graduate with a certificate
A trainee feeding a board through a panel saw in a busy workshop
"Every trainee gets time on every machine."Intakes are capped at 8 trainees, so no one waits in line to learn.
KJ demonstrating a sander to trainees at a workbench
"Do employers think it's difficult to find skilled workers? Don't worry, can one."

KJ, Lead Instructor, KitaBina

Every trainee starts with tool training: how each machine works, how to use it safely, and how to keep it running for years. Panel saw and nail gun first, then drill press and edge bander.

Three months, three levels.

Each month ends with a clear skill level. Trainees only move on once the basics are solid, so the last month on site builds on everything before it.

Cutting a panel with a circular saw

Month 1: Build cabinet carcasses

Operate the core machines, then cut, edge-band and assemble a cabinet carcass, the box every cabinet is built on.

  • Panel cutting and edge banding
  • Carcass assembly
Two trainees fitting cabinet parts at a bench

Month 2: Finish the cabinet

Add the parts customers see and touch every day. Countertops, lighting and sinks are not part of this course.

  • Doors, drawers, shelves and handles
  • Skirting and cover panels
A cabinet maker installing a kitchen cabinet on site

Month 3: Install on site

Take the cabinet to site and fit it to the customer's specification, level and square.

  • Level the base frame
  • Fit drawer fronts, install to spec

A 40-hour work week.

Each week mixes hands-on training at KitaBina with apprentice hours at a partner factory. Once a month, a coaching session reviews progress one-to-one and with peers.

7-8hKitaBina studio
30-32hApprentice at a partner factory
40hEvery week

Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm with a 1-hour break.

104hours of instructor training
6hours of one-to-one coaching
13weeks, start to graduation
8trainees max

Factory partners

Formuniq Sdn Bhd MKR Studio
The KitaBina studio floor during a training day A nail gun fixing a cabinet panel

Course outline.

Thirteen weeks in six blocks. Drawings, tool training and fabrication run side by side, so trainees read a drawing, learn the machine, then build the part, all in the same block.

Weeks 1-2

Carcass basics

Start with the box every cabinet is built on: what the boards are, how to read a carcass drawing, and how to cut, band and join it cleanly.

  • Understanding cabinet material
  • Drawings 1 basic technical drawings and dimensions for a carcass
  • Tool training 1 panel saw, nail gun
  • Fabrication 1A panel cutting for a basic carcass
  • Fabrication 2A edge banding for a carcass
  • Fabrication 3A assembly of a basic carcass
Weeks 3-6

Doors, drawers, shelves

Calculate and build every part that opens, slides or holds weight.

Weeks 3-4 doors and shelves
Week 5 side-mount drawer slides
Week 6 undermount drawer slides

  • Drawings 2 dimensions for doors, drawers, shelves, skirting
  • Tool training 2 hand drill, drill press, edge bander
  • Fabrication 1B cutting and sizing doors, drawers, shelves
  • Fabrication 2B edge banding doors, drawers, shelves
  • Fabrication 3B assembly of doors, drawers, shelves
Weeks 7-8

Base and back

The hidden parts that keep a run of cabinets straight and strong on an uneven floor.

  • Fabrication 4A rear nailer, fabrication and assembly
  • Fabrication 5A ladder frame base
  • Fabrication 6A skirting
Weeks 9-10

Put it together

Level, fit and finish a full cabinet the way it will stand in a customer's home.

  • Installation 1 levelling
  • Installation 2 drawer fronts, side panels, skirting
  • Installation 3 combined assembly
Week 11

On site

Measure a real space and price a simple job.

  • Site skills 1 taking site measurements
  • Site skills 2 basic quotation
Weeks 12-13

Final exam

Trainees build and install to a set specification, then graduate with a KitaBina certificate.

  • Final exam build and install to spec
  • Certification graduation with a KitaBina certificate

Not covered in this course

These sit outside a cabinet maker's core job and are left for later in a career.

  • Managing other staff
  • Supply chain management
  • Client negotiation
  • Budgeting, BQ and BOM
Jon talking with a visitor beside the timber rack at KitaBina
"We also teach the wrong way to make a cabinet, not just so you can always make it the right way, but the best way."

Jon, Co-founder, KitaBina

Seeing a mistake up close is how you learn to spot it. Trainees see what goes wrong in a cabinet and why, so they catch it long before a customer does. Every site is different, so there is no single right way. We always need to know the best way.

Who can join.

18+

Youth and young working adults. B40 welcome.

Career

Anyone looking for a lasting, high-skill job.

Upskill

Existing staff who need upskilling or retraining.

  1. Malaysian or PR

    Must hold a blue MyKad or red MyPR.

  2. 18 and above, SPM

    SPM with all papers passed.

  3. Own transport

    To travel to KitaBina and the partner factory, with a valid D, DA or B2 licence. A motorcycle is enough.

  4. Basic English

    Most of the course is taught in English.

  5. Full 13 weeks

    5-day apprenticeship weeks, 9am to 6pm with a 1-hour break. 2 days of planned personal leave. Other planned or emergency leave is approved case by case and may affect the outcome of the apprenticeship.

An instructor guiding trainees at the KitaBina studio
A trainee guiding a trim router along a panel edge

We've studied all cabinet-making courses across Malaysia. We're not competing with them. We're differentiating.

The way we teach is straight to the point. No kata alu-aluan, no tea break. Within 3 months, participants have the skills a full-time cabinet-maker job asks for. We are building a new class of local cabinet-maker talent.

The KitaBina studio from the street

Located in USJ, Subang Jaya, Selangor.

No. 48, Block C, Lot 777 & 778, Jalan Subang 4, 47620 Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Life skills coaching, included.

Because skill isn't the hard part. It's the mindset. It's turning up on time, staying at site until it's fixed, and being thankful for challenges.

We understand the challenge employers face. Most new hires can learn to run a machine. What holds them back is turning up every day, thinking a problem through, and speaking up when something is wrong.

That's why personal life coaching is built into the 3-month program, 2 hours every month, one-to-one and with peers. These are life skills participants carry through their whole career, not just this training or this job.

Commitment

Showing up, on time, every day, and finishing what was started.

Critical thinking

Working out why a cut or a fit went wrong, then fixing the cause.

Assertiveness

Asking, flagging and saying no when a drawing or a deadline does not add up.

6 hours of personal coaching across the program, on top of 104 hours of instructor training.

A mentor walking and talking with a young trainee in a park

Fees and plans.

per trainee, all in
Pay in fullOne payment, save
3 monthsDuring the course, arranged in person
a month
13 months13 payments, arranged in person
a month

Pay in full online. Monthly plans are arranged with us in person. Employers enrolling staff can choose any of the three.

Fees are not refundable. If you cannot make your intake, or we move it, your place moves to a later intake starting within 12 months of the original start date. If the entry requirements are not met, the fee is not refunded.

We do not promise a job. You graduate with a KitaBina certificate, not an SKM.

What's included

One fee covers training, factory placement, coaching, materials, the course textbook, insurance and the graduation kit.

Instructor training at KitaBina104 hours
Placement at Formuniq or MKR Studio13 weeks
One-to-one coaching6 hours
Materials and course textbookIncluded
Personal accident insuranceIncluded
T-shirt, stationery, graduation certificateIncluded

Sponsors and donors wanted

Sponsor one trainee. 100% of your funds go to that person's course fees, and KitaBina absorbs its own admin fees.

Income share agreements

Unable to pay right away? We also accept income share agreements.

An instructor and a trainee measuring a panel A trainee at the mitre saw
A finished fitted kitchen with timber cabinets

Join the next intake.

Tell us whether the place is for you or for your staff. We'll walk you through the studio, the machines and the next start date.

  1. Sign up here, or WhatsApp "APPRENTICE" to +60 17-552 2381
  2. Visit the studio, meet the instructors
  3. Start building, 8 trainees per intake

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Give a WhatsApp number we can reply on.
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Preferred payment plan

Next we email you a code, then you pay online. Your place is held while you pay. Fees are not refundable. If you cannot make your intake, or we move it, your place moves to a later intake starting within 12 months of the original start date. If the entry requirements are not met, the fee is not refunded.

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