by Web Editor | Nov 14, 2014 | Taking Stock
How Two Operations Battled Their Way Back
Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World November 2014
We didn’t intend for this issue to have the theme of “comebacks,” but that’s how it worked out. The two main mill operation articles—on Tolko Industries OSB in Slave Lake, Alberta, and the Omak Wood Products plywood plant in Omak, Wash.—certainly fall into this category. However, they bring quite different stories to the table.
The beginnings of the Tolko OSB plant at Slave Lake, also called the Athabasca OSB operation, go back to 2005 when the company announced it was building the plant and putting in the world’s longest continuous press at more than 230 ft. The timing, however, turned out to be impeccably bad. Just as the plant was coming up, the building market was crashing, and after a short period of production, the plant shut down in February 2009.
The article that begins on page 20 goes into some detail on how the OSB operation lived to fight another day, with a newly hired work force, and with some equipment and product tweaking. It resumed production last December. It’s a feel-good story, written by Andrew Macklin.
I’m not sure “feel-good” is the correct description of the re-startup of the Omak Wood Products plywood plant. The word “historical” comes more to mind.
Does anybody out there remember Biles-Coleman Lumber Company? J.C. Biles and Nate Coleman were the partners who in 1921 bought a sawmill and timber harvesting rights from the Omak Fruit Growers Inc. on the slopes of Omak Mountain and a box plant in Omak. In 1924, Biles-Coleman built a new sawmill in Omak, and this is really the roots of today’s Omak Wood Products.
Coleman left the business fairly early on, but the company stuck, and so did Biles, who led the development of a large lumber business and extensive logging and railroad infrastructure.
The company continued to prosper with multiple sawmills and then built a plywood mill in 1971.
Then the Omak site began a long roller coaster ride, starting when Crown Zellerbach purchased Biles-Coleman in 1974. In 1985, British financier Sir James Goldsmith won control of the forest products portion of Crown Zellerbach, including the Omak operation, and operated it as part of Cavenham Forest Industries.
Many of us remember, in late 1988, when the 635 union members of Omak Wood Products purchased the sawmill, plywood mill and 47,000 acres from Goldsmith, and formed an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan). That’s how the business ran until 1997 when it filed for bankruptcy and was subsequently purchased by Quality Veneer & Lumber. But that entity experienced financial stress as well, and in 2001 the Confederated Colville tribes purchased the Omak operation and operated it as Colville Indian Power and Veneer.
The tribes operated the plant until 2009, when the recession forced its closure. It sat in silence until 2013 when New Wood Resources of Atlas Holdings signed a long-term lease agreement with the Colville tribes to manage the operation.
Talk about staying power. Our writer, Dan Shell, picks up the story from there beginning on page 10.
Tolko Slave Lake and Omak Wood Products are back in business. That’s good news for the workers and their families, their communities, and for our industry.
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by Web Editor | Aug 20, 2014 | Taking Stock
Story by Rich Donnell,
Editor-In-Chief
As far as we’re concerned, the stretch run begins now for the Timber Processing & Energy Expo, which will be held October 15-17 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore.
Panel World magazine is one of the primary media hosts of the event. Even-numbered years are especially busy for Panel World and our staff, because in addition to TP&EE in October, you’ll recall Panel World hosted the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) this past March in Atlanta, Ga.
Of course TP&EE in Portland and PELICE in Atlanta are different animals. TP&EE is more of a traditional big machinery expo, with many exhibitors consuming a lot of space and displaying pieces of machinery. TP&EE caters primarily to producers of structural panels, engineered wood products and lumber. PELICE emphasizes two days of conference sessions, while supported by a strong field of small exhibitor booths. It appeals to not only structural panel producers and engineered wood products, but also to composite board manufacturers. Many of the companies who exhibited at PELICE will be on hand in bigger space at TP&EE.
However, TP&EE has expanded its “conference” offering a little bit. In 2012 TP&EE had one day of fairly abbreviated lumber and panel manufacturing sessions. This year, the Veneer & Plywood Manufacturing and Engineered Lumber Workshop will be held all day on the first day of the expo, while the Lumber Manufacturing Workshop will be held all day on the second day.
You can read about the lineup of speakers for the plywood manufacturing workshop on page 28. It’s an impressive agenda, and the cost to attend the workshop is minimal.
One reason we’ve expanded the workshop program is to demonstrate our intention to make TP&EE as applicable to the veneer and plywood manufacturing community as the lumber manufacturing segment. If you’ll recall, the old Portland show was at its best when plywood and lumber received equal billing and attention. But in its final stages, that show tilted heavily to lumber and much of the panel industry stayed home. TP&EE had a strong showing of panel producers in 2012—our first effort as the owner and producer—and we expect an even better turnout this October.
Of course our expectations are only just that, expectations. The reality will depend on you veneer and plywood producers out there showing up. We would greatly appreciate your attendance and we know you’ll enjoy yourselves.
And just in case you are too busy to get around to registering, there’s a good chance you will be receiving a call from one of the members of our TP&EE Attendance Committee. They will not only remind you, but they will get you registered in the blink of an eye.
So send your people, and bring yourself, to TP&EE at the Portland Expo Center. It will recharge everyone’s batteries. There’s nothing like a visit to a buzzing trade show for getting a person or a team fired up. And when you find the technology you’ve been looking for, and better yet, when you cut the deal for it on the show floor, it’s a great feeling.
by Web Editor | Jun 19, 2014 | Taking Stock
Story by Rich Donnell,
Editor-In-Chief
There’s a whole lot of health and safety going on in this issue.
Our cover story, for example, is the Huber OSB plant in Crystal Hill, Va. The operation has implemented numerous programs and methods for the sake of its employees. This impressive health and safety culture at Crystal Hill has been honored for three consecutive years by the parent company.
Elsewhere in this issue you’ll see safety award announcements by APA—The Engineered Wood Assn. and Composite Panel Assn. Between them, about 30 structural and non-structural panel mills are recognized for safety performance.
Having been in this industry for more than 30 years, I can recall visiting certain panel plants many years ago when I felt somewhat relieved to get out of there unscathed. They were so focused on production that their attention to safety “slipped” now and then. When the subject of safety came up during the course of conversation, they didn’t have a lot to say about it. As an outsider, it wasn’t difficult to see when safety was on the wane.
Of course not all mills were this way and some were more negligent than others, but the one big thing I’ve noticed in more recent years is that most mills have integrated their safety plan into their production plan and vice versa. The boundaries aren’t so visible anymore. It’s all safety all the time.
Believe me, as writers visiting a panel mill, we’re thrilled to walk into an environment of safety as well as production. Sure, most of the advertisements in this magazine are geared to production equipment, but so what, once we get into the mill, give us the hardhat, safety glasses, earplugs, safety vest and show us the yellow line, we’ll happily follow. All that gear and those restrictions may make taking photographs a bit awkward, but we’ll manage.
As an editor-in-chief who is responsible for a staff of writers—writers who are frequently visiting mills throughout the country—I am constantly worrying about their safety and hoping enough has been said in the editorial office about the potential pitfalls. “And always watch out for the forklifts coming around the stacks of panels…Those beeping noises are beeping for a reason…Look all around you before taking a photo…And look around you again before taking the next one…And watch what the plant manager does as you’re following him around the mill…Did he just tap on that low hanging conveyor that you’re about to walk under?…Never stop thinking about being safe when you are walking through the mill.”
The more careful your operations personnel are in the plant, the better it is for us journalists. We’re basically visiting a place where you spend your life. We’re in there for an hour or two. We may have been in a lot of plants before—and I believe without hesitation we’re the best in the world at what we do—but each new visit requires even the most experienced of us a moment to become acclimated. There’s a lot of movement and a lot of noise. It’s easy for us to get sidetracked as we attempt to understand the production flow, observe the newest technologies and choose our spots for the best photographs.
Not to burden you with more than what’s already on your plate, but thanks for keeping us safe, too.
by Web Editor | Apr 25, 2014 | Taking Stock
Story by Dan Shell,
Managing Editor
Let’s say you operate a plywood plant and think it’s time to upgrade or replace a veneer dryer. To help in making the decision, you decide to attend the 2014 Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) in Atlanta at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center.
Just to begin your research, in the Grand Ballroom of the North Tower, you will find three dozen exhibitors that can provide equipment or services related to your project. More specifically, two veneer dryer technology-specific presentations are part of the first morning breakout sessions following the keynote general sessions, with numerous additional presentations on particulate emissions control, operational enhancements and project development on tap over the next two days—all of which mean something to your upcoming capital expenditure.
Held recently and for the fourth time, PELICE puts people together in a relaxed environment that allows effective information exchange and networking. Competition and alliances notwithstanding, PELICE brings all segments of the industry together to emphasize challenges and opportunities common to all—while also providing technical solutions and better operational ideas for specific panel manufacturing processes and applications.
One presentation that comes to mind was that of Dustin Neumann of Neumann Process Control, who spoke about technology upgrades and migrating legacy systems to new technology platforms. Neumann brought up considerations that strike to the heart of the technology and information opportunities that an event like PELICE provides, especially for those researching system upgrades and capital improvements.
“The last few years have shown the importance of staying competitive,” Neumann said, urging his listeners to prioritize process upgrades, evaluate proposals to determine highest-value propositions and also to simply take advantage of the expertise that vendors and suppliers possess.
And that’s what PELICE delivers as good as any other business move: An opportunity to invest in yourself and your organization by gaining better knowledge of the industry around you while learning more about the latest in panel manufacturing. For technology vendors, PELICE is a solid platform to highlight their latest products and services, with key industry leaders and decision-makers in attendance.
In a social-media age when business operators, managers, suppliers and vendors are all networked and linked electronically (but remotely) as never before, an event like PELICE gives industry’s top movers and shakers—and anyone, really, from the mill floor to executive suite—an opportunity to rub shoulders, meet face to face and build solidarity through better business strategies, providing the foundation for those crucial, numbers-crunching closed door meetings that were happening all over the Omni Hotel.
A hearty thanks goes out to all who attended, exhibited or otherwise supported PELICE this year. The staffs at Panel World, Hatton-Brown Publishers and Georgia Research Institute look forward to doing it all again in the same venue on April 7-8, 2016.
by Web Editor | Feb 21, 2014 | Taking Stock
Story by Rich Donnell,
Editor-in-Chief
Pages 13-19 of this issue preview the upcoming Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo, which will be held March 20-21 in Atlanta, Ga. at the Omni Hotel. This will be the fourth PELICE hosted by Panel World magazine for the structural and non-structural wood products industries.
In addition to 35 individual session speakers, the conference includes 10 keynote speakers who will address the entire attendance. PELICE has always handled its keynote general sessions differently than most functions. There will be three general sessions over the two-day conference, each with three to four keynoters. Most meetings I attend have one and maybe two primary keynoters. Also, PELICE only allows its keynoters approximately 20 minutes of speaking time, along with some Q&A. Our philosophy is you should be able to say what you want to say in 20 minutes, and if anybody in the audience wants more of your time, they can approach you afterward.
You can’t help but be impressed with the experience of many of our keynoters. The first morning, for example, includes two of my all-time favorites from our industry, one from the plywood side and the other from composite board.
Joe Andrews, general manager of Richmond Plywood in British Columbia, may win the award for the best title of a talk: “How 300 Men Shared a Dream: And How I Manage the Company They Turned into a World-Class Plywood Mill.” Richply as many of you know is a cooperative.
Andrews, from Bend, Ore., began working at age 16 at Jefferson Plywood in Madras, Ore. His father was a partner in the operation. Andrews went from the green chain to the dryers, to the spreaders, to resin and glue manufacturing to sales, and his final job there was wielding a cutting torch to dismantle the plant. And then he was old enough to go to college.
Since receiving a degree in Finance and Forest Products at Oregon State University, Andrews has held various management positions at plants for Willamette Industries, Plum Creek Timber and McKenzie Forest Products.
Also speaking the first morning of PELICE is Kelly Shotbolt, president of Flakeboard Company Ltd. His speech is “Transitioning into a New Era of Composite Products,” which will focus on the shared view of Arauco and Flakeboard that despite capacity and import pressures, a focused acquisition and investment strategy will influence the production of furniture and related products back to North America.
Shotbolt has been the Flakeboard president since 1993, and began work there after he graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 1979. He led the company’s transition from a commodity producer of raw panels to an integrated manufacturer of decorative panels.
In 2006, he drove Flakeboard’s acquisition of Weyerhaeuser’s composite panel business; in 2012 he negotiated the sale of Flakeboard to Arauco; and most recently he led Flakeboard’s acquisition of SierraPine’s Western composite board plants.
These are the caliber of speakers you will find at PELICE.
by Web Editor | Jan 3, 2014 | Taking Stock
Story by Rich Donnell,
Editor-in-Chief
I have been wearing my “chairman” hat as much as my “editor” hat lately as we make preparations for the 2014 Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE), which will be held March 20-21 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in downtown Atlanta, Ga.
I serve as co-chairman of PELICE, which I’m proud to say has withstood the test of time. Held in even-numbered years, this will be the fourth PELICE. The first one in 2008 was held in the middle of the great recession; the second one in 2010 was held when we were still in the great recession; the third one in 2012 was held as we were barely transitioning out of the recession and into what we hoped would be (and which indeed turned out to be) better times.
I can’t say thank-you enough to the exhibitors and attendees who participated in those first three events, despite the drag of the economy. The exhibitors understood that even during dismal times, it’s important to be a player and introduce new technologies. And the attendees understood that no matter the price of panels, there are always more efficiencies to be found in the operation of the mill. Perhaps that is why our first three events were still successful even in tough times. Our post-event surveys have always revealed that nearly 100% of attendees left PELICE with new information that could improve their operations. Isn’t that what it’s all about?
So now we come to the 2014 PELICE, which as I write this is all but sold out as far as exhibitor space—the earliest sell-out we’ve had yet. Now our attentions and those of the exhibitors will focus on bringing in the attendees from the structural and non-structural wood products operations.
One of the main things I like about PELICE is that it convenes people from the plywood, OSB, MDF, particleboard and engineered wood products sectors. I attend many association meetings that emphasize one of those areas, and these are great events. But I think the “big picture” environment that PELICE offers is beneficial to everyone, while at the same time providing seminars that specifically can enhance an operation in any of these panel groups.
Elsewhere in this issue we’ve announced our first wave of speakers and moderators for 2014 PELICE. You can visit pelice-expo.com and view the specific timeline agenda, which will also appear in the March issue of Panel World. You can also register right now on pelice-expo.com. I’m happy to report that the registration cost remains the same as it was when we started up in 2008.
And keep in mind, immediately preceding PELICE is our Bioenergy Fuels & Products Conference & Expo on March 18-19 also at the Omni Hotel. Many exhibitor companies and attendees participate in both the Bioenergy and PELICE events.
Here’s to a spirited 2014 PELICE, and the best of times all year long.
