Panel Industry Moves Ahead

Panel Industry Moves Ahead

by | Nov 9, 2022 | Taking Stock

Panel Industry Moves Ahead

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief, Panel World November 2022

As I glanced through the pages of the six issues of Panel World in 2022, various news developments refreshed my memory, but underlying it all was just the fact that business for the most part was conducted as usual. That we were back to at least fairly normal hit home at the biennial PELICE in March in Atlanta, where the crowd was obviously enthusiastic to be back in the mainstream. Other events throughout the year proved it as well—from annual meetings to trade shows, and also because our editors were being welcomed back into the mills to work up articles. During the pandemic, we pieced together one article “virtually,” but it wasn’t nearly as good and detailed as doing it on site.

Here are some news items from 2022, in case you forgot:

—One Sky Forest Products said it would locate a new OSB plant in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

—A middle market private equity firm, One Equity Partners, purchased USNR.

—Several wood-based panel industry veterans came out against paperboard wall sheathing and its potential dangers during major storms.

—West Fraser purchased the idled OSB plant in Allendale, SC from Georgia- Pacific.

—GP announced plans to expand production capacity at its OSB plant in Alcolu, SC.

—Huber submitted a revised Environmental Assessment Worksheet to the city of Cohasset, Minn. regarding its proposed OSB plant.

—One Equity Partners equity firm purchased Oregon-based Rosboro.

—Tor Gustavsen, former managing director of Argos Solutions, died at 60.

—Eight keynote speakers, more than 50 presenters, 100 exhibitors and 450 participants made the eighth Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo in Atlanta one of the best ever.

—Freres Lumber of Lyons, Ore. changed its name to Freres Engineered Wood as part of its centennial celebration.

—Boise Cascade acquired Coastal Plywood and its plywood mills at Havana, Fla. and Chapman, Ala. for $512 million.

—A Quebec-based forestry family— the Cossette family—said it is investing $180 million to restart the OSB plant at Wawa, Ontario.

—Scotch Plywood started producing veneer at its new facility in Waynesboro, Miss., after a fire had destroyed the existing one in early 2021.

—Raute named Mika Saariaho as president and CEO.

—LP converted its mill in Houlton, Maine to siding production.

—Pacific Woodtech acquired LP’s EWP division and three LVL/I-joist manufacturing facilities for $210 million.

—George Weyerhaeuser Sr., former president and CEO of Weyerhaeuser and great-grandson of the founder, died at 95.

—Collins named Tom Insko as president & CEO, succeeding retiring Eric Schooler.

—SmartLam announced plans to build a glulam facility in Dothan, Ala. to supply the mass timber industry.

—Siempelkamp named a new CEO and CFO, Martin Scherrer and Martin Sieringhaus, respectively.

—Construction continued at Martco’s new OSB plant in Corrigan, Texas, which will be the company’s second OSB mill at that site.

Latest News

The Business At Hand

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World January 2023 – Some forecasts coming out of APA—The Engineered Wood Association annual meeting in October painted a rather bleak economics picture for 2023. It was no surprise, given the already downward trending in housing…

Boise Cascade Announces New SC Distribution Facility

Boise Cascade has announced plans to expand its South Carolina operations with a new facility in Walterboro, with a $9 million investment that will create 30 new jobs. This new facility marks Boise Cascade’s first distribution location and second facility…

China’s BFP Orders Fine OSB Plant

Chinese wood-based panel producer, A Beautiful Family Plate Making Co. Ltd. (BFP), has contracted with Dieffenbacher for a complete Fine OSB plant in Guangxi, China. Installation of BFP’s new plant is scheduled for the second quarter of 2023. The first board is expected to be produced in fall 2023…

First CLT Office Opens In DC

Opened in fall 2022, the first mass timber commercial building in the U.S. capital city features more than 108,000 sq. ft. of mass timber. The building is an innovative retrofit at 80 M Street SE in Washington, DC: Termed an overbuild—extra stories atop an existing building—the expansion features three floors, where columns of mass timber are visible from the interior…

All Said And Done: Fifty Speakers Brought Their Expertise To PELICE

PART FOUR: This is the fourth of a four-part series summarizing the presentations delivered during the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) held this spring and hosted by Panel World in Atlanta March 31 to April 1. The first three parts appeared in the May, July and September issues. PELICE 2024 will be held March 14-15, 2024 again at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta…

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November 2022

November 2022

by | Oct 31, 2022 | Magazine

November 2022

Cover: ‘Six-Way Staffing’ Could Be The Answer For Your Mill

During a post-pandemic series of site visits and phone interviews, plywood and veneer manufacturing operators articulated the common concern of “We don’t have enough people to run the mill on a full schedule.” Several expressed surprise and disappointment because experienced employees failed to return, and few job seekers applied. Owners often increased wages and added monetary and non-monetary incentives, but still did not attract enough workers. One concluded, “You know, this younger generation is just different.”

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Inside This Issue

TAKING STOCK: The Panel Industry Moves Ahead

As I glanced through the pages of the six issues of Panel World in 2022, various news developments refreshed my memory, but underlying it all was just the fact that business for the most part was conducted as usual. That we were back to at least fairly normal hit home at the biennial PELICE in March in Atlanta, where the crowd was obviously enthusiastic to be back in the mainstream. Other events throughout the year proved it as well—from annual meetings to trade shows, and also because our editors were being welcomed back into the mills to work up articles.

READ MORE

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief, Panel World

UPDATE
PRESSES

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following companies submitted these editorial profiles and images to complement their advertisements placed in the Panel World November 2022 issue.

  • DIFFENBACHER
  • HYMMEN
  • IPCO
  • LEDINEK
  • PAGNONI IMPIANTI
  • SHERDIL PRECISION
  • TAIHEI MACHINERY WORKS
  • USNR
  • WEMHÖNER
  • CUSTOM ENGINEERING
PotlatchDeltic Creates Value Through Automation Of Panel Repair

Owner and operator of nearly 2.2 million acres of timberland in seven states, six sawmills, and a plywood mill in St. Maries, Idaho, PotlatchDeltic leadership—in response to the increasing cost of repair chemicals and shortage of skilled labor—began researching ways to optimize their plywood panel repair lines.

Article supplied by Raute and PotlatchDeltic.

All Said And Done: Fifty Speakers Brought Their Expertise To PELICE

PART FOUR: This is the fourth of a four-part series summarizing the presentations delivered during the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) held this spring and hosted by Panel World in Atlanta March 31 to April 1. The first three parts appeared in the May, July and September issues. PELICE 2024 will be held March 14-15, 2024 again at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta.

READ MORE

Panel Industry Percolates At TP&EE In Portland

While traditionally known as a sawmill show, the recent Timber Processing & Energy Expo experienced a healthy turnout from producer companies that also participate in the structural panel and engineered wood products sectors, including the likes of ATCO Wood Products, Boise Cascade, Coastland Wood Industries, Columbia Forest Products, Freres Engineered Wood, Georgia-Pacific, Hood Industries, Hunt Forest Products, Murphy Company, Pacific Veneer, Pacific Wood Laminates, PotlatchDeltic, Rainier Veneer, Rosboro, Roseburg, SmartLam North America, and Weyerhaeuser, to name some of them.

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Jeld-Wen Automates With Custom Technologies Provided By Biele Group

Founded in 1960 in the U.S., Jeld-Wen designs, produces and distributes interior and exterior doors, wood, vinyl and aluminum windows, wall systems and other housing components. Currently, the company employs 21,000 worldwide, and has manufacturing, distribution, and showroom locations across the U.S. and in 24 countries mainly in North America, Europe and Australia.

Article provided by Biele Group and Jeld-Wen.

PROJECTS
  • Ziegler Starts Up WFIB Operations
  • Grenzebach Receives Flex Board Line Order
  • Uniboard Commits To CEBPRO Particleboard
  • Plywood Operations Order Layup Lines
  • Tafisa Enhances Digital Inspection
  • Greenlam South Orders Particleboard Plant
  • Louisiana-Pacific, Biele Collaborate On New Shake Line
  • Starwood Expands Production Capacity
IWF Wow ‘Em In Atlanta

More than 900 exhibitors presented machinery, services and supplies at the International Woodworking Fair (IWF) held August 23-26 in the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

SUPPLY LINES
  • Siempelkamp Names New Leadership
  • WMF 2022 Convers Entire Supply Chain

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‘Six-Way Staffing’ Could Be The Answer For Your Mill

During a post-pandemic series of site visits and phone interviews, plywood and veneer manufacturing operators articulated the common concern of “We don’t have enough people to run the mill on a full schedule.” Several expressed surprise and disappointment because experienced employees failed to return, and few job seekers applied. Owners often increased wages and added monetary and non-monetary incentives, but still did not attract enough workers. One concluded, “You know, this younger generation is just different.”

This article, drawing upon practical mill examples as well as academic research, suggests six action steps to mitigate and even resolve the current mill staffing challenges. Each individual step will improve personnel recruiting and retention and, if implemented together, the positive impact will be magnified. While these time-tested techniques are not exhaustive or “one size fits all,” hopefully these ideas stimulate creative thinking that directly applies to the local conditions of your operation.

Article by Richard (Dick) Baldwin is managing partner of Oak Creek Investments and a lifelong participant in the veneer and plywood production industry. Rich Baldwin is CFO-Treasurer of Oak Creek Investments with substantial consulting and proposal experience in wood products operations.

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Plywood Operations Order Lay-Up Lines

by | Oct 29, 2022 | Supply Lines

Plywood Operations Order Lay-Up Lines

Due to the industry-wide challenge to get labor, automation plays a big part in profitable production. This is one of the reasons Richmond Plywood Corp. Ltd. (Richply), Canada, and Tolko Industries Ltd., Canada, have invested in Raute Plywood Lay-up Line R7, and Swanson Group, USA, has ordered a Raute Plywood Lay-up Line R5. These brand new layup lines will replace existing labor-intensive lines.

With 50 deliveries of one-sided-gluing plywood lay-up lines, Raute is the global leader of this technology. These deliverable R7-Series and R5-Series plywood layup lines are semi-automated. Raute Lay-up Line R7 will run with two operators and the one-sided gluing operation will reduce the mill’s glue consumption. Raute Lay-up Line R5 will run with two operators using a roll coater and have a small footprint.

Lines are designed and manufactured jointly in Raute Canada and Finland. Lines are expected to be delivered in 2023-2024.

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West Fraser Announces Senior Leadership Transition Plan

Hank Ketcham, Chairman of West Fraser’s Board of Directors, announced that Ray Ferris, current West Fraser President and Chief Executive Officer, plans to retire on December 31, 2023. Ferris has been with West Fraser for over 26 years in increasingly senior positions culminating in his appointment as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2018 and as a director of the Company in 2019…

. . . And Back In The U.S.

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World July 2023 – As has often been the case in my previous trips there, perhaps the leading topic of conversation at the Ligna show in Hannover, Germany in mid-May was the status of multiple new projects back in the United States, such as Roseburg’s new MDF plant in…

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Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.

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Peak Renewables Announces SYP Pellet Mill in Alabama

by | Oct 29, 2022 | News

Peak Renewables Announces SYP Pellet Mill in Alabama

Vancouver, Canada-based Peak Renewables plans to build a 180,000 metric tons per year wood pellet mill in Dothan, Ala. The $30 million project will utilize residuals from Rex Lumber sawmills in the area.

Construction on the facility is expected to be completed by mid-2023. Peak is building the plant adjacent the SmartLam cross-laminated timber plant and upcoming glulam facility in Dothan.

Peak and SmartLam have some common ownership, including longtime sawmill construction and equipment supplier Brian Fehr. Scott Bax, formerly COO with Pinnacle Renewable Energy, is the CEO of Peak, which is also a partner in a proposed OSB facility in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan called One Sky Forest Products.

Latest News

West Fraser Announces Senior Leadership Transition Plan

Hank Ketcham, Chairman of West Fraser’s Board of Directors, announced that Ray Ferris, current West Fraser President and Chief Executive Officer, plans to retire on December 31, 2023. Ferris has been with West Fraser for over 26 years in increasingly senior positions culminating in his appointment as President and Chief Operating Officer in 2018 and as a director of the Company in 2019…

. . . And Back In The U.S.

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-In-Chief, Panel World July 2023 – As has often been the case in my previous trips there, perhaps the leading topic of conversation at the Ligna show in Hannover, Germany in mid-May was the status of multiple new projects back in the United States, such as Roseburg’s new MDF plant in…

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Dieffenbacher Collaborates On EU-funded EcoReFibre Project

Dieffenbacher Collaborates On EU-funded EcoReFibre Project

by | Oct 29, 2022 | Supply Lines

Dieffenbacher Collaborates On EU-funded EcoReFibre Project

Dieffenbacher and 19 organizations from seven countries have joined forces in the EcoReFibre (Ecological solutions for recovery of secondary materials from post-consumer fibreboards) research project to make the production of wood fiberboard such as medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and high-density fiberboard (HDF) more sustainable. The aim of the project is to recycle wood fibers at the end of their life cycle and use them to produce new fiberboard. Currently, fresh wood is used almost exclusively to produce wood fiberboard.

The four-year project, which kicked off in May, has 12 million euros in funding from the European Union through its research and innovation funding program Horizon Europe. The project partners, which include wood-based panel manufacturers Homanit and Sonae Arauco, intend to develop and test solutions that will enable up to 25% of the fresh wood fibers used to manufacture wood fiberboards to be replaced by recycled secondary fibers. Five pilot projects will also explore how recycled wood fibers can be used to manufacture new end products such as insulation materials and biocomposites.

EcoReFibre kickoff meeting in Uppsala, Sweden, on May 18 and 19, 2022.

“More than 100 million cubic meters of wood fiberboard are produced worldwide every year—almost exclusively from fresh wood. The industry urgently needs a sustainable recycling solution here,” explains Dr. Matthias Graf, who is leading the project at Dieffenbacher. “With the innovative technologies and business models that we’ll develop as part of the EcoReFibre project, we’ll take the circular economy in the MDF/HDF industry a big step forward,” he adds.

EcoReFibre was launched in May with a meeting at the consortium leader, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala. The project will end in April 2026.

Latest News

Panel World Gears Up To Exhibit At Ligna

Panel World magazine and its affiliates will be exhibiting at the upcoming international wood products fair, Ligna, to be held May 15-19 in Hannover, Germany. In addition to Panel World, the Hatton-Brown organization, which dates back to 1948 in Montgomery, Ala., today publishes five business magazines geared to the wood products industry…

LP To Acquire Ontario OSB Facility

LP Building Solutions (LP) and Forex Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement for LP to acquire the assets owned by Wawa OSB Inc., a subsidiary of Forex Inc. The manufacturing facility in Wawa, Ontario will be converted into an LP SmartSide trim and siding mill. The transaction, which is subject to court approval and customary closing conditions, is expected to be completed in early May 2023…

Georgia-Pacific Names New Building Products Leader

Andy Konieczka, currently President–Structural Panels, will assume the leadership role for the building products business as Executive Vice President–Building Products. Konieczka will report to the company’s President and CEO Christian Fischer. Konieczka has been with Koch companies since 1992. In 2006, he joined Georgia-Pacific, holding strategy, optimization and management roles in wood and fiber, and…

Structurlam Files For Bankruptcy, May Sell To Mercer International

Structurlam Mass Timber Corp. has filed for bankruptcy protection and agreed to sell the company’s new Conway, Ark. CLT plant and its Canadian assets for $60 million, pending court approval. Structurlam entered the asset-purchase agreement with Mercer International Inc., a global forest products company which operates a mass timber facility in Spokane, Wash. However, Mercer’s purchase is subject to a better offer in a court-monitored process…

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