by Web Editor | Feb 25, 2019 | News
Freres Lumber Named One Of 2019’s Most Innovative Companies
Freres Lumber Company has been named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2019, ranking as the fifth on the Most Innovative Company List in the Urban Development/Real Estate category.
The list honors the businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and culture, showcasing a variety of ways to thrive in today’s volatile world. Half of the companies on this year’s MIC 50 list are appearing for the first time.
“We are honored to receive this prestigious award and to be recognized for the innovation and application of our invention of Mass Plywood Panel (MPP),” said Rob Freres, president of Freres Lumber.
Freres Lumber’s MPP brings new innovation to the mass timber market, and was recently acknowledged for its revolutionary product with the awards of two new patents in the U.S. and Canada. MPP is the first and only mass timber panel constructed entirely out of Structural Composite Lumber (SCL) worldwide, which means it uses approximately 20 percent less wood, costs less, and is as strong as and lighter weight than competing products.
Fast Company’s editors and writers sought out groundbreaking businesses across 35 industries and every region. They also judged nominations received through their application process.
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PANEL WORLD SEPTEMBER 2020
FRERES HAS TAIHEI HORIZONTAL PRESS GOING
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by Web Editor | Aug 24, 2018 | News
First Mass Plywood Panel Gets APA Certification
Freres Lumber Company says it has achieved Mass Plywood Panels (MPP) certification under the
APA – The Engineered Wood Association’s ANSI/APA PRG 320 standard.
The product is the first Mass Timber Panel constructed entirely out of Structural Composite Lumber (SCL) worldwide, making it much more cost effective than CLT (cross-laminated timber) options, according to a Freres news release. Mass Timber Panels will allow rapid construction of multi-story structures with pre-fabricated structural wood panels, the release says.
The predictable char rate of mass timber panels allows buildings to be built taller with wood, allowing multi-story structures out of wood up to 18 stories anticipated in the next iteration of the International Building Code (IBC). Wood structures carry a smaller carbon footprint, provide greater sustainability, faster construction with less waste and are an economically favorable construction method compared to concrete and steel, Freres says.
The company says it is continuing to refine the design values of the product line, and will roll out additional MPP product configurations.
From Building Design + Construction: bdcnetwork.com
RELATED ARTICLES
PANEL WORLD SEPTEMBER 2020
FRERES HAS TAIHEI HORIZONTAL PRESS GOING
The monthly Panel World Industry Newsletter reaches over 3,000 who represent primary panel production operations.
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.
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative. Contact us today!
by Web Editor | Jan 24, 2018 | News
While heavy rains were pelting Santiam Canyon Thursday afternoon, Jan. 18, there was a warm bustle of activity at one brightly-lit site between Lyons and Mill City.
Albany Eastern Railroad pulled into a rail stall. Representatives from a German manufacturer were fine-tuning equipment inside a covered, 4-acre plant. Employees of Freres Lumber worked with the visitors in a month-old mill to test tools ready to crank out an innovative product.
It’s been a busy year for the 95-year-old Freres Lumber Company: the construction of one mill; a blazing destruction of a drying facility, which was promptly rebuilt and is back in operation; and the marketing of a new product, Mass Plywood Panel. “This past year has been a trial for all of us,” Tyler Freres, the company’s vice president of sales, said as workers eddied around him tending to tasks, tackling everything from computer inputs to judicial placements of mass-panel resins.
The new Mass Plywood Panel plant grew from conception to a running entity in roughly 2 ½ years, including meeting an ambitious construction timeline. “We broke ground in March of 2017, and we had our first panel out in December of 2017,” Freres said, “And, of course, there was that fire in between.”
He saluted the busy crew scattered around the facility. “We couldn’t have done it without these guys,” he said. “Overall, it’s complicated to figure out all the details in a new plant, and these guys have been able to figure it out. It’s not as easy as it sounds.”
From the Statesman Journal: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/stayton/2018/01/20/freres-looks-future-production-mass-plywood-panels-santiam-canyon/1048864001/
by Web Editor | Nov 29, 2017 | News
“It’s in time for Thanksgiving, and that’s a good deal.” Kyle Freres imparted sentiments around Lyons based Freres Lumber Company as it announced that Plant 4 is back up and running, roughly four months since a fire destroyed the building amid the hot days of last summer.
“Getting this plant up and going in 3 to 4 months is somewhat of a miracle, especially since we are dedicating a lot of resources to getting our other (mass-plywood panel) plant going,” he said.
Freres, the company’s vice president of operations, said getting back to full operation wasn’t without obstacles. The company started Plant 4 operations more than a month ago, but a major electrical failure scuttled the process, leaving them limping through the past month until they could get all aspects into full working order.
“Looking at pictures of the fires blazing in the building, and the charred inventory, and realizing how recent the fire was illustrates the extraordinary accomplishment of everyone who worked on the project. We want to say ‘thank you’ to those who made this rebuild possible.”
After the fire, Freres offered employees of that plant positions in other locations, such as the company’s plywood mill. Many took the company up on the new, temporary jobs. Some did not but have returned now that the rebuilt facility is up and running. At full capacity, the plant can employ up to 40 workers, and Freres said it’s at about 23 right now, and they are looking to hire more.
From the Statesman Journal: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/local/stayton/2017/11/27/freres-reopens-plant-destroyed-summer-fire/887774001/
by Web Editor | Nov 30, 2016 | News
A new massive plywood building panel developed by an Oregon company and tested at Oregon State University may be the largest such product ever manufactured.
Builders are familiar with standard plywood sheets that measure 4-feet wide, 8-feet long and between a quarter-inch and more than one-inch thick. The new panels made by the Freres Lumber Company of Lyons, Oregon, can be as much 12-feet wide, 48-feet long and 2-feet thick.
The company announced its new panels in October, capping more than a year of development and performance testing at Oregon State’s Advanced Wood Products Laboratory. “The results look very promising,” said Ari Sinha, assistant professor in OSU’s College of Forestry, who oversaw the tests. “This is a unique product with the potential for creating jobs in rural Oregon.”
Versatility is one of the benefits of the product known as a Mass Plywood Panel (MPP). “These panels can be customized for different applications. Because they have very good compression qualities, they could be used for columns as well as panels,” said Sinha. The veneer manufacturing process enables manufacturers to orient wood grain and to distribute the defects found in smaller trees, such as knots, in a way that maintains the strength of the final product, Sinha added.
Tests in Sinha’s lab focused on the panels’ structural and physical properties such as density, adhesive bonding and resistance to the kinds of vertical and horizontal stresses experienced in an earthquake. Additional tests are planned after the first of the year. Mass Plywood Panels can achieve the performance characteristics of a similar product known as Cross Laminated Timber panels with 20 to 30 percent less wood.
From Phys.org: https://phys.org/news/2016-11-prototype-plywood-panels-world-largest.html
