ouJ mql I O nition with modern morking methods Enhqnce brqnd recog

By Michelle Spaulding Matthews International Com.

IIORP and more companies today lllare integrating marking and coding equipment throughout their production process.

With ever-improving technology, we are all able to have products that perform well beyond their initial function. Some innovative manufacturers in the building products industry have found ways to expand the purpose of their marking process. Utilizing modern ink-jet marking technology, these new applications have opened doors for effective marketing strategies and programs.

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Many companies have taken their marking applications beyond simple tracking codes with industrial ink-jet technology. Indeed, some have extended the marking process so that it becomes a vehicle for improving brand recognition on job sites and at retail outlets. Many manufacturers are currently doing this and are achieving superb results.

Imagine your logo, big and bold on every product you manufacture. It is possible with ink-jet printing systems. For example, many building products companies are printing giant logos on their LVL, I-joists, OSB, gypsum board, plastic pipe, insulation, stacked lumber and more. just to increase their brand awareness nationwide.

The best aspect of these applications is that they can increase and expand marking to enhance the marketing of all product lines efficiently and inexpensively; stretching their marketing efforts beyond what they had thought possible.

Ink-jet printing is invaluable for manufacturers considering private label projects. Since modern ink-jet marking permits instantly variable message printing, operators simply select the appropriate message in the printing system and then run it until it's time to change that message. Thus, you don't need to have a large number of these printers throughout your plant. A single printer can do the job for many products.

Other manufacturers are printing installation instructions such as "this side up" handling advice on their products to provide additional value to distributors and end-users while reducing the need for expensive labels. Nail marking or cut patterns can also be printed on demand.

In addition, marking information that differentiates one product from another is a growing application. Consider, as an example, marking a note that states "treated lumber" or "untreated lumber" on appropriate products. While you're at it, don't forget to include your logo or Web address.

A final application involves the marking of grade and species identification. Make sure that your mark looks impressive, especially if you are selling top grade products. Modern ink-jet technology allows you to grade and change your stamp on the fly.

Remember that buyers make deter- minations about the quality of your product, especially when it stands out on a shelf from nearby competitive products. Ifthe quality ofthe printing is superior, so much the better for your identification marks. Don't let this brand image opportunity slip by. Be certain of representing your product through every step of its manufacturing and distribution.

Why Ink-fet fechnology?

You may already be marking your logo with tracking and operational information on most products. If you are doing this with roller coders,

Many building products

companies are printing giant logos on their LVL, l-joist, OSB, gypsum board, plastic pipe, insulation, stacked lumber and more, just to increase their brand awareness nationwide.

any process lnterruptron.

The fact is: industrial ink-jet printers have become much more than simple marking systems. They can improve your productivity through automation, provide feedback and reports on the products traveling through your lines. and communicate with PLCs and other devices throughout your plant. Product coding changes from the PLC are instantaneous and can prevent costly errors such as forgetting to change a stamp at product changeover.

This technology can also save money by providing you with the capability to print only what you want and where you want on each product instead of the typical continuous string of print required by contact printing.

Fulure Opportunities

There is also some interest in using marking to help bundle products into complete construction kits for sale within retail channels. Research and development for bar coding applications that meet retail requiremenls are currently in process throughout the identification industry.

The next time you drive past a construction site, notice how many products are appearing with large logos. Such messages are visible from great distances. This type of brand marking offers prime marketing opportunities that should not be passed up. Think about the impact the site has on the individuals that pass by each day.

stamps and stencils, be mindful that new advancements in marking methods can put you ahead via ink-jet technology.

Ink-jet marking produces some of the best quality marks possible on most building products. The surface of a wood product is textured, which makes it difficult to master high quality marks from contact printing solutions.

Stenciling can become a very messy method of marking products, which requires manual interruption and usually results in a lot of wasted paint.

Inflexibility is a final downside to contact printing. When messages are changed, rubber type or dies must be removed, requiring handling of messy dies. Periodic cleaning of the roll coder is also time consuming and expensive to keep print looking good.

Further, contact printers or redundant printers, do not facilitate the potential for test marking or branding additional products because you need to change type with each new product. With an ink-jet printer, to change a printed message. the operator simply selects the desired message from the printer controller. In less than a second. the printhead begins printing the newly prompted message without

Some future marketing potential exists in applications that provide value-added information to commercial and retail customers. Manufacturers may consider marking utilization guidelines on their products, such as noting the best way to cut their board, while providing the most yield. They may start to include specific job site information on products prepared for a specific project or customer.

Such innovative marketing methods have been developed by some of the leading manufacturers in the building products industry. It would be wise to reconsider how modern marking techniques can jump-start new approaches to promote brand recognition for your products in varied locations-from lumber yards through job sites and retail outletsbefore it is too late.

- Michelle Spaulding is the marketing t:ommtrnictttions manage r for inclustrial ntarking equipment manuJ'acturer Mtttthew's International Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa. (vrn tt'. matthevt'smu rki n g. c otn )

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Pride Do It Best Home Center, Amarillo. Tx.. has relocated from its 18,000-sq. ft. quarters to a newly renovated, 78,000-sq. ft. former Kmart building with drive-thru lumberyard...

Friel Lumber Co., Queenstown, Md., had one lumber storage shed and part of a second collapse under heavy snow ...

AAA Building & Plumbing Supply Corp., Norfolk, Va., has closed after 60 years, with the retirement of Arthur Kreger and Shirley Levin

84 Lumber Co. set grand openings for April I in Palm Shores, Fl.; April 2 in Augusta and Savannah, Ga. (Dan Shier, store mgr.); April 29 in Huntsville, Al., and Franklin, Tn., and April 30 in Millford, De. ... 84 Lumber's commercial zoning request for 1.1 acres near Millville, De., was rejected by county planning and zonmg commlssroners ...

Kellam & Eaton agreed to lease space at its Virginia Beach, Va., facility to Taylor Rental Centers for tool and machinery rentals ...

Berryville Lumber Co., Berryville, Va., which closed in March 2002, agreed to lease its building to Lee Bowen, owner of Ramsey's Hardware, Front Royal, Va., to open a second True Value hardware store by May 1; building owner Jay Hillerson will use the outbuildings for his Clarke County Roofing business...

Lowe's Cos. opened new stores in late January in Kissimmee, Fl. (Mike Hall, store mgr.); Milledgeville, Ga. (Eric Hein, mgr.); NE Central San Antonio, Tx. (Leo Martinez, mgr.), and Lexington, Va. (Joe Hancock, mgr.)

Lowe's plans a 1.3 million-sq. ft. DC on 150 acres in Osceola County, Fl.; began building a $12.5million, 186,000-sq. ft. reload center on 44 acres in Brownsville, Tn.; selected a new store site in Clinton, N.C., for a fourth quarter 2003 opening, and is expanding the garden center at its Amarillo, Tx., store to 20,000 sq. ft.

Home Depot this month opens a new home ienter in Barbouisville (Huntington). W.V.. and a Landicape Silpply store in Plano, Tx.: other Landscape Supply stores open later this year in Grapevine, L^ewisville and Dallas, Tx.

Home Depot is consolidating its New England division with its Atlanta-based Eastern division; Don Kneip, ex-New England div. president, is.now senior v.p.-business process rmprovement

Habitat for Humanity opened a Homestore in Orangeburg, S.C.; Joanne Thomas, store mgr., assisted by volunteer Vic Meredith

Marchant Lumber's former site in Mountain Home, Ar, was bulldozed to make way for a highway widening project ...

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Bestway Enterprises is relocating its Carolina Woodwork operations from Statesville. N.C.. to a 9acre company-owned facility in Cortland, N.Y.; about 32,0S sq. ft. have been remodeled to accommodate Carolina Woodworks

American Paneling, Plywood & Lumber has opened a new Southeastern Lumber Division in Port Neches, Tx., specializing in 2x49' solid sawn #2, truss webbing, and specialty cut lumber for industrial uses; Marvin Willey, mgr.

Gulf States Paper Corp. has begun milling small timbers at its new Moundville, Al., sawmill, that is expected to produce 45 million bd. ft. of lumber annually

Kansas City Southern Railroad is adding a fourth track at its Richland, Ms., transload facility

Ge orgia- Pacific Corp., Atlanta, Ga., has placed on indefinite hold the planned spin-off of its con- sumer products division from its building products division due to a sagging stock price, poor market conditions and asbestos liability

Norbord Industries began a $12 million upgrade of its Jefferson, Tx., OSB mill; improvements will focus on log storage, handling, infeed systems and debarkers

Thompson Hardwoods, Hazelhurst, Ga., has installed a new lumber sorter and waste-fired boiler system...

TC B Construction, Poplarville, Ms., won a bid to log burned timber from White Mountain Apache tribal land in No. Az., the first time since the 1960s the tribe has allowed off-reservation firms to extract timber

Louisiana-Pacific agreed to sell 55,000 acres of timberland in Cleveland, Tx., for $38 million to an unidentified buyer; the sale is should close at the end of June

Weyerhaeuser Co.'s timberlands in Al., Ar., southern La., Ms. and Ok. have been certified to meet Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards...

Forest Technology Group has relocated its headquarters from Summerville, S.C., to North Charleston, S.C.

Atlas Architectural Metals, Houston, Tx., has been acquired by Buell Door Co., Dallas, Tx., and renamed Buell Architectural Metals ...

Georgia- Pac ffic's Jarratt, Va., plant was honored with the American Fiberboard As s ociation's 2002 Best Safety Record award for the sixth consecutive year ... Temple Industries' Fiber Products Group, Diboll, Tx., received AFA's 2002 Most Improved Safety Record award

Lee Roy Jordan Lumber, Dallas, Tx., is now distributing a full line of architectural columns from MillCast Inc.,Pell City, Al. ...

Housing starts in January (latest figures) rose O.2Vo to an adjusted annual rate of 1.850 million single family starts climbed2.ITo to a rate of 1.510 million; multi-family starts (5+ units) were at a pace of 303,000 building permits fell 5.6Voto a 1.781 millionrate.