USNR + WOOD FIBER GROUP

As the dust settles from the announcement of the merger of USNR and Wood Fiber Group, the synergies are becoming clearer and gaining focus, though the full impact of this combination has yet to be realized. To give our readers a sneak peek, we introduce you to Craig Tompkins and Dale Brown, leaders of their combined company, and their vision for the future.

Craig Tompkins, CEO

Tompkins is responsible for developing growth strategies and organizational structure while overseeing finance, human resources, and mergers and acquisitions that support the overall company. He came to the wood processing industry when he joined Burton Saw and Supply as President and CEO in 2015. In 2019 he was named President and CEO of the merged Burton Saw and Simonds International.

Prior to joining, Tompkins held key positions in a variety of other sectors, including Pfingsten Partners, a Chicago based private equity company; Marlen International, a capital equipment manufacturer supplying the food processing industry; and Sun Chemical and then Ryerson, heading up engineering and manufacturing for the specialty chemical industry. One of his most impactful contributions to his past organizations has been driving strategy and integrating acquired businesses.

He earned a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1983, and an MBA in Finance at Chicago Booth School of Business in 1987.

Dale Brown, President

As president, Dale Brown’s focus is the day-to-day operations of the combined company.

H is a long-standing member of the USNR team. A graduate of the business program at Linfield College, he joined USNR in 1986. Over many years he held roles in accounting, then moved on through mid-level management in the areas of capital and parts sales. In 2009 he was appointed Vice President, responsible for all of USNR’s operations related to mechanical products.

In 2016 he was named Senior Vice President with added responsibiliy overseeing USNR’s newly-acquired European business. In 2018 Dale was appointed President of USNR.

Through his years at USNR, Brown has met and worked with key leaders across the wood products industry. His industry and business knowledge is both substantial and intimate. His dedication to employees and customers has earned him the respect of sawmill and plywood producers everywhere.

Craig Tompkins (left) and Dale Brown at the Wood Fiber Group

Q & A

Millwide Insider (MI) – What prompted the merging of USNR and Wood Fiber Group?

Craig Tompkins (CT) – The combined companies’ reputations for quality, integrity, innovation, technical service, and value are well aligned and a great cultural fit. The combination will provide better customer coverage and improve our ability to serve the market. Our combined capabilities create a complete product offering to sawmill and plywood customers globally.

MI – What excites you about this merger?

CT – The most exciting part of this merger is the opportunity it will create not only for our employees but our customers. Contrary to most merger and acquisition activity where companies have overlapping operations and products, our combination is complementary with adjacent rather than overlapping submarkets. Coming together we immediately become the most comprehensive supplier in our industry with the ability to provide our customers with everything from the equipment to all of the parts, consumables, and filing room equipment necessary to produce the highest quality products. Beyond where we are today, the greatest future opportunity is to define what we could be rather than what we are now. Both of our businesses are technology leaders in our individual submarkets, and our opportunity is to integrate these technologies to create new products that provide even higher quality and greater throughput for our customers.

MI – What will be your focus for the coming 12 months in moving the companies forward?

CT – Initial stages of any merger or acquisition are similar. As a management team we will be integrating our culture and our systems. While we work internally, we will be aggressively addressing the R&D opportunities created by coming together.

MI – What is the major benefit for customers of both companies?

Dale Brown – Many customers are common to both entities. This new relationship will foster easier access to equipment, parts, consumables, service, and more.

On the technical side, we now offer an even wider depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in the solid wood, panel, and secondary wood processing sectors.

As a combined company we have incredible industry expertise in all facets of what it takes to supply the best wood processing operations in the world. It is our mission to ensure that our customers always recognize and appreciate our role as a critical business partner to their future success.

BSW Group unveils new brand

BSW, the UK’s largest integrated forestry and sawmilling group, has unveiled its new brand, with an expanded vision of ‘seeing timber in new light’. The brand launch sees the group uniting its capabilities under a new, overarching, BSW Group brand, forging an integrated supply chain to create value and sustain longterm growth.

Tony Hackney, CEO, BSW Group, said: “As the sector’s biggest integrated business, with capabilities including tree nurseries, forestry management, harvesting, production and energy, we believe we have a responsibility to drive positive change.

“Following a period of intense acquisition activity, we commissioned a robust, independent review of our brand and market positioning to guide the actions needed to support a more sustainable future. The feedback we gained has been invaluable. It has inspired our vision to become the most innovative, technologically advanced and sustainable timber business in the UK.”

As part of the launch, BSW Group is committing to ensuring a seamless, circular supply chain, to investing in innovation and education, and to giving people more stability and choice.

“By growing markets, increasing efficiency and resilience, and elevating our craft, we can help secure the future of our industry and our planet. We have a shared will to create value and achieve sustainable growth,” added Tony.

The brand launch follows BSW Group’s acquisition by Binderholz, which completed on 5th January 2022, strengthening the brand’s positioning in the value-added timber market.

It’s businesses – Maelor Forest Nurseries, Tilhill, Dick Brothers, BSW Timber, BSW Timber Solutions, Bayram Timber and BSW Energy – will continue to operate in their own specialist areas under the new overarching BSW Group brand, with a shared vision to create value and achieve sustainable growth.

As the sector’s biggest integrated business, with capabilities including tree nurseries, forestry management, harvesting, production and energy, we believe we have a responsibility to drive positive change

Tony Hackney, BSW Group, CEO

Boise Cascade MERCHANDIZER

Boise Cascade is a leading manufacturer and distributor of building materials for North America and beyond. Boise chose Springer’s screw technology, merchandizer system, and block handling equipment for its Florien Mill located in Louisiana. The stems are fed to the Nicholson debarker via the Springer screw system. Then the stems are scanned and optimized by the Microtec Logeye. Depending on the optimized solution the stems are accurately kicked to either side of the merchandizer backlog transfer. The merchandizer backlog transfer sequences stems to a positioning roll case system that optimally shifts each stem to remove defects when the saws cut the stems into blocks. The blocks are then sorted north or south to bins. Parts and service support for all our customers are provided directly from our Springer USA office and warehouse in Greenville SC.