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TA K I N G

STOCK

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. Street Address: 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Telephone: 334-834-1170 Fax 334-834-4525

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Publisher David H. Ramsey Chief Operating Officer Dianne C. Sullivan

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Editor-In-Chief Rich Donnell Senior Editor Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor David Abbott Senior Associate Editor Jessica Johnson Associate Editor Patrick Dunning

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Publisher/Editor Emeritus David (DK) Knight

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Production Manager/Art Director Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator Patti Campbell Circulation Director Rhonda Thomas Online Content & Marketing Manager Jacqlyn Kirkland

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Advertising Sales Manager David H. Ramsey • (334) 834-1170

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES SOUTHERN U.S. Kathy Sternenberg • (251) 928-4962 ksternenberg@bellsouth.net Classified Advertising Bridget DeVane • (334) 669-7837 • 1-800-669-5613 bdevane7@hotmail.com MIDWEST USA, EASTERN CANADA John Simmons Mar-Tech Communications 32 Foster Cres.

Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 (905) 666-0258 Fax: (905) 666-0778 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com WESTERN USA, WESTERN CANADA Tim Shaddick 4056 West 10th Ave, Vancouver BC Canada V6L 1Z1 604-910-1826 Fax: (604) 264-1397 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca Kevin Cook (604) 619-1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com INTERNATIONAL Murray Brett 58 Aldea de las Cuevas Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 +34 96 640 4048 E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net

YOU HAD TO SEE IT WITH YOUR OWN EYES

I

n the March issue, in this very same space, I painted a broad stroke of optimism as our staff prepared to head to Atlanta to put on the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo. I wrote: “Impeachment is over, the presidential primaries are upon us, housing starts have ticked upward and the stock market has been very good.”

In other words, I was saying let’s all go to Atlanta and have a big time!

We had a big time all right, unlike any big time I’ve ever had. Indeed PELICE 2020 persevered. Thirty-four speakers and 80 exhibitors were there.

Sixteen structural and non-structural wood products producer companies sent some personnel.

And now, the rest of the story.

Some of you are aware that another one of our publications, Wood Bioenergy, hosts a similar conference in Atlanta immediately preceding PELICE. It’s not as large as PELICE, but probably half of our PELICE equipment exhibitors also exhibit in our Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo. Both the Wood Bio and PELICE events are held in the same Grand Ballroom North of the Omni Hotel at CNN Center.

So we had been on the ground in Atlanta for some days prior to the start of PELICE. The coronavirus had reared its ugly head in the state of Washington.

Even at the start of PELICE, Fulton County including Atlanta had only reported one coronavirus case, a man who had just returned from Italy. Meanwhile next door to the Omni Hotel, the Georgia World Congress Center was hosting MODEX, the massive supply chain expo with 900 exhibits and 16,000 attendees, and Archie and Peyton Manning were delivering keynote talks.

So PELICE and our staff of 10 pushed forward, as did MODEX next door.

Event cancellations were mostly confined to Europe at that point. But many forest products companies and a few equipment companies began implement-

ing self-imposed travel restrictions, meaning that come the opening bell of PELICE we were wondering who was going to show up.

I think five of the 39 speakers we had scheduled couldn’t make it and about as many exhibitor companies.

Producer attendance also waned, in that the larger companies now sent one or two personnel instead of the 10 or so that were registered.

At the time of PELICE, many people were still shaking hands, many weren’t.

Sanitizers and moisture wipes were definitely in play. The six-foot distance thing hadn’t become a thing yet and shelter-inplace wasn’t in the vocabulary either.

And so PELICE, and neighbor MODEX, became probably the last events held in North America, if not the world. We aren’t patting ourselves on the back for getting it in and I doubt the people at MODEX are either. It was something we had to work through, and it was difficult. We’re especially thankful to the exhibitor representatives, the speakers and producer personnel who were able to make it, and to the Omni Hotel personnel and contractors who were with us every step of the way.

Oh yes, on the conference itself— you’ll be able to tell from the coverage in this issue beginning on page 24 that PELICE 2020 had some wonderful speakers who delivered some powerful PW information.

RICH DONNELL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ph: 334-834-1170 Fax: 334-834-4525 e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com

PanelWorld • MAY 2020 • 3

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(Founded as P l y w o o d & P a n e l in 1960—Our 502nd consecutive issue) VOLUME 61 NO. 3

24

MAY 2020

Visit our web site: www.panelworldmag.com

PELICE 2020 On The Record

TAKING STOCK Did That Happen?

3

UPDATE Producer Plans

40

APPEARANCES Out The Door

GEO DIRECTORY Veneer/Panel Suppliers

EVENTS We Can Hope

51

54

COVER: Starwood has added more composite board production capacity at its big complex in Inegöl, Turkey. Correspondent Mark Rushton visits on-site with CEO Hüseyin Yildiz. Story begins on PAGE 14.

8

CLIPPINGS Norman Martin

36

(Photo courtesy of Starwood)

PROJECTS Overlay Press

44

PANELWORKS Classified Advertising

50

Panel World (ISSN 1048-826X) is published bimonthly by Plywood & Panel World, Inc., P.O. Box 2268, Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 (334) 834-1170, Fax (334) 834-4525. Subscription Information— PW is sent free to owners, operators, managers, purchasing agents, supervisors and foremen at veneer operations, plywood plants, composite products plants, structural and decorative panel mills, engineered wood products plants and allied export-import businesses throughout the world. All non-qualified U.S. subscriptions are $50 annually; $60 in Canada; $95 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries— TOLL-FREE 800-669-5613; Fax 888-611-4525. Go to www.panelworldmag.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe or renew via the web. All advertisements for Panel World magazine are accepted and published by Plywood & Panel World, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Plywood & Panel World, Inc. harmless from and against any loss, expenses, or other liability resulting from any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Plywood & Panel World, Inc. neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Panel World. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2020. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Printed in USA. Member, Verified Audit Circulation Managed By Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc.

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UPDATE

PRODUCERS ARE STEPPING UP

Several forest products companies released statements to employees, suppliers and customers on the COVID-19 virus.

Roy O. Martin III, chairman, CEO and CFO of RoyOMartin, in a three and a half minute video posted on the company’s instagram page, hammered home the company’s absolute commitment to the safety and well being of its employees.

He added, “Aren’t you glad that during this pandemic that your job is in manufacturing? Our order files are full.

Our production is good. Our harvesting operations are normal. The housing industry is going strong. I want to assure you that RoyOMartin is still in business, even though the world as we know it has turned upside down. We will persevere through this coronavirus pandemic.”

Martin addressed changes to their operations with regard to health and safety, such as fewer team meetings, limited visitor access and increased distancing.

“That does not mean that your safety

switch should be turned off. In fact, right now, with the distancing, we need to be more aware of our surroundings because our team members are farther away,” he said.

He said the company’s occupational health nurses and its Legacy Health & Wellness staff are well-equipped to listen to concerns and help with any personal health issues. “We want to make things as normal as possible for you when you’re at work. That includes maintaining production and other operations at appropriate levels so you can count on your paycheck. In fact, we’re still hiring.

With all of us banded together, we will get through this.”

Roseburg Forest Products responded to an executive order issued by Gov. Kate Brown. “Gov. Brown’s order allows our industry to continue providing essential infrastructure products to the coronavirus response and recovery,” Roseburg President and CEO Grady Mulbery says. “Our 2,400 team members working in the state of Oregon—largely in rural communities—will continue to

earn income for their families while manufacturing materials used in affordable housing, emergency shelter and hospital construction.”

Roseburg has seven plants, two administrative offices, more than 400,000 acres in timberland, and a pulp chip export facility in the state, employing 2,400 directly and supporting hundreds more indirectly. The company ordered all employees who could work remotely to do so.

Louisiana-Pacific CEO Brad Southern said the company’s manufacturing facilities in North and South America have instituted rigorous cleaning and social distancing protocols. “While LP’s manufacturing processes do not lend themselves to the production of items needed to fight COVID-19, our mills do stock masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE). Our mill leadership teams are donating PPE supplies to local healthcare providers and first responders. While this pandemic is unprecedented, supporting our local communities is what we do at LP.” Several companies including LP an-

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UPDATE

nounced reductions in production and capital expenditure plans. LP planned to cut OSB production by at least 100MMSF in April, or about a third of total capacity, through a combination of curtailments and reduced schedules.

“This flexible approach is designed to maintain agility for further adjustments (up or down) as demand warrants, and to minimize the impact on our employees,” Southern said.

LP has reduced its 2020 capital expenditure plans by 50% to roughly $70 million for the year, “This is a fluid situation,” Southern added. “Forecasts vary widely about the nature and duration of the negative economic impacts of this pandemic. That said, long-term housing fundamentals remain strong. I am confident that our strong balance sheet and operational agility will allow LP to effectively manage through this period of uncertainty and thrive once the health and economic effects of COVID-19 have passed.”

Norbord Inc. began reducing produc-

tion across its portfolio of North American OSB mills by reducing shifts and running a number of its North American mills on alternating schedules to match production with an anticipated reduction in OSB demand. “This approach will allow the company to continue to serve its customers, retain operating flexibility and preserve jobs for as many employees as is practicable, while at the same time being prepared to quickly resume normal operations when economic conditions improve,” the company stated.

This adjusted operating configuration will initially result in a 25% reduction to Norbord’s North American mill capacity. In addition, the company is reducing its 2020 capital expenditures budget by 25%.

Peter Wijnbergen, Norbord President & CEO, commented, “Our first priority remains the health and safety of our employees. Further, we believe that reducing operating schedules across our mills gives us the best flexibility to adapt to

the ever-changing demand landscape while still meeting our customers’ needs, reducing hardship on our employees and ensuring we are prepared for a return to growth when markets normalize.”

Boise Cascade has implemented changes to reduce the volume of plywood and engineered wood products (EWP) it will produce. The company is planning reductions in plywood production of 25-35% and in EWP volumes of 20-40% depending on location, in comparison to first quarter levels. The reductions in production will be implemented through a combination of periodic curtailments and reductions in operating schedules at specific facilities.

Weyerhaeuser Co. expected to reduce operating capacity by 20% for lumber, 15% for OSB and 15-25% for engineered wood products through a combination of temporary mill curtailments and reduced shift postures.

Weyerhaeuser intends to reduce 2020 capital expenditures by $70-90 million.

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IT’S ANOTHER EXPANSION FOR THE STAR AT THE CENTER OF THE TURKISH FURNITURE UNIVERSE Turkish particleboard producer Starwood expands with a new 460,000 m3 plant to supply local furniture producers.

BY MARK RUSHTON

INEGÖL, Turkey undreds of furniture showrooms line both sides of the highway leading to Inegöl, a two hours drive south from Turkish mega-city Istanbul. In fact the town could easily be renamed “Furniture City” such is the huge amount of outlets right along the highway and on into the town center. The multitude of glass fronted buildings proudly display all sorts of home furniture items—sofas, sideboards and dining room sets.

Over the years the town has seen something of a boom in furniture design and production, which is mostly as a result of the vision of the owners of Starwood, one of Turkey’s leading manufacturers of high-quality particleboard and MDF. The company’s headquarters is located pretty much in the center of Inegöl.

But how could one company have such a huge influence over an industry?

“When we were looking to grow our business in the early 1980s we decided we could do one of two things,” explains Starwood CEO Hüseyin Yildiz.

“Move closer to the raw material, or closer to our potential customers. We decided on the latter.

“As a family business, we had a lot of experience with wood products and board. We came into the town and in-

H

Above, cooling station at Starwood’s new particleboard plant; below, board sawing on the new 460,000 m3 line. The complex includes three particleboard lines and two MDF lines.

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Above and below, Dieffenbacher continuous press was the heart of the package supplied by Dieffenbacher, which has a longstanding relationship with Starwood.

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vested in a company here that was already producing particleboard and furniture, but was struggling a bit. We invested more, and eventually bought the company out, basically saving it. It was from there that our vision be gan to form: to be at the center of the furniture industry in Turkey.”

Starwood is truly a family business.

Yildiz’s grandfather founded the business in the 1890s originally with a sawmill in the Black Sea region of Turkey, and then later moving into Istanbul selling wood products in the city.

The family arrived in Inegöl in 1981.

Yildiz’s father took over as CEO and grew the business further, followed by Yildiz himself. Mustafa Mehmet, son of Yildiz, will join the business after finishing his university studies.

“We had to make some big decisions when we first took over here,” Yildiz continues. “The company we had taken over was producing some particleboard, veneer and melamine particleboard, but it was also producing a lot of furniture. We really wanted to concentrate on one area and be the best at it.”

They decided to get out of furniture making completely and concentrate on making the very best in particleboard

Board handling and stacking under the Dieffenbacher/Turkey flag

and other boards, and to supply the local manufacturers. But cleverly the new owners helped the skilled furniture makers being let go from the company to set up their own businesses by donat-

ing machinery to them that was no longer needed.

This was a good move as the furniture industry in and around the town flourished and grew. “Basically by

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in Istanbul—one of the most famous buildings in the world.

INSIDE STARWOOD

Sanding line includes a Steinemann SATOS sander

doing this we created new customers right here in the town,” Yildiz says.

Fast forward to 2020 and Starwood has turned its vision into spectacular reality and Inegöl has become a name in the global furniture industry with frequent international buyer visitors, and even its own furniture trade show. “We now have around 1,500 furniture producers in and around the town, with some of them being very large and exporting their products all over Europe and to the rest of the world—all using our top-quality boards!”

Yildiz emphasizes.

The company exports 25% of its boards, with the rest being purchased by local furniture makers. “Half of all the furniture made in the region is exported, which means our products go out all over the world, adding value to the local industry,” Yildiz adds.

trical and chemical engineering, furniture design and manufacture, and even tourism. “The idea is that we want to train people to stay in the town and not go elsewhere to find jobs,” Yildiz says.

Starwood has also created an annual event for budding furniture designers from 13 universities which includes a week-long workshop where they learn all about particleboard and MDF and how it operates and performs under certain conditions, giving them insight and knowledge for their designs of the future. “It also teaches us about the type of designs the modern world is looking for and we can make sure our board conforms accordingly,” Yildiz adds.

As a further part of its commitment to the nation of Turkey, Starwood is one of the main sponsors of the restoration program going on at the Blue Mosque

While there is a lot going on promoting and serving the local and national communities, there is also a lot going on inside Starwood in terms of the very latest in production technology. Due to the sheer size the company has grown to, various parts are located in different areas.

In the main factory area in Inegöl there are two MDF lines with a width of 7 ft. and capacities of 2,000 m3 per day and three particleboard lines with a capacity of 3500 m3. In the same building Starwood has six impregnating lines and 12 short cycle lines. Most of the boards produced here go through finishing plants with only a small percentage being sold as raw or sanded boards. Starwood also has another plant in Georgia, which includes a short cycle line. The company employs around 1,300 in total.

Some 20 kilometers away from the main factory, Starwood has another site which includes a wood yard with chipping and debarking as well as an energy plant. The main species of wood used by Starwood is local pine, which is debarked and chipped on site, with equipment including an Andritz chipper.

The chips from the wood yard are transported by a fleet of trucks to the particleboard plant daily.

The site also includes a flooring line, printing plant and extra warehousing space. The company has another wood yard 150 km away. “Space is always a real challenge for us when we want to

TECHNICAL SCHOOL As part of its commitment to the furniture industry in Turkey and local commerce in Inegöl, Starwood has set up an academy and technical school in the town with a capacity for 5,600 students. The school is massively important to the area and was recently opened by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The idea behind the school is that the more technical and skilled people we have in the town the more the market will grow in the future,” Yildiz states. “We think this is really important, and we believe in giving back. We have donated the school to the government which now has an advisory board which asks us our advice on the best courses we should be offering.”

The school takes in students around the age of 14 and offers courses on elec-

Glue preparation at the facility in Inegöl

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expand,” Yildiz says. “But fortunately we have other locations around Inegöl we can expand into.”

GOLD STANDARDS The latest investment at the main factory is a complete 460,000 m3 per year particleboard plant supplied by German manufacturer Dieffenbacher. The line started up six weeks earlier than planned in July of last year. The scope of supply to Starwood included a 4-head forming station with optimized windformers and additional roller screens, and a CPS+, Dieffenbacher’s “gold standard” for continuous press systems. Also included in the delivery is a gluing system featuring preparation and dosing (Starwood makes all its own glue and resin), a press exhaust system and the plant’s entire automation and control systems. Starwood also ordered a raw board handling system and sanding line from Dieffenbacher (Finland), all of which are integrated into the existing infrastructure with all its obstacles and limitations.

Additionally, the new line has conventional drum dry- Starwood CEO Hüseyin Yildiz ers and a belt dryer from Stela. The sander itself, a 12 head Steinmann SATOS 22 K-KKNN, was purchased by Starwood directly.

“We have some history with Dieffenbacher at our plant here in Inegöl,” Yildiz says. “We had a line from the company in the ’90s, so when it came to replacing that line, we decided to give them a call. What we like about the company is that like us, it is also a family business, so we were delighted when members of the Dieffenbacher family came to see us.

“Straight away we began to collaborate closely on this project. They listened intently to us to find out what we wanted, and we listened to them, learning about all the latest in new technology they had been working on and supplying. The great thing about this type of industry is that we can all learn from each other as the technology is alive, it’s always moving.”

After a lot of collaboration and plant visits, a deal was struck in June 2018 and a complete plant was ordered to manufacture

Overview of Starwood’s complex

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thin particleboard with a thickness range of 6-8 mm. Yildiz says, “We were very impressed with the technology being offered by Dieffenbacher, but most of all it was the sense of mutual understanding and trust that convinced us to go ahead.”

Starwood had some challenges when it came to installing the new plant: There was not a lot of room, and what room there was was full of working machinery. A lot of machinery had to be moved to other locations. But Dieffenbacher also had some answers when it

came to easing the challenges of installing the plant.

Yildiz explains: “With new advancements in technology, new advantages also come up when it comes to installation.

The Dieffenbacher advanced design meant that there were no huge press frames to have to transport and install.

This made life much easier all around as logistics and transport were easier and we didn’t have to hire any large cranes to have to fit the frames in place. It also meant a time saving as well.

“In fact, it has got to be said that Dieffenbacher managed this project really well from start to finish; the company had great people on the ground designing and running the procedures, specifically Frank Detmers, project engineer; Hubert Dressel, senior technologist; Ralf Fink, project manager; Veysel Belirtin, site manager; and Mr. Dieffenbacher himself whose planning and execution were really impressive when it came to not only installing a machine in a tight space, but also making sure it runs to an optimal speed with well-trained operators. They were the hidden heroes of this project.”

The new line from Dieffenbacher was built in the center of the whole plant after Starwood rearranged its finishing area completely to make space.

The project went so well that startup took place six weeks earlier than planned.

“We finished this project earlier than expected simply because it was run so well from both sides, us at Starwood and Dieffenbacher’s team. We were ready to go six weeks early, so why not startup? The good thing about this is that not only time was saved, but a lot of money in man hours as well.”

The line is now running at full capacity, according to Yildiz, “We are extremely happy with this whole new particleboard plant, we are up to full running speed, and we are quite content that we will go beyond the design speed. We always believe in pushing our technology and equipment to the limit.”

WHAT’S NEXT? So what’s next for the ever-growing Starwood? “We pride ourselves in keeping up with all the latest in technology and we have also recently invested in a lot of digitalization technology with a package from SAP S4 HANA, which we are having a lot of early success with. We will be advancing the use of that technology company-wide in the future.

“As far as going forward, in my opinion this industry really has to get a lot better at using recycled wood as raw material. Other industries are doing it very successfully, for instance the paper industry.

It is my opinion that the panel industry is behind on this, although I do understand that Dieffenbacher has already developed a very satisfactory technology for recycled wood particleboard lines.”

With a recycled option, Starwood would add another business area to its portfolio, and would have a fantastic source for raw material right at the center of the Turkish furniture universe. PW 22 • MAY 2020 • PanelWorld

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Exhibitors and attendees enjoyed being able to focus on the business at hand.

PELICE 2020 IN ATLANTA REVEALS WHAT OUR INDUSTRY IS MADE OF If anybody questioned the essential nature of the wood products industry, PELICE proved otherwise.

BY JESSICA JOHNSON, DAN SHELL AND RICH DONNELL

ATLANTA, Ga. hirty-four speakers and 80 equipment exhibitor companies participated in the seventh Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) held March 12-13 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta. Attendance, including speakers, exhibitor personnel, producers, consultants and academia, was 287.

The event, hosted by Panel World magazine and Georgia Research Insti-

T

tute, featured an impressive range of presentations, including keynote talks from Ashlee Cribb, Senior VP-Chief Commercial Officer at Roseburg Forest Products; Steve Carroll, VP of Operations at Arauco NA; Mark Lindquist, VP-Operations at Huber Engineered Woods; Terry Secrest, Executive VP at RoyOMartin; Jerry Uhland, CEO of CalPlant I; and Frank Goecke, Director at AFRY. “Certainly it was the most intense PELICE we’ve ever experienced,” comments Rich Donnell, co-chairman of PELICE and editor-in-chief of Panel World, referring to the COVID-19 crisis that was coming on. “We obviously lost some attendees due to company travel restrictions that literally hit as the conference was opening.”

Sixteen wood products producer companies sent personnel, Donnell notes, but while many of them had registered multiple personnel to attend, they each ended up sending a few.

Donnell said only several scheduled speakers and several exhibitors couldn’t make the trip. “People and companies obviously had to do what they felt they had to do,” Donnell says. “We’re grateful that the bulk of them made it to PELICE.” Introducing the first morning keynoters session, quoting from the movie

“Saving Private Ryan,” Donnell said, “We have crossed some strange boundary here. The world has taken a turn for the surreal.”

Donnell added, “I have faith that the wood products industry will set an example and be a leader; after all, you are an industry made up of producers and innovators, and no matter what kind of environment you find yourselves operating in, you will figure out the best and safest ways to push ahead and persevere in this climate of uncertainty.”

Donnell suggested to the attendees that they would enjoy escaping the virus-talk if but for a few hours while focusing on presentation subjects such as new project implementation, technological developments, new generation wood (and non-wood) products and organizational growth.

ASHLEE CRIBB Indeed the spirit of the conference remained vibrant and the opening talk by Roseburg’s Cribb on Growth through Investment and Innovation set the pace.

Cribb first provided some background on Oregon-headquartered RFP, including its history dating back to 1936, and she noted its ownership of

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A strong lineup of speakers attracted a sizable audience.

more than 600,000 acres of timberland and 14 manufacturing facilities producing a diversified product line today.

“When we talk with our team about why we exist as an organization, our answer is to make lives better from the ground up,” she said, adding that the move of the company’s headquarters from Dillard, Ore. to Springfield, Ore. in 2016 gave them access to a broader group of talent and the opportunity to “reset on our culture as we transitioned to the first non-family CEO.” Cribb dove deeper into two parts of Roseburg’s growth strategy—investment and innovation.

A telling move was the acquisition of more than 150,000 acres of timberland in North Carolina and Virginia in 2017, followed in early 2018 by the sale of its California timberland—170,000 acres.

These transactions supported Roseburg’s pursuit of growth opportunities in the Southeast U.S., which Roseburg selected based on steady housing starts, stable demand for high quality timber and growth potential, and which has provided geographical diversity in the company’s timber holdings.

On the wood products side, Roseburg acquired the Medford (Ore.) MDF plant from Sierra Pine in 2015, putting Rose-

burg back into the MDF market. In 2018 Roseburg acquired Pembroke MDF in Ontario, which was Roseburg’s first international purchase. The Pembroke plant produces a range of products, more recently the Arreis MDF made with a no added formaldehyde resin system.

Roseburg’s Ashlee Cribb

In 2019 Roseburg purchased the El Dorado MDF mill in Arkansas from PotlatchDeltic, which moved Roseburg to the number two position in the North American MDF market, with operations now in the West, Northeast and South.

Cribb addressed the company’s new LVL facility in Chester, SC and showed a video of the operation. “Our goal was to create the most technologically advanced manufacturing facility for the production

of continuous laminated veneer lumber,” she said. “We achieved this goal and the mill started up on time and under budget.” The mill produced its first board on September 17, 2019 and began shipping to clients in January 2020.

Cribb then addressed a career-long passion of hers—building a culture of innovation. She said innovation was an area that the Roseburg team consistently brought up as an opportunity for improvement. She started talking with the sales team about thinking differently about their customers and looking at how Roseburg does business from their customer’s point of view. “This means thinking about how we use our strengths and capabilities to create value for the customer,” she said.

She pointed to the recent reorganization of their commercial organization to align with customer market channels.

They also created a new business team that focuses on strategy and product development.

The next area of innovation focus was giving their teams permission to experiment and learning to “fail fast,” encouraging the development of hypothesis around products, services and go-to-market strategies that can be quickly tested and adjusted. “We believe this will result PanelWorld • MAY 2020 • 25

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in a faster path to market for innovation ideas,” Cribb said.

Cribb cited a recent article in the Harvard Business Review that had direct appeal to Roseburg. “One thing that is clear, it does require a different leadership model,” Cribb said, referring to two questions asked in the article that are critical for leaders developing a culture of experimentation: “First, how willing are you to be confronted every day by how wrong you are? Second, how much autonomy are you willing to give to the people who work for you.”

A good example of the culture of experimentation, Cribb said, is the development of the Huber ZIP System Plywood. Huber has been producing ZIP System sheathing with OSB and it is a well established brand in the building industry. Huber wanted to develop and launch a plywood version of this product and could accelerate the development by partnering with a plywood producer. Huber and Roseburg teams worked together, experimenting, testing and ultimately developing the final product. Roseburg began producing the ZIP System Plywood in late 2019.

A final point on building a culture of innovation, Cribb said, is developing diversity of thought in an organization. She pointed to two types of diversity—inherent and acquired. “When we hear the word diversity, we typically think of inherent diversity,” she said noting examples such as age, gender and ethnicity.

Whereas acquired diversity is people with different sets of experiences and may include generational savvy, crossfunctional knowledge, military experience, social media skills and language skills, Cribb offered. There are advantages in both. An inherently diverse workforce can provide a competitive edge in providing insight to identifying and addressing new market opportunities. Acquired diversity plays a vital role in transforming those ideas into innovation. “Leaders who have acquired diversity are significantly more likely to behave inclusively than leaders who lack it.

And research has shown that leaders with inclusive leadership behaviors get better innovation results,” Cribb stated.

Referring to a report from the Center for Talent Innovation, Cribb said team members who had leaders exhibiting this behavior said that their ideas are heard and recognized, they felt welcomed and included within their team and they felt free to express their views and opinions.

“This means that when the team is brainstorming and vesting ideas and solutions,

the leader is unlocking the full innovative potential of the team,” Cribb said.

“That results in better ideas, better solutions and the ability to transform them into profitable innovation.”

The research shows that this diversity results in real market growth, Cribb emphasized. “Companies that have inherent and acquired diversity are 70% more likely than employees at non-diverse companies to capture a new market in the past 12 months.”

STEVE CARROLL

Arauco’s Steve Carroll

Arauco NA Vice President of Operations Carroll spoke on Arauco Grayling: Building a Future, concerning the company’s new particleboard plant in Grayling, Mich. He reviewed the values of the company—safety, good citizenship, commitment, excellence and innovation, and teamwork—and provided some history of the company which started as a Chilean forestry and pulp firm, before entering the panels business in 1998 and going on a massive acquisition program in the past decade, acquiring eight panel mills in Canada and the U.S., and 10 panel mills and sawmills in Europe and South Africa.

The Grayling mill is the first greenfield particleboard mill in the U.S. since 2001, with a $450 million investment, Carroll said. Arauco chose the site because of a high concentration of demand in the Midwest, abundant raw material supply, good logistics platform, available training partnerships, local resin supply, state and local incentives and generally a welcoming attitude in the region.

The mill includes 820,000 sq. ft. under one roof, on 160 acres within a 640 acre plot. It features a Dieffenbacher 10 ft. x 52.4 m continuous press and the mill production capacity is 452MMSF annually. It also includes two Wemhöner TFL lines and room for a third. The first board was produced on

February 8, 2019 with first shipment the following month.

To get to that point required 1,000 workers on site, more than 30 construction modular offices, thousands of shipping containers, 60,000 cubic yards of concrete, thousands of miles of wire, and the parallel implementation of a strong safety and transparent culture of personal responsibility as part of the staffing and training program. Needless to say, winter conditions were challenging, with the Michigan winter temperatures dropping to negative 30 degrees.

Carroll ran through the production process, which handles a species mix of 70% softwood and 30% hardwood.

He was speaking a little more than a year after the mill produced its first board, and to date he cited several success stories including: safety, excellent staff, production ramp-up curve, panel quality and customer acceptance, low density and strong board, low level chip-out of TFL, low waste factor, and no HCHO issues.

MARK LINDQUIST Also in the leadoff lineup of speakers was Mark Lindquist, VP-Operations, Huber Engineered Woods, who addressed the company’s Spring City Plant Restart in Tennessee.

Huber’s Mark Lindquist

Lindquist first provided an historical overview of the privately held company, which was founded in 1883 and is in its sixth generation of ownership. The company entered the OSB industry in 1983 with the commissioning of its plant in Easton, Maine. Today it operates five OSB sites with 2.4 billion SF of manufacturing capacity.

Lindquist reviewed the subprime mortgage crisis that became The Great Recession from December 2007 through June 2009, with economic ramifications continuing well after. The company curtailed its Spring City plant

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in October 2011 and assembled a team to preserve the plant’s assets and manage the site. Huber had produced its first board at Spring City in late 1997.

Over the next four-plus years, Huber worked with key suppliers such as Siempelkamp, TSI and Globe to improve on original designs, address process safety and modernize equipment centers, while adhering to the company’s principles of world class EH&S, ethical behavior, respect for people, and competitive excellence, with enhancement and upgrade projects defined by a People-Planet-Profit results criteria.

Lindquist addressed several of these safety and equipment enhancements.

One was the modernization of the Siempelkamp continuous press, which had been idle for seven years. This project required a new infeed system, new press support beams, new frames, platens, hydraulics, preheater and steam supply systems, power and motor control systems, and an enclosure was installed around the press and new LED lighting put in. “The press is the principal engine for the plant’s operation,” Lindquist said, referring to it

RoyOMartin Jouras now basically a new press ney to a World Class that is reducing employee exSafety Culture pinposures, reducing energy use, pointed when the improving air emissions, recompany’s approach ducing maintenance and ento safety took a hancing productivity and major turn. product quality.

Secrest said safety He also spoke on Spring was not a priority City’s highly interactive new for many years at hire safety orientation and trainthe company and he ing program. “The absence of showed several phoemployee injuries during a tos depicting such, complex startup period with including one entimany new employees provides tled “Safety pays in confirmation of the value of dollars and hams.” this approach,” Lindquist said. RoyOMartin’s Terry Secrest The philosophy “This approach is also conwas that accidents just happen,” Secrest tributing to a more engaged workforce.” said. “But employees were being inThe Spring City plant, which re-startjured at an alarming pace.” ed up in spring 2018, also installed new Secrest described three employee equipment to be able to produce deaths at the Lemoyen facilities during Huber’s ZIP System panel.

2003-2004. One of them was a young man Chairman Jonathan Martin had TERRY SECREST hired several years earlier. Jonathan had The post-lunch keynoters session feaknown him, his brothers, sisters and partured a very passionate talk delivered by ents from church. Secrest recalled the Terry Secrest, Executive VP of Manupain of having to visit the family memfacturing and Product Sales at Roybers of the deceased. “Safety became OMartin. Secrest’s presentation on The very personal to Jonathan,” Secrest said.

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Participants didn’t let the growing concerns on the outside get to them.

“These deaths forever changed the company’s trajectory in safety.”

When the company went to look at its deficiencies with regard to safety policy, it found plenty: Lack of leadership with no clear safety vision; production was emphasized over safety; safety was viewed as the worker’s responsibility; incident reporting was not encouraged, and incident investigation when done was weak and not getting to the root cause; few LOTO-T procedures; few written standard operating procedures; no auditing of jobs. Safety violations emphasized discipline over training and corrective action.

Executive leadership brought in a third party to survey the company’s culture and systems, resulting in the creation of a safety policy and making safety a “value,” not just a “priority.”

The company developed intensive safety training and engaged employees in the culture shift. The program included near-miss reporting, auditing, incident investigations and root-cause analyses. They wrote LOTO-T procedures for every operation in the plants, wrote more than 850 SOPs and purchased a safety data management system. They emphasized training and corrective action over discipline. The company added four safety professionals. It also added five nurses and opened a clinic.

In 2014 RoyOMaratin started the “I Believe in Zero” program to promote working accident-free both at work and at home. “First we had to believe zero recordable accidents was possible,” Secrest said. “Today, IBiZ embodies our entire culture.”

IBiZ was the goal, and they launched 5 STEPS to Zero as the path to get there, a reminder of what to do when you counter an unsafe condition—Stop, Think, Examine, Pursue, Start.

Since 2002, the company’s TIR went from 3.4 to 0.77 in 2019, a year in which they performed 8,339 safety audits and recognized 2,388 near misses.

The audits and near miss reporting was implemented in 2009, when TIR approached 2.5. Worker’s Comp dollars per employee has spiraled downward.

APA awarded RoyOMartin the safest large plywood plant award in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Land & Timber Dept. reported 12 years without a recordable accident in 2019. And the Corrigan OSB operation celebrated a recordable-free startup in 2018.

“Safety is a journey without a destination,” Secrest concluded.

JERRY UHLAND

CalPlant’s Jerry Uhland

20 Years, 8 Months and 17 Days…

But Who’s Counting was the title of the talk presented by Jerry Uhland, CEO of

CalPlant I, the new rice straw-based medium density fiberboard plant entering startup in Willows, Calif. Uhland told the story of the long and winding road, and the roadblocks therein, to reach the financial and physical realization of the plant.

Uhland has been involved in the California rice industry for more than 40 years and for the past 23 years has been the driving force behind the CalPlant project. In the 1980s he developed a trade-secret process for gelatinizing starch in cereal grains and applied a similar science to rice straw-based MDF. California’s Sacramentao Valley is the second-largest rice-growing region in the U.S., planting more than 500,000 acres annually, and the state produces 20% of U.S.-grown rice and 85% of U.S.-grown medium grain rice. The California product is considered high quality rice, Uhland said, and commands a price premium and is used in nearly all U.S. sushi.

Uhland presented an informative video that told of the challenge California rice farmers faced with how to dispose of their post harvest rice straw.

Controlled burns had been the primary means, but diminishing air quality prompted a legislative ban in 1991 on open field burning of rice fields, phasing out burning over a 10-year period.

Flooding fields to decompose rice straw became the most valuable option but drained a precious resource in a drought prone region.

CalAg was founded in 1996 by longtime California rice industry veterans Jim Boyd and his family and Uhland to address the challenges and costs to rice PanelWorld • MAY 2020 • 29

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growers due to the ban on burning and propose a possible solution. Their trial work on rice straw-based MDF began and the first successful MDF trial was in 1997 at the BioComposites Centre in Bangor, Wales. Trials with Valmet (Metso) began in 2000 and continued through 2006. CalAg, LLC obtained a patent in 2003 on the process for refining rice straw into fiber with which MDF can be manufactured. Capital raising was seeing momentum in 2007 but a credit crisis and severe hike in debt interest rate stalled what Uhland called “Capital Raising Take I.” CalAg’s technology partner, Metso, sold its press and energy divisions to Siempelkamp in late 2008. Partnership discussions began between Siempelkamp and CalAg, and following extensive trial work at Siempelkamp during 2009-2011 the new alliance took shape. Equity with a New York City private equity group and debt financing with the German bank and government appeared to be secured, but fell apart in October 2014. “Another Christmas with no presents,” Uhland said, ending Capital Raising Take II. “The focus turned from the ‘color’ of equity capital to the ‘quality’ of equity capital,” Uhland said, and in late 2015 they secured a commitment from a key anchor investor, TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Assn. of America).

This prompted verbal agreements with institutional investors for the debt piece of the financing, but a bond sale in late 2016 raised only half of the debt.

“Close but no cigar,” Uhland said.

“Capital Raising Take IV, February 2017, knock knock, who’s there? Citigroup,” Uhland said. Institutional investors viewed the inclusion of Citi as a positive development. On May 24, 2017 the bond sale opened and the project received orders for $834 million. CalPlant allocated $225 million of bonds to select institutional investors and on June 14, 2017 the $315 million financing closed.

In 2017 CalPlant began construction in Willows, Calif., 85 miles north of Sacramento. Shipments arrived at the port of Oakland and were driven 170 miles north to Willows. More than 1,000 crates and containers were used to transport components. More than 1,000 contractors pieced together a 325,000 square foot facility with a 140MMSF annual production capacity for rice straw-based MDF. At the heart of it is a 10 ft. wide by 35 m long Siempelkamp continuous press.

Uhland gave special thanks to Siem-

pelkamp for the equipment supply and installation, construction supervision, and multiple contracts that facilitated project financing. He also recognized Phoenix Industrial for mechanical installation work, International Line Builders for electrical installation, and Industrial Project Consulting for project and construction management.

Construction of the mill is basically completed. Commissioning of some units of operation commenced prior to Siempelkamp departing for Germany mid-March during COVID-19. Siempelkamp engaged a U.S.-based sub to continue load and no-load testing of the production line (i.e. turning the press, load testing post-press processes— CalPlant purchased 8x16 wood-based MDF to test stacking, intermediate storage, sanding, sawing, etc.). Siempelkamp will need approximately five weeks once they return to produce the first board, Uhland estimates.

FRANK GOECKE

AFRY’s Frank Goecke

Frank Goecke, Director of AFRY Management Consulting, spoke on Dynamics in Wood-Based Panels and Engineered Wood Products—Opportunities and Challenges for the North American Industry.

First he noted that in February 2019 AF and Pöyry had merged and in November become AFRY with more than 16,000 experts in five divisions: infrastructure, industrial & digital solutions, process industries, energy and management consulting. Their service offerings fall under several categories including: strategic advice, operational excellence, market insights and modeling, and investment and mergers & acquisitions.

He said the top 12 wood-based panel producers worldwide (combining particleboard, MDF, OSB and plywood), based on installed production capacity, include Kronospan at the top, followed

by Arauco and Egger, with Norbord as the first North America company at number four, LP is fifth, GP/Koch is seventh and Weyerhaeuser and Roseburg

are 11 and 12, respectively. Goecke said wood based construction materials account for more than 20% of construction materials in North America.

Goecke said the construction outlook is only moderate in both residential and commercial new build and renovation construction in North America to 2025.

New build residential construction is expected to remain fairly level topping at $369 billion in 2022 while renovation shows gradual increase to $228 billon in 2025. Commercial new build is level, reaching $386 billion, and commercial renovation is level at just more than $200 billion over the next five years.

However, Goecke said the substitution potential of wood-based building materials in construction is expected to increase, driven by new building regulations, sustainability aspects as well as technical and cost benefits. He pointed specifically to friendly developments in mass timber building construction in North America, showing several projects in North America, including a conceptual study of an 80 stories tower in Chicago.

Goecke said changes in building regulations led to the acceleration of crosslaminated timber growth in Europe for domestic and export markets, with 2 million m 3 production expected by 2025. There’s definitely a positive substitution trend toward wood construction materials versus non-wood in high rise and large floor space buildings, he emphasized.

BIJAN SHAMS Detailing how panel plant operators can better utilize data not only during project planning and construction but also during operations to make better decisions quicker, Bijan Shams, President of Cogent Industrial Technologies, Cogent’s Bijan Shams illustrated how Executing Projects In the Digital Age can deliver the highest efficiency from assets, people and processes.

Digital transformation is affecting every facet of society and business, Shams said, and providing ever more opportunity to improve plant operations

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by utilizing better technology such as artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, 5G infrastructure and the convergence of information and operational technologies.

According to Shams, making the digital transformation in operations is all about using these emerging and powerful technologies to sustain high performance while quickly responding and managing any events or disruptions that impede efficiency.

He showed how digital transformation boosts performance when managing a manufacturing event: All manufacturing or process-oriented systems undergo the same process. First, an event occurs. (Shams used a lack of process water as an example.) There’s an alarm or event notification, then a technician with skills, tools and knowledge assesses and analyzes the event. Then event recovery solutions are developed, then executed properly, thus ending the event and returning to high performance.

Shams said that powerful new technologies can be used to compress each step of the event recovery process, thus minimizing the impact to system or facility performance and a quicker return to normal operating conditions.

Developing the agility to respond and remediate any situation more quickly and efficiently requires good communication between all stakeholders; sharing of documents and information in real time to see that issues are quickly recognized and dealt with; and any knowledge generating from the event is captured forever.

To facilitate digital transformation into operations, Shams showed examples of creating file servers to share information, and systems to track, assign and prioritize operational issues.

Process data and collection systems can show process history and trends along with system analytics. A Wikipedia-like system knowledge database can also be created, Shams said, that would show best practices, SOPs and policies, plus shift logs and production reports and be widely available to personnel to increase awareness.

Digital transformation, Shams said, enables more consistent high performance while helping create a fully connected, safe, reliable and data-driven facility that’s more efficient and more profitable.

WOMEN WITH WISDOM During the breakout session “Women in Manufacturing” RoyOMartin’s Michelle Driscoll and Georgia-Pacific’s Anna Umphress took to the podium to discuss advocating for higher visibility in the wood products sector for women.

Driscoll, the Technical and Environmental Manager at RoyOMartin’s Corrigan OSB facility in Texas, gave A Look into Self-Growth, Working Outside the Norm and Mentoring Future Leaders, which began with a third person account of a woman in the World War II era who worked in manufacturing. As life and times evolved in the story, Driscoll revealed the woman to be her grandmother and inspiration to her as she navigated the wood products manufacturing sector.

Driscoll, a graduate fisheries biologist, found an unexpected home with RoyOMartin after working with RoyOMartin’s Michelle Driscoll both Temple-Inland and 32 • MAY 2020 • PanelWorld

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Georgia-Pacific. Hired on to be the production manager of RoyOMartin’s new Corrigan OSB facility through startup, she says there was a major learning curve to being in a new environment surrounded by men—whom she says sometimes had more experience navigating the machinery and processes than she did, a simple fisheries biologist from Mississippi State. She recounted how steep the learning curve was during those startup months, how she made plenty of mistakes and yet together the plant’s team came out the other side with a success story. Driscoll (and by default her grandmother) hammered home the point, “Don’t ever let being a girl be an excuse.”

At the close of her testimony, Driscoll dived into the RoyOMartin tradition of “Women in Manufacturing Day,” celebrated across the company’s portfolio of plants to encourage young women and girls to get involved in wood products. Established in 2017, the special ceremony highlights the efforts of women working in manufacturing-related occupations and is held the week of the national Manufacturing Day, which coincidentally lines up with late Chairman Jonathan Martin’s birthday.

Driscoll closed her talk with a video looking at all the women employed at the Corrigan facility in Texas, the impact they make on production and what they have learned while being a woman in manufacturing where among their leaders is a woman. The four-minute video featured the 22 women employed

by RoyOMartin in Corrigan in a range of roles from process engineer to office

staff to production team members. Each woman provided impact statements on the role of mentoring through the organization—many mentioning Driscoll— and the majority commenting how mentorship and celebrating what employees can do is not only expected within the company, but is the culture.

Jessica Chicola, a process engineer, said, “The culture of this company is about learning from each other.” The video ends with each woman’s photo, her name and position in a collage, with Driscoll at the heart of it.

Up next was Umphress, who is the Senior Director of Business Unit Communications for Georgia-Pacific. Her talk, If You Can See Her, You Can Be Her: Raising the Profile of Women in Manufacturing at Georgia-Pacific, was twofold, focusing on a consumer campaign Georgia-Pacific did to target market women with its Brawny paper towel brand, and then how the communications team took that concept and campaign and focused on women working in GP plants.

By replacing the famous “Brawny Man” with women, Georgia-Pacific reached a new plateau with U.S. consumers, where research says women and girls are under represented in advertising and the media in general.

Umphress shared that their research found that millennial females are two times more aware of gender bias and more likely not to purchase from brands that exhibit that behavior.

She explained that after the wildly successful consumer campaign, there was an opportunity within GP’s own or-

Eighty equipment and technology companies exhibited at PELICE.

GP’s Anna Umphress

ganization to raise the profile of women working in their own plants, both for recruiting but also general morale. In a series of videos, viewers meet the women of Georgia-Pacific from coast to coast.

Two of them were Swanetta Best, Production Supervisor from GP’s plywood mill in Dudley, NC, and Tara Binn, Operations Manager of GP’s Eugene, Ore. chemicals plant.

The touching videos, each lasting two minutes, show images of both women inside their respective plants, telling a little bit of background on each. Best is also shown in her home with her son as she talks about starting with GP 20 plus years ago as a green chain offbearer with the goal to run every machine in her department. There are clips of her son talking about how proud he is of his mother for going to school to further her education while working hard to provide for him. At one point, Best says, “I define strength as what I feel that I can do. I know my limitations. I can’t allow you to tell me I can’t do it because of my gender.”

Binn is shown at the chemicals plant, where she is in the “unheard of position” to be leading an all-male team as not only a woman, but as a young 30year-old. In the video, Binn, who first started with Georgia-Pacific as a process engineer after graduating from Oregon State, says she wants to use her position to silence stereotypes. She says it is her mission to, “inspire the next generation of women. The best that I can do is to keep working, so that they see more women in manufacturing; more women in science and technology.” Of course she does so with as much self-expression as PPE requirements will let her—wearing some eyecatching motorcycle style safety boots that are her way “to put a spin on somePW thing that was unique to me.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Coverage of PELICE 2020 and its speakers and sessions will continue in the July issue of Panel World.

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CLIPPINGS MARTIN FOCUSED ON FORESTRY

Norman Kittell Martin, who guided Roy O. Martin Lumber into cuttingedge forestry and conservation in the 1950s and 1960s, died March 10 surrounded by his family in Kansas City.

He was 93.

He was born in Alexandria, La. in 1926 to Mildred and Roy Martin, only a few years after Roy Martin started Roy O. Martin Lumber. The fourth of five children, Norman grew up during the depression and embodied the strong work ethic of his parents and the frugality of the times.

He attended Louisiana Tech before serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during the final year of World War II. While working in the family business, he married Lorraine Bentley from Winthrop, Minn. in 1950. They had seven children.

Working alongside his brothers in the company, Norman’s first major responsi-

bility was with the forestry helping those less fortudivision, supervising that nate led him to build afgroup while also working fordable housing in with logging operations.

Alexandria. He expanded He assisted the company’s into apartment developland acquisitions, surveyment, mini-storage operaing prospective purchases tions and estate planning. and marking boundaries.

Above all, Martin was a His introduction of applycommitted churchman and ing bright yellow paint and deacon. His strong Chrisbold ROM lettering on tian faith and convictions trees to mark property led him to persistently give boundaries became a mainaway most anything he stay for the Martin opera- Norman K. Martin had—money, clothes, tions Implementing techfood—to the less fortunate. niques learned from an experiment staHis manner with others was sincere intertion in Crossett, Ark., Norman impleest and easy conversation without seeking mented timber-stand improvement (TSI) attention for himself. practices. He was also instrumental in reMartin was known as a civic mover forestation on Martin land. In 1962 he in central Louisiana. He co-founded the also became manager of Martin’s Colfax Central Louisiana Community FoundaCreosoting business. tion. He also founded the Alexandria In 1967, while continuing to serve on chapter of Habitat for Humanity. He the board, he left daily activities in the and Lorraine supported many charitable family business and started a real estate organizations, among them the Martin development company. His passion for Performing Arts Center at Louisiana

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CLIPPINGS

College, The Kauffman Center in Kansas City, the KC Community Foundation, Rotary, Gideons, Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Harvesters.

He and Lorraine moved to Kansas City in the early 2000s He is predeceased by many family members but is survived by Lorraine, following 69 years of marriage.

A memorial service will be held in both Kansas City and Alexandria at a date to be determined. In lieu of flowers please donate to Habitat for Humanity, Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City Hospice House, or the charity of your choice.

ECONOMY FIGHTS THROUGH VIRUS If COVID-19 can be gotten under control, housing starts, following a three-month skid, should gradually ramp up beginning this summer, and reach where they were pre-virus later this year and early next year, according to comments and data from officials at Forest Economic Advisors (FEA) during a webinar hosted by FEA March 24 on the impact of the virus on the national economy and the building products industry.

U.S. housing starts could drop by

50% to an 800,000 annualized pace from the 1.6 million pace they were on before the onslaught of COVID-19, according to FEA principal Brendan Lowney. But Lowney added that “the boom has been delayed, not denied. The underlying fundamentals are strong over the next several years.”

Lowney said ultimately the U.S. housing industry will out-perform the wider economy due to favorable demographics, solid family financial health with regard to debt load and the fact that the U.S. has been “dramatically underbuilding” and too-slowly transitioning from old homes to new ones.

The degree of FEA’s forecasted dip, while severe, still sees twice the number of starts than occurred at the bottom of the Great Recession. Lowney said FEA’s forecast, while trending positive after a few months, does not show the immediate and dramatic Vshape rebound depicted in at least one other forecast.

In the meantime, according to FEA, unemployment could reach 16% in May from nearly non-existent, with the food service, recreation, accommodation and retail industries taking huge hits. GDP could experience a 12.6% decline in the second quarter, according to FEA, before turning positive in the third quarter and becoming more robust in the final quarter of the year and early next year.

Are we in a recession? “Technically, no; in reality, hell yes,” Lowney said, adding that the keys are duration—keeping it short—and government fiscal assistance—substantial and quick.

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APPEARANCE

TECHNOLOGIES EDITOR’S NOTE: These companies provided the following editorial and photos to support their advertisements elsewhere in this issue. All statements and claims are attributable to the companies.

BIELE

Stretch wrapping Labelling l Final stacking of the FG piles The large experience of Biele within the building industry and also within the metal and automotive industry provides an important background in order to be able to develop customized solutions for the specific needs of our customers in the wood industry.

Finally, the Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) allows our customers to establish the right connection with the ERP systems, but also to control these complex lines from one central computer who manages all the data associated to the packaging operations. l l

CON-VEY Biele packaging line

One of the main activities developed by Biele is related to the manufacturing of customized fully automated packaging lines. Within the wood industry, the main end users of these packaging lines are the following companies: —Panel producers (plywood, chipboard, laminated boards, HPL, hardwood veneer) —Furniture manufacturers (flat pack, office) —Door manufacturers (residential, architectural) —Worktop manufacturers (kitchens, office) —Flooring manufacturers (laminate, engineered) Biele develops state-of-the-art solutions for the packaging operations starting with the wrapping of the individual panels or piece and ending with the packaging of the finished good (FG) stacks.

Typically, the packaging lines for doors or for furniture components are organized as follows: l Box erector machine. These systems can achieve 15-18 boxes/min depending on the size of the boxes. l Automatic insertion of the components within box. This solution combines artificial vision along with robots in order to fulfill the cardboard according to the packing instructions. On top of this, the cameras will allow double-checking the right composition within the box before closing them. l Closing of the boxes. One or two machines will follow the output using hot melt glue for sealing the cardboard. l Labelling of the boxes l Stacking of boxes. This operation includes the handling of intermediate materials in order to provide stability to the final stacks.

Regarding the packaging of the finished goods (FG) stacks, the following operations are included within the Biele packaging lines: l Handling of the paper pallets l Handling of the cardboards, top and lateral for covering the stacks l Vertical strapping with plastic or straps l Horizontal shrink wrapping

Material handling from 7robotics

Con-Vey’s new robotics company, 7robotics, that launched last fall is already busy creating innovative applications for robotics and automation in material handling. The latest project is a machine vision application where 7robotics mechanical and electrical engineers are using cameras to inspect veneer corners.

In this application, the inspection process is initiated once the robot picks a sheet. The 7robotics team programmed the vision controller to determine the real-world position of the sheet’s corner and to detect voids in the wood. The robot calculates this data to determine the sheet’s maximum and minimum width, rotation, and place position. Ultimately, this inspection will decide whether the sheet is used or rejected.

Modest estimates indicate that accuracy for width measurement is within 6.35 mm.

The vacuum bars on this robot are custom engineered with modified internals to provide the most reliable pick and place.

The tooling is designed to handle the majority of the species, property variations, and flaws that wood veneer contains, and uses a robust multi-laser stack monitoring system to provide a reliable pick.

In order to provide a convenient but safe system for the operators, a combination of heavy-duty custom safety fencing,

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APPEARANCE

TECHNOLOGIES safety scanners, light curtains, and safety door locks are being used. The ABB IRC5 robot controller is also equipped with SafeMove Pro to actively monitor the robot speed and movement in conjunction with other safety components.

Production & Quality data captured: —Number of rejected sheets for each grade of veneer —Number of sheets laid and panels made Utilizing IoT, users can connect to and manage this robot system remotely to monitor, adjust and troubleshoot activity as well as connect to the vision system controller—allowing users to watch a digital twin of the robot from a computer in real time. 7robotics engineers understand the importance of providing extensive and advanced capabilities like this to achieve efficient production.

SAMUEL CODING AND LABELING

DIEFFENBACHER Samuel Coding and Labeling tailored solutions

Dieffenbacher strapping and packing lines

Today, customers demand the highest quality wood-based panels. That’s why panel producers put so much effort into producing the best possible, premium-quality panels. At the end of the production process, proper strapping and packing ensures that the produced panels survive shipment without any damage or loss of quality and that the stacks convey the product’s high quality.

Dieffenbacher strapping and packing lines ensure that panel stacks are strapped and packed for dispatch so that they reach the customer in the same perfect condition in which they were shipped. The lines are designed for flexible packing of particleboard, OSB, LVL, MDF and THDF stacks. Depending on the market requirements and specific customer requirements, lines can be configured to include various packing steps. Automatic longitudinal and crosswise strapping with PE bands are typical, but other steps—including vertical or horizontal axis plastic wrapping with stretch foil, cover board feeding and panel-edge printing of product data or sticker application—are also available. Packing recipes are managed either by data transferred with the stack from previous process steps such as sawing or locally via HMI panels.

Dieffenbacher strapping and packing lines provide the highest capacities through a combination of optimized process steps and conveying speeds. Stacks of all practical dimensions and weights can be packed. Thanks to the highly reliable process, the strapping and packing lines offer high uptimes. The heavy-duty construction of the machines ensures a long lifetime for the complete system.

Samuel Coding and Labeling Div. is an industry leader in custom and off-the-shelf solutions for the wood products industry. With years of experience in the wood products industry, we are uniquely suited to provide you with solutions that are tailor made to suit your facilities. We provide a full system solution with design, fabrication, installation and ongoing support. With hundreds of installations across North America we offer unparalleled industry experience.

Samuel Coding & Labeling Systems for panel products include ink jet grade mark systems, ink jet printers for marketing information, ink jet nail line systems, ink jet stencil machines, automatic systems to print labels and staple them to finished packages, product tracking, and recent developments in print and apply UPC bar codes for panel products that are guaranteed to remain bonded to the panels.

SAMUEL PACKAGING SYSTEMS

Samuel Packaging offers new strapping technology.

Samuel Packaging Systems Group is a North American manufacturer of tools, strapping and packaging equipment with a long relationship to the wood panel industry. As a manufacturer of steel and polyester strapping, Samuel was a pioPanelWorld • MAY 2020 • 41

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APPEARANCE

TECHNOLOGIES neer in improving worker safety and reducing costs through converting users from steel strapping to polyester strapping.

This spirit of innovation continues with their new STL Series of battery-powered strapping tools that provide a safer user experience through exceptional balancing of the tool.

Unlike any battery-powered strapping tool the Samuel STL-3 SD, HD and XD tools are balanced perfectly to minimize the likelihood of repetitive strain injury on the user. This emphasis on safety is further advanced in our SLP-10 strapping machine.

The advanced control system on the this strapping machine enables it to monitor discrete safety zones keeping plant personnel away from potentially dangerous moving parts or products.

Manufacturing within North America in four facilities ensures that the supply lines to the customer are short and reliable. Factories are located in Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia and Ontario, Can. Samuel has factory sales representatives who are specialists in the wood panel industry. These specialists know the forest products marketplace, its needs, and its trends. In business for 165 years the Samuel company has proven itself to be a reliable partner to its customers—regardless of the challenges.

Z-TEC AUTOMATION SYSTEMS The WinJet II lumber marking system was the first to bring HD printing capabilities to the wood products industry

and continues proving its reliability with more than 150 systems installed across North America and overseas.

Since 1992, Z-Tec Automation Systems has focused its efforts om reliable and robust solutions for industrial processes. With an ongoing R&D culture within the company, our solutions maintain their lead by remaining flexible and responsive to the customer’s needs, and being proactive to meet the future demands of the industry.

Each printing solution is fully customizable and designed specifically for each installation. Backed by powerful warranties, and free 24/7/365 remote service and support, Z-Tec’s printing solutions give you the peace of mind you need to focus Z-Tec WinJet II marking system on production.

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PROJECTS

OVERLAY PRESS WORKS FOR HARDEL

About an hour and a half south of Seattle, nestled in Chehalis, Wash., a town of just more than 7,600 people, is Hardel Mutual Plywood. At the helm of the last cooperative plywood mill formed in the U.S. is General Manager Emmanouel Pilaris, and he’s quick to point out that Hardel is not a commodity mill. “We are the supermarket for plywood,” Pilaris says. He’s not kidding. As the only remaining mill exclusively owned by shareholders, Hardel offers more than 1,000 different products, which is astounding because most mills offer about 10.

Established in 1953, Hardel was at one time among 28 cooperative mills concentrated in California, Oregon and Washington. Over the last 67 years that number has dwindled to just two in North America. With considerable global competition, recognizing niches in the market is how they’ve survived. Their strategy has been not to copy other mills, but to

Operator-assisted overlay preparation

Cooling overlay panels after pressing

diversify and offer custom products that often get turned down by others. They take pride in being a one-stop shop for the world, where you can find almost any type of plywood imaginable.

Identifying a demand in construction, Hardel made the decision to invest in a two-sided overlay press and tackled the challenge like they do with all of their projects, examining every avenue in-

cluding the possibility of custom engineering one from scratch. But the experience wasn’t there, and it didn’t take them long to decide to work with Raute, which also prides itself on being a onestop shop for veneer and plywood manufacturing equipment.

“I’ve seen the press that was built 20-25 years ago when it was at Olympic Plywood Products (that overlay press is

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PROJECTS

now at Swanson’s new mill in Springfield, Ore.), and we had some employees that had used it at OPP, so it made a lot of sense to invest with Raute,” Pi-

laris says. “Raute has good people. We had a few issues, but Raute was there to support and the installation process was great; we are very happy with it.”

Pilaris jokes about the cost as any good fiscally responsible manager would, but with all seriousness affirms, “We’ve already had quite a bit of orders, the return on investment is there.

We run the machine six days a week, 10 hours a day and are considering adding a second shift.”

The overlay press has been valuable in acquiring new business as well. Customers first inquire about the two-sided overlay plywood and then go on to add other products when they see Hardel’s incredible catalogue with potential customizations. “It’s been great for business, no question,” Pilaris says.

COASTAL INSTALLS ALTEC PENDULUM Altec recently installed an all electric pendulum at Coastal Forest Products in Chapman, Ala. It was retrofitted to the existing charger to replace the aging one in use.

The Altec pendulum design is an integral part of the Altec charger. As in this case, it can be supplied as a replacement pendulum for retrofitting onto existing 8 ft. and 10 ft. chargers. It is built and tested at Altec’s facility in Diboll, Texas.

The pendulum design is a welded, multi-tubular fabrication, which results in a very stiff crossbeam with low iner-

Altec all-electric pendulum at Coastal’s plywood mill

tia making it easier to control in motion and to position very accurately. In addition, 40% less energy is required on average to operate this pendulum.

A single actuator provides the traverse/swing movement, which ensures the correct landing of both ends of the beam at the end of the stroke and eliminates twisting in the crossbeam which would ultimately lead to metal fatigue and catastrophic failure of the crossbeam.

The pendulum clamps are mounted on very precise, long-lasting linear bearings, which provide precise supersmooth operation. The bearing blocks are equipped with heavy duty wiper seals, eliminating ingress of contamination ensuring virtually maintenance-free

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PROJECTS

use with high longevity.

End pivot bearings, safety locking mechanism, mounting brackets and an engineering visit are all included as standard in the scope of supply.

The pendulum package is very easy to install and commission. Altec provides all necessary installation supervision and commissioning services.

The pendulum is available in all-electric or hydraulic versions. The all-electric version uses precision electric actuators, complete with servo drive panel and cables.

A complete solution would entail combining Altec’s charger controls and XY scanner with the pendulum upgrade.

PANNEAUX PROJECT MOVES FORWARD In El Tarf, Algeria, assembly is ongoing on the first continuous woodbased panel plant in North Africa.

BIGSTAR subsidiary Panneaux d’Algérie commissioned Dieffenbacher to

MDF plant construction in El Tarf, Algeria

supply the complete MDF plant. The first board is expected to be produced in August 2020.

The complete plant project ranges from the wood yard through the CPS+ continuous press to the short-cycle laminating line for coating finished boards.

Designed for smaller capacities, the plant concept will take advantage of the flexibility of the CPS+ system. Dieffenbacher’s flagship press can be an ideal entry-level system for newcomers to the wood-based panel market and an eco-

nomical alternative for easily replacing older single- or multi-opening presses in existing small-capacity plants.

Guelai Mohamed Chiheb, CEO at BIGSTAR, is pleased with the project’s progress. “The collaboration with Dieffenbacher has been excellent right from the start. Our trust in the company, especially its employees, has been one hundred percent confirmed.” Looking ahead to the next few months, he adds, “There is still a lot of work ahead of us, but we can’t wait to start production.”

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Recruiting Services Executive – Managerial – Technical - Sales

JOHN GANDEE

THE Forest Products Group

Contingency or Retained Search

jon@olsonsearch.com

Jon Olson

9237

Depending on Circumstances / Needs

“Your Success Is Our Business” Serving the Wood Products and Building Materials Industries For more than 26 years.

Tel: (800) 985-5191

Custom search & recruitment services for the complete range of composite panel and related careers in the U.S., Canada and Europe. www.olsonsearch.com

Top Wood Jobs

512-795-4244

Call or Email me anytime! john@johngandee.com www.johngandee.com

Austin, Texas

4231

& ASSOCIATES, INC

Recruiting and Staffing George Meek geo@TopWoodJobs.com www.TopWoodJobs.com (360) 263-3371

3220

3779

SEARCH NORTH AMERICA, INC. IT'S YOUR MOVE...

The Jobs You Want — The People You Need WWW.SEARCHNA.COM

CONTACT CARL JANSEN at 541-593-2777 Carlj@SearchNA.com

1615

1009

WOOD PRODUCTS RECRUITING AND PLACEMENT

PROJECTS WOTECH BUILDS WITH RICE STRAW In December, the Egyptian company Wood Technology Co. (WOTECH) and Siempelkamp signed the contract for an MDF plant with an annual production capacity of 205,000 m3, which will process rice straw raw material.

With this plant, WOTECH is positioning itself in the areas of environmental protection and resource efficiency because the value-added use of rice straw opens up new perspectives for a raw material that would otherwise be burned as a waste product. The concept is also attractive for countries such as Egypt, which do not have sufficient wood resources for industrial use.

“We have been pursuing research into the raw material and the development of a market-ready plant for processing rice straw for many years. In this respect, we are very pleased about the order from our Egyptian partner who is breaking new ground in sustainable wood-based products production with us,” says Jurgen Philipps, Manag-

ing Director of Siempelkamp.

WOTECH is the second customer after CalAg, LLC, California, to ask Siempelkamp for an MDF plant based on rice straw.

While the production process is comparable to that of wood-based MDF production, the green end process— straw preparation—requires specific adjustments which Siempelkamp has developed to market maturity.

The contract value for the new project marks the third-largest single order ever

placed with Siempelkamp. The WOTECH company, founded for this project by companies of the Egyptian oil and gas industry which are part of the country’s Ministry of Petroleum, has also received positive feedback on the political level. The new plant is considered a fundamental contribution to supporting the governmental efforts in Egypt to realize an environmentally friendly, CO2-reducing and sustainable use of rice straw.

It will also create jobs in the MDF production and furniture industry.

EGGER RAMPS UP KT PRESS

EGGER in Rambervillers, France has started up its Siempelkamp short-cycle press KT 700. The site with 400 employees produces raw chipboard and melamine resin-coated particleboard, cut-to-size panels and finished furniture components. The new KT replaces an old short-cycle press built in 1993.

The delivery included the multi-piston short-cycle press along with raw board and finished board handling and automation.

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VENEER/PANEL SUPPLIERS

DIRECTORY ■ Malaysia

ASIA

EUROPE ■ Austria

■ India Manufacturer In Malaysia CARB P2 / EPA Certified Fancy plywood/MDF/ Particle Board/ Blockboard Layon Veneer, Veneer Parquet, etc.

Lot 488, Jalan Jati Kiri, Kg. Perepat 42200 Kapar, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Tel: +603 3259 1988 • Fax: +603 3259 1886 E-mail: bungaraya@bungarayapanel.com Website: www.bungarayapanel.com

■ Taiwan NEXT CLOSING: SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

GREAT GIANT INC.

■ Poland

VENEER AND VENEERED PRODUCTS 260 Dachang Road Niao Song District Kaohsiung, Taiwan 833 Tel: 886 7 3790270 Fax: 886 7 3790275 E Mail: jc.giant@msa.hinet.net

AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA

■ Spain

PRODUCERS OF SLICED AND ROTARY CUT VENEERS

SUPPLIERS OF FSC SPECIES SPECIALISTS IN AUSTRALIAN & PACIFIC VENEERS FSC & PEFC ECO-CERT Veneers from around the world Over 150 species in stock Reconstituted veneer/spliced faces/rotary veneers Website: Email: Tel:

www.briggs.com.au admin@briggs.com.au +61 2 9732-7888

www.fsc.org FSC™ C004099 The mark of responsible forestry

• All figured species (Eucalyptus, Anegre, Sycamore...)

• All pommeles and African species.

• All burls (Ash, Elm, Olive, Walnut, Oak...)

• Smoked and dyed veneers. Veneer layons.

We supply furniture, panel and architectural grades.

VALENCIA – SPAIN Tel: +34-96126 5400 Fax: +34-96126 5144 timbercom@timbercom.com

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VENEER/PANEL SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY ■ Switzerland

■ United States ■ Georgia

A new “Dimension” in Veneer & Plywood

Dimension Plywood Inc. Custom Architectural Plywood & Doors 415 Industrial Blvd. • New Albany, IN 47150 Tel: 812-944-6491 • Fax: 812-944-7421

Dimension Hardwood Veneers, Inc. Rotary & Sliced Veneers 509 Woodville Street • Edon, Ohio 43518 Main Office - Tel: 419-272-2245 • Fax: 419-272-2406

www.dimensionhardwoods.com

NORSTAM VENEERS, INC.

■ Canada ■ British Columbia

Proud to announce we have the “Newest Veneer Mill in the World”

■ Idaho

MANUFACTURER OF QUALITY HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD VENEERS

6670 - 144th Street, Surrey, BC V3W 5R5 Plant: (604) 572-8968 Fax: (604) 572-6608

Producers of high quality fine face veneers.

Specializing in species indigenous to the West Coast. We manufacture Music grade solids and veneers. We also offer custom slicing, cut-to-size and

NORTH AMERICA log breakdown.

Knotty Idaho White Pine Western Red Cedar Red Alder Clear White Pine & Ponderosa Pine Clear Vertical Grain Douglas Fir, Hemlock, & Cedar

P.O. Box 339 Post Falls, Id. 83877 208-773-4511 FAX 208-773-1107 email: info@idahoveneer.com

■ Ontario ■ Indiana Amos-Hill Associates, Inc.

A FULL SERVICE PLYWOOD & VENEER COMPANY WE OFFER: Short turnaround time, In-house veneer mill—ROTARY, FLAT CUT, RIFT and QUARTERS, Custom pressing capabilities, Architectural specified plywood jobs, Huge veneer and core inventory, Over 100 natural species and engineer veneers in stock, All sizes and thicknesses–6'x4' to 5'x12', Internal logistics for fast on-time deliveries Contact us: Birchland Plywood-Veneer Ltd. TeL: 705-842-2430 • Fax: 705-842-2496 Visit www.birchlandplywood.com to view our “Live Log Program”

Promote your veneer and plywood or located veneer and plywood products and services worldwide.

Reserve your space today.

Quality Veneers Manufacturers of Decorative Hardwood Veneer Domestic and International Markets Species include: Walnut, White Oak, Red Oak, Hard Maple, Cherry and Birch “Quality is the Lifeblood of our Business” 112 Shelby Ave. ◆ P.O. Box 7 Edinburgh, IN 46124 Phone: 812-526-2671 ◆ Fax: 812-526-5865 E-mail: info@amoshill.com Website: www.amoshill.com

Green & Kiln Dried Hardwood Lumber

P.O. BOX 32 HWY. 135 BUS: 812.732.4391 MAUCKPORT, IN 47142 FAX: 812.732.4803 EMAIL: info@norstam.com

RSVP is proud to offer a full line of imported and domestic veneer that includes burls, crotches and highly figured woods. If you would like more information pertaining to these products or others we offer please contact us directly or visit our website.

4920 N. Warren Dr. • Columbus, IN 47203 Ph: 812-375-1178 • Fax: 812-375-1179 www.RSVPveneer.com

The mark of responsible forestry FSC Supplier: SCS-COC-002445 * SCS-CW-002445

Reserve your space today.

Call Melissa McKenzie 800-669-5613

Call Melissa McKenzie 334/834-1170 Fax: 334/834-4525 05/20

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VENEER/PANEL SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY ■ Kentucky

■ Ohio

■ Pennsylvania

A new “Dimension” in Veneer & Plywood

Dimension Hardwood Veneers, Inc. Rotary & Sliced Veneers 509 Woodville Street • Edon, Ohio 43518 Main Office - Tel: 419-272-2245 • Fax: 419-272-2406

Dimension Plywood Inc. Custom Architectural Plywood & Doors 415 Industrial Blvd. • New Albany, IN 47150 Tel: 812-944-6491 • Fax: 812-944-7421

www.dimensionhardwoods.com

■ Michigan

Reserve your space today.

Call Melissa McKenzie 800-669-5613 ■ Vermont

NEXT CLOSING: SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

■ Mississippi

Universal Veneer Mill Corp.

Manufacturing and Sales Sliced Harwood Veneers Custom Cutting Available 1776 Tamarack Road Newark, OH 43055 Ph: (740) 522-2000 Email: info@universalveneer.com

North America’s largest manufacturer of fancy face rotary veneer.

Offering FSC certified veneer products in Red Oak, Hard Maple, Birch, Ash, Tulip Poplar, Basswood in Stock Panel & Cut-to-Size Lay-ons as well as unspliced veneer .4mm thru 1.5mm thickness

Plain sliced Alder and Aromatic Cedar faces and flitch stock are regularly available.

Also offering domestically produced FSC Mixed Credit/CARB Phase II Compliant Aspen platforms - both long grain & cross grain dimensions in a variety of thicknesses.

Contact Sales at 802-334-3600 • Fax: 802-334-5149 www.cfpwood.com • 324 Bluff Rd. • Newport, VT 05855

LOCATE VENEER & PLYWOOD PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WORLDWIDE. Reserve your space today.

Call Melissa McKenzie 800-669-5613 05/20

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EVENTS JUNE

MARCH 2021

9-11 • Dubai Woodshow, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Call +971 4 39 23232; visit dubaiwoodshow.com.

4-7 • Delhiwood 2021, India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida, India. Call +91-80-4250 5000; visit delhi-wood.com.

AUGUST 25-28 • International Woodworking Fair 2020, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 404-693-8333; visit iwfatlanta.com.

SEPTEMBER 7-10 • WMF: Shanghai International Furniture Machinery & Woodworking Machinery Fair, National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai, China. Call (852) 2516 3518; visit woodworkfair.com.

8-12 • FMC China 2020: Furniture Manufacturing & Supply, Shanghai New International Expo Center, Pudong, Shanghai, China. Call +86-21-64371178; visit furniture-china.cn/enus/fmc.

15 • Pennsylvania Forest Products Assn. annual meeting, Wyndham Garden State College, Boalsburg, Pa. Call 717-9010420; visit paforestproducts.org.

16-18 • American Forest Resource Council annual meeting, Skamania Lodge, Stevenson, Wash. Call 503-222-9505; visit amforest.org.

20-24 • American Wood Protection Assn. Technical Committee meeting, Eldorado Hotel, Santa Fe, N.M. Call 205733-4077; visit awpa.com.

30-October 2 • Timber Processing & Energy Expo, Portland Expo Center, Portland, Ore. Call 334-834-1170; visit timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com.

OCTOBER 9-10 • Expo Richmond 2020, Richmond Raceway Complex, Richmond, Va. Call 804-737-5625; visit exporichmond.com.

17-20 • APA-Engineered Wood Assn. annual meeting and Engineered Wood Technology Assn. Info Fair, JW Marriott Turnberry Resort & Spa, Miami, Fla. Call 253-565-6600; visit apawood.org.

19-22 • Lesdrevmash 2020, 18th International Exhibition for Machinery, Equipment and Technology for Logging, Woodworking and Furniture Industries, Expocentre Fairgrounds, Moscow, Russia. Visit lesdrevmash-expo.ru/en.

panelworldmag.com

MAY 2021 10-14 • Ligna: World Fair For The Forestry And Wood Industries, Hannover Exhibition Grounds, Hannover, Germany.

Call +49 511 89-0; fax +49 511 89-32626; visit ligna.de.

Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

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This issue of Panel World is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products.

ADVERTISER

Altec Integrated Solutions Argos Solutions Biele Automation Process Buttner GmbH CMC-Texpan Con-Vey Corvallis Tool Custom Engineering Dieffenbacher GmbH Electronic Wood Systems Fagus GreCon Hashimoto Denki Hexion Hymmen GmbH IWF Imal S.R.L IPCO Johnson & Pace LDX Solutions Les Drev Mash Limab Matthews International Meinan Machinery Works Mid-South Engineering Nondestructive Inspection Service Pal S.R.L R & S Cutterhead Manufacturing Raute Roo Glue Samuel Packaging Systems Group Scheuch GmbH Sherdil Precision Signode Stela Laxhuber GmbH Sweed Machinery Taihei Machinery Works U S Metal Works USNR Wemhoner Surface Technologies Westmill Industries Z-Tec Automation Systems ZST

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