March-April 2020 Wood Industry

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The business side of woodworking

Principles with no apologies: North on Sixty Legal tips on collecting debts

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A journeyman’s toolbox satisfies over decades

Focus on Import/Export

China’s trade dominance evolves:

New chapter dawns

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Editor and Publisher

Kerry Knudsen

kknudsen@wimediainc.ca 647-274-0507

Associate Publisher

Steve King

sking@wimediainc.ca 416-802-1225

Contributing Editor

Mike Edwards

medwards@wimediainc.ca Art Director

Lee Ann Knudsen lak@wimediainc.ca Graphics

nsGraphic Design

The business side of woodworking

Circulation

MARCH/APRIL 2020 Vol. 16, No. 2

circulation@wimediainc.ca www.omnidataservices.com

Features:

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Omni Data Services

Wood Industry is published six times annually, Jan./Feb., Mar./Apr., May/ June, July/Aug., Sept./Oct. and Nov./Dec., for the secondary wood products manufacturing and marketing industries in Canada.

Published by W.I. Media Inc. Box 84 Cheltenham Caledon, ON L7C 3L7 © 2020 by W.I. Media Inc. All rights reserved. W. I. Media Inc. and Wood Industry disclaim any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect to the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. The opinions of the columnists and writers are their own and are in no way influenced by or representative of the opinions of Wood Industry or W.I. Media Inc.

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Focus on Import/Export

China’s trade power

The next chapter waits to be written. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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6

Vetting naïve applicants

Do they have the space when you have the time? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Profile:

Focused on fundamentals

Sustainability, employee engagement and natural beauty are all in balance for Yuill McGregor of North on Sixty, Dwight, Ont. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

WOOD Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Filings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Design . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 New products . . . 23

Bullets . . . . . . . . . . . 26 By the numbers . . 28 Events . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Advertisers . . . . . 29 Perspective . . . . . 30

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WOOD INDUSTRY 3

From the editor

You are a handful Y

ou know, you folks are not all that easy to write for. Seriously.

For example, most of you are owners and managers of family owned businesses. Yes, we all know most of you are “incorporated” to meet legal definitions for tax and liability purposes, but you are the new iteration of sole proprietorships. Momand-pop shops. Small- to medium-sized businesses.

Say it how you like, writKerry Knudsen ing for you is different from writing for employee-based or union-based audiences, and it’s different from writing for c-level employees of mega-corps.

For one thing, all those groups tend to take big risks with other people’s money, and they have a different world-view as the result. For you, your net worth is on the line. Your future.

Your legacy. And it’s not just money. It’s who you are and what you did. It’s not like you can bet large with your boss’s money, kill the company and go to a competitor. It’s a corner piece in the jigsaw of the secondary wood industry in Canada, complete with a tax number, annual minutes and articles of incorporation. You may be just a statistic in the eyes of Statcan, but that elevates you in the eyes of Revenue Canada to the same stature as INCO, albeit an easier target.

There is more. Metal fabricators, electrical engineers and road contractors can be family businesses, as can pig farms and laundry mats. However, even though you technically deal with production, most of you have oneon-one contact with your end user, and she or he may not be all that interested in efficiency or value streams. “The way it looks” may be all that matters.

In that case, most of you are creative — you have an eye for decorative design and a language to communicate it. On the other hand, you have a large capital investment. This comINDUSTRY MARCH/APRIL MARCH/APRIL 2020 2020 WOODINDUSTRY 4 WOOD 4

bination of high-creative and high capital is rare. On the one hand, it keeps you distinct from the other production markets. On the other, it makes it hard to plan for business succession. Most creative people aren’t that good with money, and most money managers are not known for creativity.

Most of you have direct interaction with your communities. While it is common for our readers to export, it is more common that they started in and also serve their local and regional markets as ancillary markets even when focused south.

This is also a critical factor in trying to write for you.

For people that work in mines, roads, construction, government, finance or education, the idea of interpersonal relationships boils quickly down to office politics. If you don’t believe that, explain the popularity of the comic strip, “Dilbert.” With people whose livelihood depends on supplying durable goods for a local or regional market, and doing it with local and regional labour, interpersonal relationships are not a matter of office politics; they are a matter of existence.

The list goes on, but I don’t want to cloud it. The mix of ownership, creativity and resource management makes this audience different from engineers, metal fabricators, Bay Street and Ottawa (thank God).

Because I have such high regard for what you, collectively, have done and are doing for Canada, I am a bit shocked and very humbled to walk into one of your shops, as I did at Yuill McGregor’s North on Sixty shop early this month, and see what I saw and photographed in the image at right. What a vote of confidence!

So what’s the relevance? Everything.

Somewhere back in the late Cretaceous Period, a few errant salesmen tumbled to the fact that you, the audience, need information, and that their products are information. Therefore, they reasoned, because they pay for space to advertise, they should own every publication they advertise in. This is not a Kerry Knudsen fantasy. I have been told as much, point-blank. But be cautious; it is fewer than 10 percent of suppliers, and for the most part they are the employees of mega-corps, alluded to above.

The other 90 percent are the critical aspect of the industry that allows you to create and sell what you do on a less-parasitic basis.

It was not long before the Cretaceous-era deal-makers heard about “value-added.” I tried to explain that value-added is always value-subtracted from the value of the information to the audience, but I was told I know nothing. Well, I may not know much, but it is now some time of thawing since the late-Cretaceous, and I have not changed my idea. Deal-makers should stick to their knitting.

Then it was websites. Then it was MySpace. Then it was Facebook and “social.” All the agency new-hires then came up with “programmatic” and “influencers.”

At each turn, since I was told I know nothing, I came to you, the readers, and I sent out surveys. I asked you whether you want daily e-blasts from amateur reporters that wanted to turn magazines into newspapers. You said no.

I asked whether you wanted me to end the print edition of Wood Industry and go (cheaply) to digital. You said no.

I asked whether you wanted me to send e-letters weekly or daily. You said no.

I even got amused and asked who you think is the most-recognized personality in all of North America in our industry, and you, recognizing the joke, obliged me with the overwhelming response that it is me, with poor-old Mike Holmes running a far-distant second.

It was a joke, in a way, but as with all jokes, it is based on a foundation, and that foundation is your voices telling the suppliers that you know damn good and well what is going on, and you want to name your “influence r ” a s s o m e b o d y yo u know and trust, and you don’t want to be told what to do.

I mentioned this in my interview with Yuill, and he jumped right on the topic. “I won’t be told what to do, either,” he said.

So McGregor won’t be told what to do, and I won’t be told what to do and you won’t be told what to do, which likely makes us, collectively, a handful for Bay Street, mega-corps, bureaucrats and public-sector unions, which I imagine, is exactly what we are looking for.

So, while you are a tough bunch to write for, I’m glad you let me in, glad we have stuff to do and glad we didn’t end up in a cube farm, hashing out action plans for middle managers.

The fact is, that bottom 10 percent of salesguys will still be around, intent on getting your attention without supplying value. My advice would be to know who your friends are. That’s what I try to do, and I have a lot.

Comment at www.woodindustry.ca

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INDUSTRY 5 WOODINDUSTRY WOOD

Focus on Import/Export

China’s trade power:

The next chapter The rumours are swirling among the worker base at the Ford plant in Oakville, Ont. They say the plant is closing over Covid-19 and will not re-open, and the focus is not on the spread of the disease, but on the supply chain. Over 80 percent of the parts they assemble, they say, are from China.

As of presstime, we are in the worst possible position for a magazine, that being that events are moving quickly and magazines are designed to provide more in-depth information and review. The newspapers were once obliged to have the staff and resources to report on breaking developments, but they have languished, lost their way and been supplanted by bloggers and newscasters that have a vested interest in capturing attention and selling it, rather than providing value to an audience. Not good in this environment.

Earlier this month, Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator from Florida, said that after this crisis the geo-political structure of the world will have changed. He did not elaborate, but it’s clear that good people are trying to maintain order amongst chaos, and not-so-good people are trying to get their foot on victims’ necks and make them gurgle.

Possibly you saw the story about the Kentucky bros that tried to corner the market on hand sanitizer, buying up 18,000 units and offering them for sale at up to $70 U.S. each. They got caught, got threatened and decided to

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

become Samaritans by donating their stash to charity. To appearances, this is hardly a deterrent, but deterrence is something we had lost sight of before the crisis.

One thing is certain, if you want to change the geo-political landscape, a sure bet is to interrupt the food supply, and, again as of presstime, the federal government has barred the entry into Canada of our seasonal workforce, and that’s who does the work Canadian millennials disdain. Farm groups are requesting an exemption.

Back to imports and exports, the issue in China has become fractured into many large problems. Whether the Ford gossip is correct or not, it is not debatable that China has become the world’s largest producer of disposable goods, from televisions and appliances to smart phones and toothpicks. Therefore, that’s Item 1. China is an export giant capable of affecting the world economy, either by accident or by design.

The second huge item, Item 2, is that the current novel coronavirus, Covid-19, was launched in China. Most reporting points to the live-animal markets in Wuhan, with the fingers diverging toward bats, pangolins and snake blood. So, xenophobes (such as all humans are) like Canadian millennials kind of wonder why other cultures can’t

just quit eating those things. EEEEWWW!!

There is another theory, roundly rejected by bureaucrats, that the virus is an accidental release from a biological warfare research lab in Wuhan. Wood Industry has absolutely no information regarding the validity of that claim, and the bureaucrats may well be right. The fact that cannot be disputed, however, is that the theory is out there, and it affects the public discourse.

A third huge item, Item 3, is that China has no credibility. People simply cannot believe what China says. These matters have been hashed out sufficiently, so it’s not necessary to go into them here. However, it’s worth repeating that there cannot be communication when both parties believe the other is lying. It’s as if two people are working on a space capsule, but the assembler disbelieves the drawings. Whoever ends up in that capsule is likely doomed.

On the international stage, this Item is compounded by modern China’s rather horrible record on dealing with complaints. We can start with the Great Leap Forward, in which all the 20-somethings got to kill all the 40-somethings and take power, or we could look at Tiananmen Square. The Chinese government insists nobody died in Tiananmen Square in the early morning of June 4, 1989.

Western governments say more than 10,000 did. Choose your source. Or you can look more recently at the protests in Hong Kong, which were spontaneously ended with the advent of Covid-19, which was not named at the time.

All this has had the effect of focusing world attention on China and its export woes, and bugger the luck, one of China’s top proletariat billionaires goes missing right after calling President Xi Jinping a clown.

It seems that the families of the 10,000 people that did not die at Tiananmen Square would think calling Xi a clown a bad idea, but we don’t really know if it was.

Granted, Ren Zhiqiang, a member of China’s ruling Communist party and a former top executive of state-controlled property developer Huayuan Real Estate Group, has not been contactable since 12 March, according to The Guardian, but that does not mean Xi had anything to do with it.

On the other hand, if Xi had nothing to do with it, he is likely looking for whoever did, because it’s making him look really bad in an environment where he is a bit short in political capital.

Of course, Ren is not the only one. There has been a veritable epidemic of dead, lost and suicide billionaires in China. Not like the good-old days when billionaires were safe as long as they were buddies with Mao. It is very difficult to be judgmental of a foreign leader, despite the preponderance of the evidence. After all, I don’t want to be a xenophobe, and China has a long history of cultural politics related to heads on poles and such.

Each to his own.

When we first reviewed this item in the early days of the outbreak, the price was listed at $184, so this is a reduction consistent with Amazon’s announcement that it would not tolerate scalpers. As if $6 per roll is fair. Note: under Seller Information the seller has been “Just Launched.”

However, it makes one scratch one’s head, given the truth of the above Items, to see Xi decide to up and stick his finger in Trump’s eye at this juncture and threaten to cut off America’s supply to America’s drugs that America is paying Chinese labour to produce.

Does Xi think Trump will let that pass? If so, on what basis? Does he think that since Trump has never let anything pass that the law of averages will suddenly catch up and Trump will clap him on the shoulder with a “hail, fellow; well-met” and a bundle of Florida’s oversupply of Burmese pythons and syringes? More likely, if Trump sees that China is holding something of mortal importance to America that belongs to America, he will just go take it.

To our eye, the public relations wheel is beginning to turn against China in the trade sector, not because of any one thing, but because the evidence has overbalanced people’s willingness to suspend their good judgment. Even the millennials are starting to “get it” (wait/what?) that their precious “smart” phones are being created by child slave labour.

The problem for Xi is that very few totalitarian dictators are brought down by outside militaries. They overspend, overbribe, overgift and overconsume until the people they are starving can’t stand it any longer, and there is social discontent. But that alone won’t do it. There has to be an attitude on the outside that the regime is not worth the propping, and there has to be a precipitating event….

Our conclusion? Our conclusion is that Wood Industry committed on its Editorial Calendar to cover import/export this issue. As of presstime, we believe only an idiot would try to counsel the industry on the next trend, except it will be up. Nowhere else to go. But we think in the sea of change facing the world over the next months and years we need to see Xi’s hand removed from the tiller. He seems to have a fever.

Comment at www.woodindustry.ca www.woodindustry.ca

WOOD INDUSTRY 7

Filings WOOD Homag 2019 sales see decrease

In the 2019 financial year, the Homag Group of Schopfloch, Germany, has reported a dip in sales for the 2019 financial year. Sales summed up to €1,279 million, down from €1,298 million for the previous year. The order backlog was worth €546 million as of December 31, 2019 (€602 million), and incoming orders reduced significantly to €1,220 million from €1,337 million.

In November 2019, production was closed at its Hemmoor, Germany, site.

Personnel change at Vauth-Sagel

Dieter Wiesemann, the head of strategic purchasing at Vauth-Sagel of Brakel-Erkeln, Germany, a storage space products Dieter manufacturer, is Wiesemann retiring. He will continue to work for Vauth-Sagel in a senior consultant

advisory role.

Wiesemann started his career about 50 years ago with Mauser Waldeck AG, which has been part of the Christoph Va u t h - S a g e l Schmitz group of companies since 2004.

His successor, Christoph Schmitz, has been appointed team leader of strategic purchasing.

Ikea opens first virtual store

Ikea and Alibaba have announced the opening of the Ikea virtual store on Alibaba’s e-commerce platform Tmall. This is the first time Delft, The Netherlands-based Ikea will offer its products and home furnishing solutions through an external e-commerce platform, marking a milestone for the Ikea China’s “Future+” strategy, which was launched in August last year. The virtual store will offer the same services provided as exist-

Xylexpo 2020 postponed due to coronavirus

The Milan, Italy-based trade show Xylexpo 2020 has been postponed. The decision was taken by the managing board of Acimall, the association of Italian woodworking machinery and tools manufacturers, owner

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

ing sales channels, including home delivery, assembly and product return. Ikea entered the Chinese market in 1998 and has 30 stores across the country, besides e-commerce on ikea.cn.

Rentals in Quebec aim for certification

The 314 rental condos within the Humaniti Montreal complex will be ready for occupancy as of this July and make up the first residential project in Quebec planning to attain WELL Certification. The WELL Building Standard was developed by integrating scientific and medical research and literature on environmental health, behavioural factors, health outcomes and demographic risk factors that affect health with leading practices in building design, construction and management. The WELL verification processes will commence when the entirety of rent-

of the biennial exhibition. The postponement to the second half of the year is subject to available dates, in view of the ongoing disruption of trade fair calendars and the unpredictable developments due to Coronavirus emergency. “We waited as long as we could, hoping the situation would go back to normal,” Lorenzo Primultini, president of Acimall and of the exhibition, said in a statement. “For companies, the worst enemy is uncertainty, and it was actually the negative situation we are seeing right now that drove us to take this hard decision, in the interest of the entire industry.”

Similarly, the crisis management group of the German government and the current recommendation of the Bavarian State Government for international exhibitions, Nürnberg Messe, has decided to postpone Fensterbau Frontale and Holz-Handwerk 2020 to June 16-19. In 2022, the co-located shows are scheduled take place in March again.

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The program is administered by the International WELL Building Institute based in New York City. In addition, the complex is also striving to obtain LEED status, an internationally recognized green building certification system.

Furniture deliveries to China blocked

The Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM) conducted a member survey at the end of February on the effects of the Corona crisis on the German furniture industry. According to the first results, almost half of the companies surveyed (49 percent) are currently unable to deliver the goods already ordered from China. More than half of the respondents (58 percent) are currently seeing a decline in orders from China. On the import side, more than half of the companies (56 percent) state that they are affected by supply shortages from China.

Designer-vanity company looking for distributors

Mark Wolinsky, owner and president of Wetstyle, and Mario Muto, a designer for Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and other global brands, have introduced Bemma, a new Saint-Bru-

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no-de-Montarville, Que.-based company focused on designer vanities and accessories. With the launch of eight inaugural collections at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) 2020 in Las Vegas, the company says it is focused on addressing a clear gap in the luxury/high-end vanity market segment. Following an in-depth market study and competitive analysis of the vanity space, Bemma was launched to compete in the mid to lower highend product market, addressing a void created by a series of mergers, acquisitions and failings in the industry.

The company will focus on vanities ranging from $1,200 to $3,000, including countertop, sink, vanity and backsplash, and is targeting independent distributors. The line of vanities is built with dovetail construction and incorporate solid materials including kiln-dried oak, walnut and birch wood, European soft-closing drawer glides, Italian Carrara marble, high-end lacquer finishes, brass handles and ceramic glazes.

upgrade to its wood-fibre drying systems. The original equipment installed at the plant used drying technology that has not met the company’s demands for optimal throughput.

The company is in advanced stages of choosing industry leading vendors to install proven standardized equipment used at other large pallet manufacturers.

The installation Jeff Vanderpool process will take the balance of 2020. Jeff Vanderpool, c.e.o. at Highland Pallets, notes that the drying technology and hammer mill systems will significantly improve production volumes, quality and reliability.

AWFS calls for student entries

CMA awards program now open

The Cabinet Makers Association (CMA) of Chicago, Ill., has announced it is accepting submissions for the Wood Diamonds Awards program. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the annual program began in 2010 as a means for members to be recognized by their peers. The contest is open March 1 through May 1, and the fee for each project is $75 US. To review submission requirements and access the entry form, visit www.cabinetmakers.org/ wda2020. The contest is offered to current CMA members only. Nonmembers are welcome to join the association so they can participate.

Highland announces upgrade plan

Pine Bluff, Ark.-based Highland Pallets has announced plans for an

A winner from 2018.

The Anaheim, Calif.-based Association of Woodworking and Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS) has announced the second Design IT Digital, a CAD-based design competition that is open to middle school, high school and post-secondary students in accredited design or related programs in North America. This contest is free to enter, and entry applications will be accepted until May 29, 2020. In Design IT Digital, students are presented with three hypothetical scenarios in which a client is asking for a custom piece of furniture. Students can choose their favourite client project and design a solution using any CAD

and rendering software. Students can go to the online entry website to create a user login, respond to the entry questions, and upload their visual presentation boards. The contest will be judged by a panel of industry professionals and the winning entries will be announced by AWFS in August 2020. Middle and high school entries will be judged separately from postsecondary entries. Cash prizes for first place, second place and honourable mention will be awarded for both school levels, along with in-kind prizes donated from the industry sponsors.

All contest information, as well as pictures from the 2018 Design It Digital contest can be found at https://bit. ly/2viB5kS. The 2020 Design IT Digital Entry website for students can be found at https://did2020.artcall.org/.

Uniboard appoints Mercury as TFL distributor

Laval, Que.-based Uniboard Canada, a producer of decorative composite wood panels, has appointed Concord, Ont.-based Mercury Wood Products as a distributor of its TFL line, in addition to its MDF and particleboard products for the province of Ontario.

Trex appoints Fairbanks president and c.e.o.

Winchester, Va.-based Trex Company has announced that its board of directors has elected Bryan Fairbanks to the positions of Bryan Fairbanks president and c.e.o. and board member.

Fairbanks will assume his new roles on April 29, 2020, coinciding with James Cline’s planned retirement from the president and c.e.o. positions. On that date, Cline will assume the position of chairman of the board and Ronald Kaplan will move to vice chairman. Fairbanks joined Trex in 2004 as director of financial planning and analysis and has held positions of

increasing responsibility throughout his tenure at the company. Trex is a global producer of outdoor decking and railing, and a national provider of custom-engineered railing systems.

AWI, SMA release new wood standard

The Chicago-based Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI) and the Stairbuilders and Manufacturers Association (SMA) of Fall River, Mass., have announced that the AWI SMA 0643 – Wood Stair, Handrail, and Guard Systems Standard has been completed by the SMA Quality Standards Committee. The AWI and SMA teams are now preparing to begin the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process and will address any comments or suggestions submitted from the public.

The completed document will provide standards and tolerances for the quality fabrication and field installation of wood stair, handrail and guard systems. Further, it establishes minimum aesthetic and performance requirements intended to provide a well-defined degree of control over a project’s quality of materials, workmanship and/or fabrication.

SIBO show in Quebec cancelled

CCI Canada, which owns and operates Salon Industriel du Bois Ouvré (SIBO), has canceled the 2020 event. SIBO was slated for April 23-25, 2020 in Drummondville, Que. According to CCI, the decision does not affect WMS, to be held Nov. 4-6, 2021 in Mississauga, Ont. Citing a lack of exhibitor support for the event, Harry Urban, SIBO and WMS show manager, said the decision was made with great difficulty.

“The importance of the woodworking industry in Quebec is very clear.

This was a tough decision for us,” said Urban in a statement. “After a substantial investment in this important market segment, we were not able to generate sufficient participation from key potential exhibi-

tors to ensure a successful event for attendees, and bring a true industrial woodworking show to Quebec.”

KBIS energizes industry for 2020

The energy was high, and crowds were enthusiastic at this year’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), according to event organizers. Along with 600 exhibitors, more than 90,000 design and construction professionals canvassed the Las Vegas Convention Center in January. The combined forces of the Hackettstown, N.J.-based National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) of Washington, D.C., continued their partnership as the founders of Design & Construction Week (DCW). Together, the shows featured more than 2,000 exhibitors, occupying one million square feet of exhibit space. The blended KBIS and International Builders’ Show (IBS) floor experience is said to foster crossover traffic as custom builders, remodelers and project builders discover new product options with KBIS exhibitors and vice versa. KBIS is owned by the NKBA, produced by Emerald Expositions of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., and is the largest North American trade show for the kitchen and bath industry. This year KBIS featured 100 new exhibitors, 25 new global brands from Germany, Italy, Turkey, Brazil, Spain and the U.K., and over 70 NKBA Voices from the Industry conference education sessions.

KBIS 2021 and Design & Construction Week is February 9-11, 2021, in Orlando, FL, at the Orange County Convention Center. www.woodindustry.ca

WOOD INDUSTRY 11

Filings WOOD AWMAC curtails activities due to coronavirus

The Architectural Woodwork Manufacturers Association of Canada (AWMAC) has announced changes to upcoming activities due to the rapidly changing circumstances surrounding the coronavirus and the significant risk it poses to public health and the Canadian health care system. Following the many government recommendations, AWMAC National based in Ottawa, Ont., has issued the following guidance for all chapters: each chapter is to postpone all in-person meetings and events with members and stakeholders until further notice. This includes, but is not limited to, site/shop visits by inspectors, board/member meetings, and lunch-and-learn presentations. Vaughn, Ont.-based AWMAC Ontario will be following this guidance and suspending all in-

person meetings including GIS site and shop visits until further notice.

AWMAC Ontario is currently working alongside AWMAC National and reviewing the plans for the 2020 National AGM and Convention scheduled for June 4-7 in Toronto, Ont.

NWFA 2020 Expo cancelled

The National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) has announced the cancellation of its Wood Flooring Expo, scheduled for April 28-30 in Milwaukee, Wisc. The Chesterfield, Mo.-based NWFA had been closely

monitoring continuing developments and updates about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Ga. When the CDC recommended that all large group gatherings be cancelled around the timeframe of the show, the association took its decision. In terms of next steps, the NWFA is weighing the best potential path forward, and will be reaching out to all registrants and exhibitors. According to the NWFA, further decisions will be guided by the association’s responsibility to ensure the health and safety of its members. For those who have made expo hotel reservations through NWFA, the NWFA will cancel the reservation and no cancellation fees will be charged. If reservations were made outside the NWFA room block, the association recommends contacting the hotel directly for its cancellation policy. Travelers also should contact their airline carriers for their cancellation policies.

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Design WOOD A journeyman’s graduation project

Tool cabinet reborn I

n 19 72 , a s a ver y recent de sign-school graduate, I spent some time as a private student of Jim Krenov. This Russian-born, Americanand Swedish-based cabinetmaker had been introduced Paul Epp to me by my design school teacher, who thought that Jim’s approach might prove to be useful to me.

Jim was a traditional cabinetmaker in the truest and even the most restrictive sense. He only made cabinets.

They were usually small and kind of perfect. His forms were very basic and geometric and he was very careful in his choice and use of wood. He made a virtue out of the necessity of joinery, featuring exposed dovetails and through mortise-and-tenons. Although he had some machine tools, he worked predominantly by hand, with self-made tools if possible. He hated sand-paper, and his surfaces were the result of his very sharp edge-tools.

He didn’t like manufactured hardware either and his pulls and latches were wooden, but far from clumsy.

There was something almost jewelry-like about what he made.

He was also vain and fussy, so there was no question of my working on his pieces. I was a private student and he assigned me exercises. I was happy to comply, but the question finally arose of what my graduation project would be. There was a tradition

in cabinetmaking that the final piece an apprentice would make would be a tool chest that he would carry with him in his new identity as a Journeyman. His skills could easily be ascertained by any prospective employer as he had with him a kind of practical portfolio. I thought I could work within this tradition by building a Krenovian cabinet for my recently acquired hand-tools. I had made a set of hand-planes and bought the best Swedish chisels and my cabinet could house them.

Jim approved and r ummaged around his woodpile until he found a plank of Italian walnut for me. I was to work with hand tools as much as possible, bow-sawing the plank into thinner boards and then hand-planing them six-sides (or even eight) before gluing them together. It was a lovely piece of wood, with only a narrow core of the dark colour we think of as walnut. Most of the wood was a warm brown, shading from a toffee colour to latte. Fortunately for me, it was also lovely to plane. I joined the bottom corners with through-dovetails and the upper part with through-mortise-and-tenons. The doors and back panel were book-matched to display the stripe of darker heartwood. I added a couple of small drawers, using some Rio-rosewood that I had left over from one of my hand-planes. The interior did not receive any applied finish and the lovely scent of the Italian wood still lingers, almost 50 years later.

One of the most memorable experiences of this exercise was a mistake I made. When drilling (by hand!) a

panel, I measured the location from the side that had a rabbet cut into it which threw the location off, as it was referenced to the other side. I was heart-sick and panicked, as there was no more of the plank left. Jim just laughed. He said the difference between an apprentice and a professional wasn’t whether mistakes got made. It was in how they were dealt with. My cabinet has an almost hidden and very faint semi-circular line that locates the very carefully made plug, a useful reminder about the folly of hubris and the ongoing need to handle mistakes.

We were both happy with the finished piece, and I brought it back to

Canada. I used it for a few years, hung on the wall behind my workbench, but it was actually not that practical. I didn’t want to always open it when I needed a chisel and it seemed kind of pretentious and even a bit silly. I put it away for quite a few years but I’ve now given it a new life. The interior space is exactly the right height and depth for bottles of single-malt Scotch. It’s hanging in my dining room and I enjoy the warm colour of the Italian wood and the memories it evokes. I usually manage to have a bottle of my favourite Talisker in it and a few others. One of the most satisfying things about it is the wood-against-wood “thunk” it makes when I close the doors, to be held shut by a little wooden catch that is almost invisible.

Paul Epp is an emeritus professor at OCAD Univesity, and former chair of its Industrial Design deapartment. www.woodindustry.ca www.woodindustry.ca

INDUSTRY 13 WOODINDUSTRY WOOD

Law WOOD Three ways the law helps with collection

Blood from a stone T

he last thing a creditor would want, after spending significant time and money in suing a debtor, is a “paper judgment” worth no more than the paper it is printed on.

The term is often used to describe a judgment that cannot be enAngela Kwok forced in any practical way.

Steps should be taken prior to commencing an action to determine whether a debtor may be “judgmentproof.” A judgment may be unenforceable because the debtor has no assets to pay the judgment or has hidden or encumbered assets so that they cannot easily be found, let alone seized. Does the defendant own any assets of value? Are the assets outside of Ontario or otherwise hidden in other jurisdictions? Is the defendant bankrupt, or on the verge of bankruptcy?

14 WOOD INDUSTRY

MARCH/APRIL 2020

One of the reasons that these issues should be considered at the beginning of the litigation process is because judgments are not selfenforcing. A creditor will not be automatically paid after obtaining judgment. Three of the most common methods available to enforce judgments will be discussed.

Garnishment

A judgment creditor may issue a garnishment notice and serve it on a third party who owes money to the debtor (known as the “garnishee”).

The garnishment is a court order that orders the garnishee to pay to the judgment creditor instead of the debtor, and can be effected on various sources of income of the debtor, including wages (the Wages Act allows 20 percent of net wages to be seized), bank accounts, mortgage payments to the debtor, and accounts receivable of the debtor.

In order for monies to be garnished from a debtor’s bank account, a creditor would need to know the institution(s) where the debtor has

accounts, and serve the garnishment notice on those institutions. Likewise, a creditor would need to know where the debtor is employed in order to serve the employer and garnish a portion of the debtor’s wages.

When a garnishee is served, the garnishee is obliged to pay to the sheriff the sum set out in the garnishment notice, or the sum owed to the debtor if it is less than the garnishment amount. The garnishment notice binds debts owed by the garnishee to the debtor at the time the notice is served, and any debt due within six years after the notice is served.

Writ of seizure and sale

A judgment creditor may file a writ of seizure and sale (also known as a “writ of execution”) with the sheriff of the district where the debtor has assets. There is no centralized file of all writs in the province, which means that writs of execution will need to be filed in more than one district, one in each district where the debtor is believed to have assets. Writs of execution are enforceable for six years and must be renewed thereafter.

There are two main ways that a writ of execution may assist a creditor in getting money. First, the creditor may direct the sheriff to seize and sell real and personal property of the debtor, if the asset can be identified with sufficient particularity, subject to certain exceptions. The net proceeds would be distributed rateably among all judgment creditors who have filed writs in that district. However, some assets of the debtor are

exempt from seizure. Second, third parties who conduct business with the debtor often search executions to assure themselves that the debtor has good credit, and if they find that a writ of execution is outstanding, the debtor may be pressured to pay off the execution creditor. For example, third parties who purchase real property from the debtor may not wish to proceed with the transaction unless the debtor pays off the execution.

Examination in aid of execution

An examination in aid of execution (also known as a “judgment debtor examination”) is an investigative tool that allows a creditor to find out the extent, nature, and location of the debtor’s assets, as well as potential future income, which may be available to satisfy the judgment. A creditor is permitted to ask about the debtor’s assets, liabilities, obligations, income, employment information, banking information, income

sources, debts owed by others, etc.

With that information, the creditor can then use other enforcement tools to seize those assets.

A creditor is entitled to ask about assets that the debtor has disposed of, either before or after the judgment was rendered. If the debtor has transferred assets with the intent of defrauding creditors, the creditor may attack the transfer as a fraudulent conveyance under the Fraudulent Conveyances Act. The court will consider the intentions of the debtor and others involved in the transfer, and consider “badges of fraud” that lead to an inference that the transaction is tainted, including: the debtor disposed nearly all assets shortly before the execution of a judgment, the price paid for the asset is below market value, and the asset was transferred to a close relative or friend.

A successful fraudulent conveyance claim may result in a court order that sets the transaction aside, vesting title in the debtor again, al-

lowing the creditor to seize the asset in satisfaction of its judgment. While this procedure is available to protect creditors, the process can be expensive and time consuming.

Enforcement methods will only be effective if the debtor has assets that can be found and seized. Enforcement efforts will be more expensive and difficult if the creditor is purposely hiding assets and keeping them out of reach from execution. Finally, it is important to consider the amount of the judgment in deciding whether it is worth spending the time and money to enforce. Are you going to be throwing good money after bad? These are questions litigants should consider early on in the litigation process.

Angela Kwok is a lawyer at Lawrences in Brampton, Ont. Comment at www.woodindustry.ca.

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Profile: North on Sixty Dwight, Ont.

Focused on Fundamentals If there’s a defining characteristic of Yuill McGregor, it’s that he won’t do as he’s told. Not even from the start.

Take, for example, McGregor’s entrée into his North on Sixty business along Highway 60 near Algonquin Park in Ontario. McGregor had a vision for a high-end custom shop serving the elite of the Muskoka and Huntsville cottage market. Toward that end, he bought 150 acres of mixed timber right along the highway and submitted a plan for a 7,500 square-foot production facility, complete with a showroom.

Once the money was down and the deal was done, the government came up with a different idea. The size limit on the building, they said, would be 2,500 square feet, not 7,500 square feet.

Frustrated, but not outdone, McGregor noted there was no height restriction on the specs, created a 2,500 squarefoot building plan, submitted the plan and got his permit.

The second floor was already on when the ministry dropped by to challenge the project. “I showed him my permit,” McGregor recalls with a smile. “He was quite annoyed, but by INDUSTRY MARCH/APRIL MARCH/APRIL 2020 2020 WOODINDUSTRY 16 WOOD 16

that time there was nothing he could do about it.”

According to McGregor, the site plan also allowed for five, smaller buildings, four of which he erected as housing for the moulder, housing for storage, housing for “forestry,” et cetera.

The problematic showroom was intended to occupy the second floor, but McGregor decided that part of the plan needed adjustment. “The idea was to capture traffic traveling the highway. It didn’t work that way,” he says. “By the time people get here, they want to get where they’re going, and nothing will stop them. When they leave, all they want is a greasy cheeseburger and home.” The few that do stop by, he says, come on cold or rainy days to kick tires, say they have seen the sign driving by and maybe buy a trinket, so he keeps some cutting boards and other items for souvenir shoppers and impulse buyers.

Fundamental to McGregor’s business is his view of sustainability. In the first place, he argues, wood is inherently sustainable, and he is both adamant about proper woodlot management, and critical of privately held wood-

Yuill McGregor (right) checks in with employees Michael Bacchus (centre) and Livio Shenuely on the status of work at the sawmill adjacent to the production shop.

Shenuely is the apprentice from Switzerland, and Bacchus is a lifelong Toronto resident.

Below: Bacchus grades offcuts while Fred Maynard operates the mill.

Opposite: McGregor (right) and Donnie Dunne share a status report on a burl-slicing project.

lands in the Huntsville area and elsewhere. “They just let it go and become a major fire hazard,” he says.

As time passed, McGregor found his major markets did not lie within the boundaries of the Canadian Shield, as he had thought, but in the high-end, custom markets of southern Ontario and Quebec. Those markets tied in well with McGregor’s views of both sustainability and style, and McGregor became focused on making wood fibre behave in a manner consistent with architectural demands for both preservation and durability, as well as style.

This led McGregor to form an alliance with a wood product called Kebony, which is natural softwood, impregnated with furfuryl alcohol to make it dimensionally stable and then processed further.

Inspired by his work with Kebony and driven by his market to provide cut-burl slabs for tables, end tables and similar products, McGregor started curing hardwood burl slabs by making a bath of roofing membrane and a frame, and soaking the pieces in polyethylene glycol, or

PEG. According to McGregor, he can gauge the stage of the cure by weighing the pieces as they go in, and then calculating the amount of water replaced by PEG as they come out. “The problem with burls,” he says, “is that the face is all endgrain, and as the water comes out the burl slice warps and checks.”

McGregor is particularly focused on forest management as a secondary producer. He owns his 150 acres, which he uses for harvesting as warranted, but he also thins and uses the culled timber to heat the buildings, which he designed to utilize under-floor, radiant heating, which he loves. With radiant heat (unlike convective, hotair heat), he says, when you open the doors and the winter wind blows through, the place is still warm when you shut the doors. This is a benefit with employees.

Speaking of employees, McGregor has had his own tussles with how to find skilled employees. One tactic he uses is to try and keep existing staff. As an observer that has been on more than a few shop floors in Canada, www.woodindustry.ca www.woodindustry.ca

INDUSTRY 17 WOODINDUSTRY WOOD

The entire facility is heated with a boiler system. According to McGregor, the outlet is buried four feet deep and insulated, and still the ground over the pipes remains snow-free. At right, North on Sixty’s two-story profile remains a source of irritation with regional planners. For McGregor, the irritation is that March is a cruel month for photographs. All the winter’s faults start to show.

I flatter myself to think I can tell a talker from a doer, and McGregor’s staff likes him. In addition, McGregor has hired Livio Shenuely, a carpenter’s apprentice from Switzerland. “This is not cheap,” McGregor says, “but it’s worth it when you get needed skills.”

In addition to his own woodlot and Kebony, McGregor buys what he needs from local suppliers, plus he reclaims

wood from construction and demolition projects from as far away as Montreal.

McGregor reflects that he was all about sustainability before sustainability was a word, and his history reflects that. However, he believes that the future of Canada’s secondary wood-products manufacturing industry depends on help. Specifically, he has noted from past issues of Wood Industry that our association resources are weak

Top: a burl is reassembled for inventory control.

Left: Reclaimed lumber is one of McGregor’s primary product lines. Right: There is a selection of unique accessories for sale in case cottagers or tourists stop by with an itch to spend a buck.

INDUSTRY MARCH/APRIL MARCH/APRIL 2020 2020 WOODINDUSTRY 18 WOOD 18

It may not look like much, but by the time McGregor rescues reclaimable lumber, pays for shipping and removes all the nails, he figures he has between $70 and $100 in each timber, and he has to wait for a market. Right: McGregor muses that he has too much inventory, but it is so diverse between saw logs, burls, reclaimed lumber and Kebony, he has what he needs when a customer makes a request.

and lacking direction and resources. The government, specifically the Ministry of Natural Resources for readers in Ontario, has both a mandate and a budget to facilitate the wood resource as an economic tool for Canada.

The problem, he muses, is in getting the industry and the government together. So far, as we have reported, there seem to be many hands wanting to touch that money, and little return when it’s granted.

So far, whenever the government has allocated funds for wood-products development, the only unified and directed group to take advantage of the fiscal resources has been the primary producers, as noted frequently in these pages. Possibly our associations and alliances are just doing what they are told. In that event, we might lend an ear to McGregor — the voice of one not doing what he’s told in the wilderness.

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INDUSTRY 19 WOODINDUSTRY WOOD

Vetting naĂŻve applicants Do they have the space when you have the time?

By Chris McKaskell, guest feature writer, London, Ont.

Having spent time with all manner of cabinet shop owners over the years, only one thing is certain: what makes an organization different from its competitors is its people.

INDUSTRY MARCH/APRIL MARCH/APRIL 2020 2020 WOODINDUSTRY 20 WOOD 20

With very few exceptions we all use the same sorts of machinery, suppliers, and materials to make our products, and we all team with human beings to help us perform our work. What differentiates us appears to come down to the people who make up our teams. So, consider this, if the biggest single difference between cabinet shops is the people working in them, it stands to reason our hiring practices, training and culture are really what set us apart.

A quick scan of industry want-ads illustrates what most shops look for. Simplified, the norm includes experience, training, and resilience, or an ability to handle fast paced change and the capacity to do well, working under

deadline pressure. But what do these characteristics really look like and how can we select for them? In terms of resilience, we all know it takes years and several good crises to really get to know people — to see how they respond in dynamic, high-stress situations.

When it comes to job qualifications, nobody can agree on those qualifications’ value. Indeed, disagreements around what should be our most basic, nationally recognized certification, the Red Seal Cabinetmaker Certificate of Qualification, are embarrassingly common. I mean, really, we build cabinets — our cabinetmaker apprenticeship program should be robust and create the people we need, and we should all be able to come together to agree on what it should include. Hopefully, that consensus will come soon.

The rarity of skilled people is also a big legacy issue: while the skilled trades are finally regaining credibility as a career choice, young people entering the job market have few mentors to draw on. I’ve encountered many shops with one or two highly experienced people (two decades or more), a bunch of new people with perhaps one year or two, but very few in the middle. Consequently, we face an impending crisis as the old guard prepares to retire. I fear the remaining workforce really won’t have enough experience, thus creating a gap. Now is the time to make proactive training a key component of your operation. But how to find the right people….

Understanding a prospective new-hire is really limited to the interview and probation process, so how we conduct our interviews and training in the first three months is enormously important. Reasoning that skills can be taught and acquired, and realizing we don’t currently have a reliable certification process, I think the current best practice, when it comes to hiring outcomes, must shift to a focus on the candidate’s character, aptitude and potential.

Most interviews I’ve had were conversational: managers asking a barrage of skill and knowledge-testing questions to try to gauge one’s knowledge and experience. Often there is a chance to visit with other team members to form a gut sense of how everyone might get along.

It’s fair today to expect more applicants that lack relevant experience, so the key is searching for attributes that support their ability to learn fundamental physical skills quickly. However, if they are to thrive in the industry, they must also have a dose of physical, spatial, and geometrical intelligence. I like to search for these attributes quickly by using a few simple tests. My favourite, the

most basic one, has proved the best. It is simple, amusing, and somewhat surprising. This test involves handing the interviewee an unassembled cardboard shipping corner.

Provided they do not know what it is, the object appears flat and unassuming and could be anything. I then ask them to assemble it.

The next few moments reveal a tremendous amount about a person’s character. Some people won’t even attempt the puzzle while people with strong wiring for spatial geometry and physical intelligence tend to figure the puzzle out relatively quickly. I am always intrigued by the ones who don’t get it during the interview but ask to take it home so they can keep trying, and, of these, it is always thrilling to get a call the next day from someone who figured it out on their own, on their own time, after they left the interview. Regardless, the path they choose speaks volumes about them and gives me valuable insights into how well an individual might fit into the team.

Simple enough, but while perhaps only 10 percent of people have the physical/spatial/geometric intelligence to put the corner together without knowing beforehand what it is, I have also found it useful to continue the interview vigorously during their attempt.

As the candidate begins to settle into his or her work on the puzzle, there is a fun, awkward social moment

www.woodindustry.ca www.woodindustry.ca

INDUSTRY 21 WOODINDUSTRY WOOD

So, here’s my advice, begin looking at your candidates’ potential rather than their accomplishments because, with fewer and fewer qualified tradespeople available, the creation of the next generation of proficient cabinetmakers is up to us to create.

when they subconsciously wonder if it’s okay to stop talking to me and focus on the puzzle instead. I like to let that feeling develop to see how they react before launching into a series of questions. The social part is important.

How many workers have you noticed who stop working instantly for the simplest interruption — but it’s crucial to determine whether this is due a social expectation of politeness or an inability to talk and work. Courtesy is, of course, essential in the workplace, but we can shift the social norms to fit a more productive culture on the shop floor by recognizing when a task is more important. Likewise, someone who can’t work while they talk really has no place on a cabinet shop floor.

Chris McKaskell says: I am not an HR professional, neither do I make final hiring decisions for the organization where I work.

I do have significant experience as an employer having, for many years, been a partner at a high-end, custom cabinet shop with about 13 skilled employees, but I’ve always focussed more on the craft of cabinetmaking than on the business. Today I am the custom shop manager at a mid-sized cabinet firm big enough to be divided into several departments and small enough that my role requires me to be on the tools everyday.

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New Products Drawer system for kitchens and bathrooms

The Integra Top series from Grass is a single-wall drawer system that is said to offer furniture makers quality and functionality for kitchens and bathrooms. Standard drawers, pullout shelves and inset drawers, full extension drawers with railing, oven base drawers and many other combination options are available. Drawer side heights range from 53 to 149 mm, with installations width of 15.5 mm and bottom panels for screw fixing. www.grasscanada.com

Wide belt sanders

Safety Speed has introduced the model 4375 wide belt sander with a 75 inch belt.

The unit has 25 percent more abrasive surface than its 60-inch model 3760 belt machine. The larger belt translates to increased capacity, less heat accumulation, less maintenance and fewer belt replacements. With an adjustable platen the sanders will deliver a perfect smooth finish every time, the company says.

The sander features photo electric belt tracking, pneumatic belt tensioning, a 2-½-inch graphite covered felt pad and adjustable platen, two rubber-covered pinch rollers of 2-½inch OD, two 4-¼-inch OD machined

idler rollers with 1-inch bearings and a 5-¼-inch OD rubber-covered contact roller with 1-⅝-inch drive bearing. The conveyor table is set on four 1-inch acme thread jackscrews. There are two height adjustment indicators, a six-inch, internal dust chute and five emergency stops. www.safetyspeed.com

Universal dust collection system

The Supercell from Oneida Air Systems is said to be the first dust collecTHEenough ULTIMATE tor with high levels of both static pressure (WC)SCREW and air moveWOOD ment (CFM) to accommodate the widest range of woodworking tools, from Screw Picture handheld sanders, table saws and miSpecifically engineered for ter saws to jointers, planers and CNC manufacturing and routers.

Designed as acabinetry dust-collection solid wood furniture system for shops of all sizes, the product offers 10x higher suction power than standard dust and is Wood-Maxx Logocollectors WOOD-MAXX suitable for collecting dust from tools inc with one- to five-inch-diameter ports, 519-279-4044 the company says. Units allow simultaneous operation of up to three 1 to 2.5-inch sales@wood-maxx.ca tools and can maintain perdrop byatbooth 1084 WMS formance up to 100 feetatofthe four-inch hose or ductwork. 2017 A HEPA filter with pulse cleaner is said to maximize suc-at Purchase Wood-Maxx product tion and minimize downtime, while the show the use of liner bags provides for easy, and receive 20% off list price mess-free waste disposal. Units can be wall mounted.

Distributor inquiries welcome www.oneida-air.com

Grooving cutter has 8.5 mm cutting width

Leuco has announced a grooving cutter with a cutting width of 8.5 mm for CNC machines. To obtain this width, the company says, a 5 mm grooving cutter and two passes have often been necessary. The new grooving cutters are said to speed up the grooving process and double the edge life of the tool. Solid wood, plastics or varnished surfaces can be cut, as the grouped profile consisting of five teeth each is able to saw wood even with hard or sensitive coatings. The cutter is suitable for grooves in furniture, cabinet, showcase or commode parts. In addition, the new grooving cutter generates a low noise level, like all saw blades of the g5-system. www.leuco.com

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WOOD INDUSTRY 23

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New Products

Corner cabinet hardware rescues space

The Vauth-Sagel Cornerstone Maxx corner cabinet shelving system available from Häfele Canada places the contents on two straight shelves in front of the cabinet. The often poorly

utilized, or even completely un-utilized spaces in the corner cabinet can be accessed with great ease with the product, the company says. The system also has no impact on the surrounding cabinets, since it only swings in front of its own carcass. In so doing, PAM, the power-assisted movement system, supports the motion sequence.

Due to energy storage support and end-damped infeed and outfeed, the company adds, it opens and closes almost automatically and noiselessly.

With a load capacity of up to 25 kg per shelf, the system consists of three parts and doesn’t require a second mounting point — a single standpipe is said to provide maximum stability, in addition to allowing simple height adjustment, even after installation. www.hafele.ca

Router table fence provides flat finishes

JessEm has introduced the Mast-RFence III router table fence. The fence is functional while adding a beautiful look, the company says. Maple subfences are cut, machined and laser engraved in the company’s woodshop.

The sub-fence faces can be hand-adjusted with locking knobs on the backside of the fence. The dust port

24 WOOD INDUSTRY

MARCH/APRIL 2020

45˚ and a 4-inch dust chute rotates to be used for both jointing and planing operations. Units have a magnetic safety switch, come with two push blocks, a set of five replacement cutter inserts, two T25 Torx screwdrivers and adjustment hex keys. www.kingcanada.com

Base cabinet shelves

fitting is designed with an inside diameter that accepts a 2-1/4-inch diameter vacuum hose fitting and outside diameter that accepts a 2-1/2-inch vacuum hose fitting. Included with the fence are fence face shimming bars that are laser engraved with one side designed to offset the fence face 1/32 inch and the other 1/16 inch. When not in use, they store on the backside in the shimming bar holder. Specifications include: fence dimensions of 36inch long x 3-9/16-inch high x 4-7/8inch deep; fits tables 32-inch long and from 3/4 to 1-½-inch thick; and, fence face dimensions of 2-½-inches high x 17-3/4-inches long. www.jessem.ca

Jointer/planer with spiral cutterhead

Extendo shelves from Richelieu can be used as a pantry unit or in applications such as base cabinets in the living room, closet or bedroom. Wherever pull-out shelf is required, the company says, concealed extension runners can be added (sold separately) for the shelves to sit on during set up. Units are adaptable to metric and imperial sizes. The shelves include: 1 Fioro shelf; 1 anti-slip mat; 1 oak railing of 87 mm; and, 1 pair of universal adapters for 450 mm nominal length slides. The dark grey units are available in wide range of internal widths, depths and heights. www.richelieu.com

Monitor for UV lamp health

The Lextractor UV-Monitor from Lamp Express measures ultraviolet light intensity to ensure curing systems are operating properly. The UV

Dual jointer/planer combination machine model KC-12HJPC from King Canada has a 12-inch spiral cutterhead and 3 hp motor. The cutterhead is said to be 50 percent quieter than a conventional cutterhead. Units are designed with precision cast-iron tables, while a parallelogram table adjustment system keeps table close to cutterhead for improved finish and precise depth of cut adjustments, the company says. The 43 x 6-inch aluminum extruded fence pivots from 0 to

monitoring device provides a simplified interface instead of displaying cryptic numbers and forcing users to interpret milliwatts, millijoules and other scientific terminology to determine how healthy a UV lamp is. Install the fibre optic coupling on the

equipment, connect fibre optic to the monitor and a reading can be made.

The company recommends checking the lamp output weekly — as long as green bars appear, everything is OK. Once orange bars appear, replacement bulbs should be ordered to ensure production continues smoothly.

The UV monitor is 138 x 75 x 28 mm (H x W x D) and compatible with UV LED, mercury vapour UV bulbs and UV xenon lamps. www.lexusa.com

Laminate slabs in expanded colour range

pressions Collection by Formica Canada. Inspired by extensive home and design research, the launch includes five new 180fx laminate designs and one new Formica Laminate pattern.

Originally created to give homeowners the drama of exotic granites, stones and woodgrains in a largescale laminate with true-to-scale scanning technology, the 180fx laminate product line expands with its first handcrafted patterns in addition to one new stone design. www.formica.com

Drilling units for production applications

Suhner has introduced the EconoMaster line of drilling units, suitable for multiple materials such as light metal, wood, composite, plastic and foam. The drilling unit features low power and air

Elias Woodwork has added 10 colours to its line of TFL slab products. The trendy colours include some textured wood grain and solid colours that were recently introduced to its line of 5-piece laminate (polyester) products.

The slab doors and/or drawer fronts are said to now be a popular component for many kitchen designs. The TFL doors are finished using fusion edgebanding that provides no visible seams and uses no additional hot melt adhesives in the process. www.eliaswoodwork.com

Laminate designs mimic surfaces

Veneer forming system

The PT series of radial forming machines from Ogden Group was developed as an economical alternative method to easily and accurately fabricate curved components such as arched headers and radiused moldings for windows and doors, and furniture

consumption, adjustable motor housing, adjustable total stroke up to 4 in., hydraulic feed control cylinder, J33 taper spindle end, 0 to ½-inch drill chuck, electric front and rear position limit switches, belt tensioner and chromeplated quill. Basic unit weight is 45 lb.

Other features include adjustable feed stroke of ½ to 3 in., 400 lb thrust at 85 psi, operating pressures to 110 psi, TEFC/IP56 protection, standard 230V/460V, concentricity of .002-inch TIR, speed ranges to 9600 rpm and an air connection retract/advance of ¼ to 27-inch NPT. www.suhner.com

Mobile dust extractor

Hand-painted marbles and water colours are among the new surfaces for home interiors in the 2020 Living Im-

tractor comes with a touch-operated control panel for simple operation when wearing gloves. In addition, the tool-triggered activation saves time as the extractor starts and stops in-sync with the connected tool when it is plugged into the supplied socket. The extractor is designed with an externally accessible filter for fast filter changes without the need for tools and has a four-gallon capacity bag. www.festoolcanada.com

The CT 15 from Festool is a mobile dust extractor that is HEPA certified for the requirements of EPA RRP guidelines. Whether in the shop or on the jobsite, the unit weighs just under 24 lb. Compatible with all Festool systems, units are capable of removing dust, water and dirt. The dust ex

parts. The machines can produce a wide range of shapes without the use of forms or templates. The patented, ruggedly built machines feature welded steel frame construction and quality components for a long and productive life, the company says. The machine can be used as a cold press or with optional heat bands or a with high frequency generator to cure the glue lines.

The machines can be built with manual adjustable forms or fully CNC forms which move into position via computer control touch screen. Machine specifications include: 200 psi maximum; 4.5inch maximum thick-ness; depth of 42 in.; minimum diameter of 12 in., maximum diameter of 96 in.; and, radius min/max of 2/180 in. www.odgen-group.com www.woodindustry.ca

WOOD INDUSTRY 25

Bullets WOOD The total value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities increased 4.0 percent to $9.2 billion in January month-over-month. Increases were reported in six provinces, led by B.C. (up 52.1 percent to $2.2 billion). Year-over-year, the increase was 10.3 percent —Statistics Canada Currently, 44 percent of U.S. households are actively buying food both online and in stores. —Nielsen Twelve years after Tesla released its first consumer car, the Roadster, the electric car specialist has produced its one millionth vehicle. By contrast, industry leader Volkswagen produces more than 10 million vehicles per year. —Statista In 2018, 5.2 percent of people aged between 15 and 64 regularly worked from home across the European Union (EU). That share has remained relatively constant at about five percent over the past 10 years.

The Netherlands has the highest share of workers who say they usually work from home at 14 percent, closely followed by Finland with 13.3 percent.

—Eurostat More than half of residential renovation and design companies on the social media platform Houzz predict that 2020 will be a good or very good year (65 percent to 82 percent), reflecting a slight increase from expectations for 2019 a year ago (58 percent to 80 percent). —Houzz The U.S. economy gained 273,000 new jobs in February, in addition to 85,000 new jobs in December and January. —U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment in Canada was little changed in February (up 30,000 or 0.2 percent), and the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.6 percent. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment rose by 245,000 (1.3 percent). —Statistics Canada Canada’s trade deficit with countries other than the U.S. narrowed from $5.4 billion in December 2019 to $5.0 billion in January, the lowest deficit in more than a year. Canada’s trade surplus with the U.S. narrowed from $4.7 billion in December 2019 to $3.6 billion in January, the smallest surplus since February 2019. —Statistics Canada

26 WOOD INDUSTRY

MARCH/APRIL 2020

The U.S. monthly international trade deficit decreased in January 2020 from $48.6 billion US in December to $45.3 billion US in January, as imports decreased more than exports. The goods deficit decreased $2.6 billion US in January to $67.0 billion US. The services surplus increased $0.6 billion US in January to $21.7 billion US. —U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis/U.S. Census Bureau The value of EU imports of tropical wood products increased 7 percent to €4.16 billion in 2019. This follows a 2 percent increase in import value in 2018.

The share of tropical timber in the total value of EU wood product imports increased from 19.7 percent in 2018 to 20.3 percent in 2019, rebounding to the level seen two years earlier. —ITTO January saw a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 213,224 housing units in Canadastarted, up 8.8 percent from the 195,892 starts in December. Of those, rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10,817 units. Gains were concentrated in multifamily buildings such as apartments and condos that saw a 13.2 percent increase in starts, while single-detached home starts slipped 2.1 percent to 55,100 units. —CMHC The value of EU imports of wood furniture increased by 10 percent to €7.07 billion in 2019 after a 1 percent fall in 2018. After flat lining in 2018, imports from China, the EU’s largest external furniture supplier, increased throughout 2019.

—Eurostat In January 2020, wood and wood product exports from Vietnam to all main markets dropped compared to January 2019. Exports to Canada and the U.S. were both down 9 percent; Japan down 23 percent and South Korea by 32 percent. —Vietnam General Department of Customs Year-on-year, Japan’s November 2019 wooden furniture imports were up 8 percent and month-on-month there was a 25 percent rise. In November, wooden office furniture imports were ¥213,000 and kitchen furniture imports were ¥5,550,000 from Canada.

—Japan Ministry of Finance

In 2019 the per capita disposable income of Chinese residents was RMB 30,733, an increase of 5.8 percent compared to 2018. The per capita disposable income of urban households increased 7.9 percent and the per capita disposable income of rural households increased over 9 percent. —ITTO The Bento Gonçalves furniture area in the Rio Grande do Sul State of Brazil increased exports by over 10 percent in 2019 compared to the previous year. —ITTO The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in Canada for February was 51.8. Anything over 50 is an indication positive buying intention.

—IHS Markit The February U.S. PMI for February in the manufacturing sector was 50.1 in the wake of 130 consecutive months of economic growth. —Institute for Supply Management There were 681,000 new U.S. homes sold in 2019, 10.3 percent higher than in 2018. And, despite sales of newly-built, single-family homes declining 0.4 percent in December from November, the monthly rate was still 23 percent higher than December of 2018. —KCMA Manufacturers in the U.S. will need to fill 4.6 million jobs by 2028. More than half of those jobs could be left unfilled because of two issues — a skills gap and misperceptions about modern manufacturing.

—National Association of Manufacturers/Manufacturing Institute The top three Canadian institutional, commercial and residential projects on the books in March are in the province of Quebec and in North York, Ont. The Quebec government has earmarked $1 billion for nursing homes, while North York has two multi-use business/condominium projects valued at $250 million and $100 million. —Daily Commercial News Architecture firm billings in the U.S. increased for the fifth consecutive month in January, with about the same share of firms reporting an increase in billings as in December. The monthly Architecture Billings Index (ABI) came in at 52.2, indicating a positive outlook. —American Institute of Architects

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the German metalworking machine tool industry’s order bookings fell by 20 per cent in comparison to the preceding year’s equivalent period. Domestic orders were down by 18 per cent, export orders by 20 per cent. In 2019, order bookings decreased by a total of 22 per cent.

Domestic bookings fell by 21 per cent, export orders by 22 per cent. —VDW Total investment in building construction in Canada edged up 0.5 percent from November to $15.6 billion in December, with gains in both the residential and non-residential sectors. Residential investment was up in five provinces in December, with notable gains in Ontario (2.0 percent to $4.5 billion) and Alberta (3.2 percent to $1.1 billion). Nationally, investment in multi-unit dwellings increased 2.8 percent to $5.5 billion. —Statistics Canada Total U.S. construction activity for January 2020, $1,369.2 billion US, was 1.8 percent above December 2019, $1,345.5 billion US. —U.S. Census Bureau With almost 640 million inhabitants, the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have a total furniture consumption exceeding $16 billion US. Brazil, a large furniture consumer ranking 12th globally, is the main market of the area, followed by Mexico and Chile. —CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies Year-on-year December wooden door imports in Japan were flat as was month-on-month imports.

However, compared to the value of 2018 imports there was a 3 percent increase recorded in 2019. Two shippers, China (62 percent) and the Philippines (23 percent), accounted for most of Japan’s wooden door imports in December, repeating their performance in previous months. —Lesprom The forecast of eligible foreign-born voters in the U.S. will grow further this year, hitting 23.2 million, a 93 percent increase since 2000. That means 9.8 percent of U.S. eligible voters will be foreign-born by the time Americans go to the polls in November — a record high. Between 2000 and 2020, the U.S.born eligible voter population grew at a slower pace, rising from 181 million to 215 million, an increase of 18 percent. —Pew Research Center

www.woodindustry.ca

WOOD INDUSTRY 27

WOOD

By the numbers Residential construction investment in millions

14,000

of dollars

12,000

Residential construction investment In millions of dollars Residentialconstruction constructioninvestment investmentininmillions millionsofofdollars dollars Residential

Total residential investment

14,000 14,000 10,000 12,000 12,000

8,000

Total Total residential residential investment investment

Total residential investment

10,000 10,000

6,000 8,000 8,000 6,000 6,000 4,000

Renovations Renovations total Renovations Renovations

4,000 4,000

2,000

total total

2,000 2,000

0 00

Aug-18 Sep-18 Sep-18 Oct-1 Oct-1 Nov-18 Dec Dec -18 Jan-19 Jan-19 Feb-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 Apr-19 May-1 May-1 Jun-19 Jul-19 Jul-19 Aug-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Sep-19 Oct-1 Oct-1 Nov-19 Aug-18 8 8 Nov-18 Nov-18 -18 9 9 Jun-19 Jun-19 9 9 Nov-19 Nov-19 Aug-18 Sep-18 Oct-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jul-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Oct-19

7,000 Canadian

Canadian building permits in millions of dollars

building permits In millions of dollars

Residential building permits

Canadianbuilding buildingpermits permits ininmillions millionsofofdollars dollars Canadian

6,000 7,000 7,000

Residential Residential building Residential building building permits permits permits

6,000 5,000 6,000 5,000 5,000 4,000

Commercial Commercialpermits building building

4,000 4,000

permits

3,000

Commercialbuilding building Commercial permits permits Institutional

3,000 3,000

and governmental building permits

2,000

2,000 2,000

1,000 1,000 1,000

14,000 000

New housing construction value in millions of dollars Aug-18 Sep-18 Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Aug-18 Sep-18 Sep-18 Oct-18 Oct-18 Nov-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Jan-19 Feb-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 Apr-19 May-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jun-19 Aug-18

Jul-19 Jul-19 Jul-19

Aug-19 Sep-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Sep-19 Aug-19

Oct-19 Nov-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Nov-19 Oct-19

Institutional and Institutional Institutionaland and governmental governmental governmental Total building building permits buildingpermits permits

residential

12,000

New value housing Inconstruction New housing construction millions of dollars value in millions of dollars 14,000

10,000 12,000

Total residential

8,000 10,000

Single

Apartments Single

8,000 6,000

Apartments Apartments

6,000

4,000

Carpenter construction union hourly rates in dollars including selected pay supplements

4,000

2,000

Row Row Row

Double Toronto, Ont.

2,000 70

00

Total Single residential

Double Double 60

Aug-18 Sep-18 Sep-18 Oct-18 Oct-18 Nov-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Jan-19 Feb-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 Apr-19 May-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jun-19 Aug-18

Jul-19 Jul-19

Aug-19 Sep-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Nov-19 Aug-19

Regina, Sask.

50 Carpenter constructionCarpenter union hourly wage rates In dollars, including selected pay supplements construction union hourly rates in dollars including selected pay supplements

Carpenter construction union hourly rates in dollars, including selected pay supplements

Toronto, Ont. Edmonton, Alta.

7070

40

Toronto, Ont.

Toronto, Ont.

6060

Regina, Sask.

Regina, Sask.

4040

20

Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver, B.C. Québec, Que. Quebec, Que.

3030 2020

10

Québec, Que.

Québec, Que. Saint John, N.B.

1010 0 00

Sep-18 Aug-18 Aug-18

Oct-18 Sep-18 Sep-18

Nov-18 Oct-1 8 Oct-18

Dec-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Feb-19 Mar-19Mar-19 Apr-19 Apr-19 May-19 Jun-19 Jul-19Jul-19 Aug-19 Nov-18 Dec -18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-1 9 Jun-19 Jul-19 Aug-19Sep-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Oct-1 9 Nov-19 Nov-19 Nov-18 Jan-19 May-19 Jun-19 Aug-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Nov-19

INDUSTRY MARCH/APRIL MARCH/APRIL 2020 2020 28 WOOD INDUSTRY

Saint John, N.B. Saint John, N.B. Saint John, N.B.

Source: Statistics Canada

Regina, Sask.

Vancouver, B.C. Edmonton, Alta.Alta.

Edmonton, Edmonton, Alta.

50 5030

Events WOOD June 4 – 7 AWMAC National Convention Toronto, Ont. https://awmac.com/news/352 June 16 – 21 EuroCucina Milan, Italy https://www.salonemilano.it/en/ exhibitions/eurocucina-ftktechnology-for-the-kitchen July 26 – 30 Las Vegas Market Las Vegas, Nev. www.lasvegasmarket.com

WOOD

Advertisers Akhurst www.akhurst.com ............................15

Salice www.salicecanada.com ..................32

Canmade Hardware www.canmade.com .........................14

Sames Kremlin www.sames-kremlin.com .................5

Grass Canada www.grasscanada.com .....................9

Sugatsune Canada www.sugatsune.ca ...........................22

KCD Software www.kcdsoftware.com ......................2

Xylexpo www.xylexpo.com ............................31

Komo Machine www.komo.com ................................12

Wood-Maxx www.wood-maxx.ca...........................23

MEC Precision www.mec-precision.com .................19

Aug. 25 – 28 IWF Atlanta, Ga. www.iwfatlanta.com Aug. 31 – Sept. 2 Domotex Asia ChinaFloor Shanghai, China www.domotexasiachinafloor.com Sept. 15 – 18 Drema Poznan, Poland www.drema.pl/en Oct. 13 – 16 Sicam Pordenone, Italy www.exposicam.it/en/

Coming to

IWF 2020!

October 22 – 23 Woodworking East Saint-Hyacinthe, Que. www.canadawoodworkingeast.ca Nov. 4 – 7 GreenBuild Expo San Diego, Calif. www.greenbuildexpo.com Dec. 2 – 4 The Buildings Show Toronto, Ont. www.thebuildingsshow.com

Sponsorship details: Stephen King | 416-802-1225 | sking@wimediainc.ca www.woodindustry.ca www.woodindustry.ca

INDUSTRY 29 WOODINDUSTRY WOOD

WOOD

Perspective Whether in production or in sales, warehousing or distribution, sometimes the critical factor is not whether you see something, but how you see something. – Editor

This is an image of a blue-gray tanager, taken in Costa Rica last January.

INDUSTRY MARCH/APRIL MARCH/APRIL 2020 2020 30 WOOD INDUSTRY