A Few Minutes With...
A Few Minutes With… Jeff Meyer, President
Baillie Lumber Company, Hamburg, NY
Differentiation is the challenge.

Custom Shop
When Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee hits a ball over the ivy-covered wall in Wrigley field, the folks at Old Hickory Bat Co. can’t help but smile knowing it’s a ringing endorsement of their product. Old Hickory attributes its success to an understanding of wood science along with tailoring its products to the needs of individual players.

Finish Line
Finish quality must be the guiding concern throughout the entire process of making and shipping products. Finishing expert Bruce Jackson outlines the importance of communication in defining the level of finish quality one wants to achieve and what it will take to produce that finish quality at every step.

Hot Gear
Get descriptions and request information about products from our participating companies.

Drying and Roughmill
Some comments on hand-held moisture
meters in hardwood lumber drying. Dr. Fred Lamb examines the different types of moisture meters and their role in hardwood drying.

Material Issues
Southern pine continues to be a hit for flooring and interior walls and ceilings due to its durability, unique grain and warm, rich color.

Production Line
Bob Davies, owner of Phoenix, Ariz.-based A.C.E., found that a simple return conveyor produces a fully productive edgebander operator along with streamlined workflow with no edgebander downtime.

Process of the Month
For Ernst Cabinet Works in Hamburg, Pa., the implementation of an advanced software program has simplified the complicated designs associated with high-end custom kitchen cabinetry, along with streamlining its production process. Meanwhile, Top Drawer Component in Apache Junction, AZ, has improved its margins with new optimization software.

Proving Ground
Precision Balancing & Analyzing assists customers in meeting production goals through quality repairs and new spindles. When a Vermont company asked if PBA had a spindle that would reduce or eliminate motor coolant clogging problems and oil mist lubrication problems, PBA responded with the ASV Model HFC-100-2RB. This air-cooled grease-packed spindle delivers 5.5 hp at 18,000 rpm.

Sanding Sense
Bottom side sanders present major problems and challenges that will negate any perceived production advantages to employing them, says sanding expert Howard Grivna. Read why he believes you are better off turning parts over and always sanding on top machines.

Supply Side
Decorative hardware manufacturers keep pace with cabinetry and furniture trends with expanded variety and new finish options.

Think Lean
The production control board provides a quick way to visually see if the cell is producing at customer demand and highlights any shortfalls or over-production. Lean manufacturing expert Ken Rolfes outlines the ins and outs of using production control boards as the basis for improvements.

Trends
Unfinished furniture is not all pine and country anymore, says Dave Sommer, immediate past president of the Unfinished Furniture Association. Great quality and plenty of fashion options are expanding this segment’s market.

Trends Extra
WINStep’s Version 3.0 is a real world useable standardization to make sales, design and manufacturing software work together to simplify the manufacturing process from order to shipment to delivery. That’s what the members of WINStep want you to know about the not-for-profit organization’s efforts to develop and monitor a wood industry open data exchange format.

Words of Wisdom
Think of your organization as a person. What would its personality trait be — schizophrenic, confused, disjointed, stressed, overloaded, worried, excited? This was the challenge presented by Roger Jansen, Ph.D., partner at the Leadership Capital Group, to attendees at Stiles Education’s Executive Briefing Conference held this May in Milwaukee, WI. In a recent survey of business leaders, his company found that only seven percent said they were actively initiating a change in their company culture.