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

Custom Shop
An unskilled or unproductive employee can quickly affect production and product quality. That’s why Chris Robinson, owner of The Cabinet Connection, Wytheville, Va., made the decision to purchase a CNC router.

Finish Line
Educating yourself about viscosity and what the correct viscosity is for the material you are applying will help minimize a costly variable. Finishing expert Bruce Jackson gives you 10 ways to save your bottom line from vanishing.

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
Diversity, quality, availability, cost-competitiveness, architectural beauty and design impact are strong factors driving the growth of exotic woods. However, the single most important factor is that consumers, manufacturers and architects are all starting to specify, design, seek and demand imported wood products.

Production Line
If the nation’s power grid ever goes down, chances are good that Baird Brothers Sawmill, Canfield, Ohio, won’t miss a beat. That’s because the custom and stock millwork company uses natural resources and recycling for its power and heat generation.

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
Ken Casey, president of Production Woodworking, Corpus Christi, TX, says his Razor Gage computerized stop from Technical Services has been a triple enhancement for his component manufacturing business.

Sanding Sense
Many factors affect staining color variations. Sanding expert Howard Grivna cites 10 issues that could be contributing to the problem.

Supply Side
A look at the latest adhesive products in the woodworking market.

Think Lean
Whether or not you are recovering from a hurricane, tsunami or fire, using the lean enterprise principles can guide you to achieving company performance well beyond that to which you are accustomed to in a more traditional command and control management system. Most importantly, the odds your business will survive dramatically increase, says lean manufacturing expert, Ken Rolfes.

Trends
The wood industry makes a heartfelt response to evacuees and displaced workers of Hurricane Katrina. Offers of jobs, shop space and even personal contributions continue to mount.

Trends Extra
The Altendorf America Trivia Zone, a Web-based program with daily industry-based trivia questions, is offered at www.altendorfamerica.com as a celebration of Altendorf America’s 20th anniversary.

Words of Wisdom
Katrina’s aftermath brings even more challenges to area’s wood products manufacturers.