Nothing Like Going Back
Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief, Panel World September 2019
Through the course of time, as we editors travel to wood products mills around the world, we begin to view some mills as more than just a mill, but rather as a member of our editorial family.
Take this issue’s cover story for instance—the RoyOMartin southern pine plywood mill in Chopin, La. Panel World editors have visited this mill and written articles on it four times since it started running in 1996.
I went there almost exactly 23 years ago, several months after it peeled its first block in February 1996. After considering the construction of a southern pine sawmill, Martco (Jonathan Martin and Jerry Buckner in particular) realized a plywood mill would better address its wood utilization situation. Martco officially announced the project in 1994 at a cost of $50 million and with a stated production capacity of 250MMSF (3⁄8 in.).
It was very special to be able to visit with these gentlemen and tour the mill for the article. Martco had gone with Durand-Raute for most of the machinery, having come away impressed with some similar equipment it had seen in action at Plum Creek Timber’s plywood mills in Montana.
The next time Panel World went back to Chopin was in 2007. Our senior editor Dan Shell made that journey, mainly because the mill had started up a second plywood line—heavier to USNR (Coe) and SparTek this time (including a seven ply foam glue layup line—and had increased annual production capacity to 470MMSF, going after smaller logs in longer lengths.
It was my turn again in 2011, and while the mill had made some equipment improvements, boosting production to nearly 490MMSF, the brunt of the article was on the company’s Living With Wellness Program, which emphasized the idea that a healthier employee is also a safer worker. Looking back on it, I think I went back mainly because I just wanted to see how the mill had evolved since my initial visit.
A few things caught our attention for this latest visit for the article in this issue. The trip to the mill had brought in some dryers since our previous visit, and had recently undergone considerable upgrade to its automation systems and controls throughout the mill. Production had hiked again to 510MMSF, more than double the original output. But what really caught our eye was that a couple of years ago the mill had implemented a timbers sawmill line, utilizing the non-plywood stems from the optimized multi-saw bucking line.
The editor who visited the mill and wrote the story in this issue, Jessica Johnson, was all of eight years old when I visited the new mill in 1996. Maybe now you can begin to see how a mill can traverse our editorial landscape.
RELATED ARTICLES
ROYOMARTIN ADDS PRODUCTION LINE IN CORRIGAN
HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY CHOPIN PLYWOOD
TIME IS FREE BUT IT’S PRICELESS
ROY MARTIN III PAINTS REFRESHING, POSITIVE PICTURE
Latest News
48 Years Of Westmill & Still Going Strong
Established in 1975, Victor Crondahl started Westmill Industries supplying parts and equipment to the Canadian plywood manufacturing industry. Now, nearly five decades later Westmill continues to grow under its current owner, Mike Crondahl, son of the founder. Westmill has become a world leader in the design and manufacture of veneer drying equipment and technologies. Twenty-five years after Westmill installed the plywood…
Georgia-Pacific Camden Plywood Invests $18 Million
It was in the late 1800s when the small community of Camden, Tex., welcomed its first forest products mill. What began as the W.T. Carter Lumber Co. is today one of Georgia-Pacific’s largest plywood operations. To ensure its longevity for years to come, Georgia-Pacific is embarking on a $18 million upgrade that will modernize the plant and help increase efficiency…
Roseburg Makes Major Decision
Roseburg Forest Products, which announced in April a $700 million investment over the next four years to expand operations in southern Oregon, including a $450 million MDF plant in Dillard, Ore., has selected Siempelkamp as the primary supplier of the MDF plant, including a 10 ft. x 42.1 m ContiRoll continuous press. The companies noted that in 1969 Siempelkamp supplied Roseburg Lumber with its very first composite panel press line…
APA Board Adds Beers As Trustee
APA, The Engineered Wood Assn. Board of Trustees has added John Beers III as its newest member. He joins the APA Board of Trustees, filling the position vacated by Andy Konieczka’s resignation and move to a new role within Georgia-Pacific. Beers currently serves as the president of the structural panels business at Georgia-Pacific…
Find Us On Social
Newsletter
The monthly Panel World Industry Newsletter reaches over 3,000 who represent primary panel production operations.
Subscribe/Renew
Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative. Contact us today!
Latest News
48 Years Of Westmill & Still Going Strong
Established in 1975, Victor Crondahl started Westmill Industries supplying parts and equipment to the Canadian plywood manufacturing industry. Now, nearly five decades later Westmill continues to grow under its current owner, Mike Crondahl, son of the founder. Westmill has become a world leader in the design and manufacture of veneer drying equipment and technologies. Twenty-five years after Westmill installed the plywood…
Georgia-Pacific Camden Plywood Invests $18 Million
It was in the late 1800s when the small community of Camden, Tex., welcomed its first forest products mill. What began as the W.T. Carter Lumber Co. is today one of Georgia-Pacific’s largest plywood operations. To ensure its longevity for years to come, Georgia-Pacific is embarking on a $18 million upgrade that will modernize the plant and help increase efficiency…
Roseburg Makes Major Decision
Roseburg Forest Products, which announced in April a $700 million investment over the next four years to expand operations in southern Oregon, including a $450 million MDF plant in Dillard, Ore., has selected Siempelkamp as the primary supplier of the MDF plant, including a 10 ft. x 42.1 m ContiRoll continuous press. The companies noted that in 1969 Siempelkamp supplied Roseburg Lumber with its very first composite panel press line…
APA Board Adds Beers As Trustee
APA, The Engineered Wood Assn. Board of Trustees has added John Beers III as its newest member. He joins the APA Board of Trustees, filling the position vacated by Andy Konieczka’s resignation and move to a new role within Georgia-Pacific. Beers currently serves as the president of the structural panels business at Georgia-Pacific…
Find Us On Social
Newsletter
The monthly Panel World Industry Newsletter reaches over 3,000 who represent primary panel production operations.
Subscribe/Renew
Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative. Contact us today!