by Web Editor | Jul 6, 2018 | News
One of the best aspects of our industry is how open and inviting other producers are to visitors. It is a fact that in the wood products industry some of our fiercest competitors may also be our best customers, which encourages companies to be open and helpful. Visiting mills can often be the best way to build relationships, learn about new production processes and equipment, and develop partnerships. This is not only true for North American producers, but also foreign producers.
In January of this year, representatives of Freres Lumber learned this first-hand. Invited by Taihei, a Japanese equipment manufacturer, Freres Plant Manager Bill Childress, Chris Harpole our Plywood Maintenance Manager and myself traveled almost 24 hours to Japan for a whirlwind, five-day tour of manufacturing and equipment fabricating facilities. There was much to learn and much to see.
In a production line the magic is often in the small details, but we noticed some large differences between U.S. and Japanese production processes right away. From the start of the production, many of the blocks were conditioned in nominal 12’ lengths. A standard metric sheet of veneer or plywood is 1-meter x 2-meter, or about 3’ x 6’. Blocks this size would be difficult to handle, so they kept full length and cut in half at the lathe.
Japanese veneer processing lines are not unheard of in the States, and in fact Swanson Group, a local Oregon manufacturer has a Japanese Meinan lathe. These lathes are known for their precision and how few people are required to operate the line. They also have a substantially different philosophy in handling random veneer, which was not only evident on the veneer line, but also in the plywood workstations.
U.S. production on lines typically add the people they need to handle small, random pieces. Japanese producers crowd, stack, and compose the random veneer instead. It varies from plant to plant whether or not random veneer is composed green or dry.
Read more of this article from Kyle Freres at https://frereslumber.com/blog/2018/07/freres-lumber-representatives-visit-japanese-wood-products-manufacturers/?utm_source=Forest+Business+Network+email+newsletter&utm_campaign=7bbb0fdb95-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_07_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3a629cb392-7bbb0fdb95-111950185.
by Web Editor | Apr 5, 2017 | News
The U.S. Forest Service is working to build markets for innovative forest products. One of these products, cross-laminated timber, also known as CLT, offers an opportunity for raising tall buildings with wood, opening up a completely new market for wood products.
And there’s tremendous opportunity to increase the market share for wood-based construction. Because of its high strength, CLT is an advantageous alternative to traditional building materials such as concrete, masonry, and steel. Because CLT panels resist compression, they are well-suited for building multistory structures, especially mid-rise buildings. Made from layers of dried lumber boards, stacked in alternating direction at 90-degree angles, glued and pressed to form solid panels, CLT has exceptional strength and stability and can be used as walls, roofs, and floors.
Additionally, CLT is highly resilient to fire, earthquakes, and even explosions. In fact in a recent series of live blast tests, CLT passed with flying colors. An examination of the results showed that the CLT structures suffered less degradation than expected and might outlast concrete and steel.
In terms of fire, CLT is like using a large log to start a campfire—it doesn’t ignite easily. And when it does burn, a char layer forms on the outside, protecting the inside and allowing the wood panel to maintain its structural integrity during fire scenarios.
Researchers have conducted extensive seismic testing on CLT and found that the panels perform exceptionally well in multi-story applications. When a seven-story CLT building was tested on the world’s largest shake table in Japan, it survived 14 consecutive earthquake simulations with almost no damage.
From the USDA: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2017/04/04/build-better-stronger-faster-clt
by Web Editor | Dec 21, 2015 | News
New WOOD MARKETS five-year forecast calls for continued volatility as North American and global lumber markets continue to recover and grow.
In WOOD MARKETS’ new five-year forecast, the short-term outlook is that North American and global economies, as well as softwood lumber and panel markets, are all forecast to improve, but at a much slower pace than has been expected. What has also short-circuited the prospects of stronger demand is a slowdown in China and Japan, impacting export markets. And the new wildcard that caused U.S. dollar prices to plunge in 2015, especially in softwood lumber, was the rapid currency devaluations of almost all major lumber producers as compared to the U.S. dollar. All of these factors have changed the WOOD MARKETS outlook to one that expects more lacklustre demand and corresponding price growth through 2018. After that, it starts to look very good.
These details and further analysis of commodity lumber and panels was released last week in the report, WOOD MARKETS 2016 – The Solid Wood Products Outlook: 2016 to 2020 by International WOOD MARKETS Group, Vancouver BC.
The supply-side dynamics feature eroding sustainable timber harvests in key provinces in Canada, resulting in dramatically lower lumber production than in the previous decade. Canada’s total lumber output will start to flatten out by 2018 with no further increases expected – just as U.S. and global demand are expected to gain momentum.
On the U.S. side, the U.S. West Coast region continues to watch log export prices in China and Japan, as many domestic log prices are correlated with export prices – this can quickly tighten the wood supply for sawmills and plywood mills as export prices rise. The U.S. South is forecast to be the only region where any significant lumber and panel production will occur, mainly due its ample, under-utilized timberland base of southern yellow pine. As lumber and panel demand increases, it is forecast that the current depressed log prices will start to move higher to feed incremental wood consumption of the expected additional panel and sawmill production.
From Wood Markets: https://www.woodmarkets.com/global-malaise-in-demand-coupled-with-rising-production-stalls-price-movement-in-north-america/
by Web Editor | Sep 4, 2015 | News
A precision-quality hardwood plywood core peeling line has been installed at Columbia Forest Products plant in Hearst, ON. Crews of engineers, electrical technicians, installation laborers and technicians from Japan collaborated on installing what is Columbia Forest Products newest Meinan lathe line – this time at Columbia’s plant in Hearst, Ontario.
Columbia’s interest in finding the hardwood plywood core peeling system that delivers the world’s absolutely best quality peel, thickness tolerances and recovery available took Columbia engineers and executives halfway around the world to Japan, where Meinan peeling systems are engineered and fabricated.
Andy Frei, lead engineer and project manager for the Hearst installation, noted, “The attention to detail on this system is so high that the entire 200 ft. long lathe line was assembled, tested and disassembled in Japan prior to shipping to Canada.”
Once disassembled, 36 containers holding the lathe, stackers and ancillary equipment were shipped to Vancouver, BC. From there, the Meinan system traveled across Canada via rail, was unloaded in Toronto and then transported to Hearst on 30 trucks.
“Finally, we now have our Meinan system in the plant,” Columbia Forest Products’ Canadian general manager Gilles Levesque commented. “As a follow-up to the more than $5 million investment in innovative capital projects at the facility over the past seven years, this $15 million crowning investment provides more than 200 employees in Hearst an integral piece of capital innovation that will enable us to compete well into the future – regardless of the exchange rate or foreign competition.”
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/canadian-news/columbia-forest-products-installs-meinan-lathe-line-hearst-ontario?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
by Web Editor | Aug 31, 2015 | News
In a move which will double its capacity, RedBuilt LLC is adding a laminated veneer lumber line at its Stayton, OR, facility, one of four manufacturing plants by the Boise, ID-based company. RedBuilt manufactures engineered structural wood products for commercial and multi-family applications.
“This press will nearly double our existing RedLam LVL capacity,” RedBuilt President and CEO Kurt Liebich said. “Our new line will help us meet demand for our engineered wood products. We’re committed to investing in the future of the business and providing the innovative solutions our customers have depended on for decades.”
The new four-foot LVL press is being supplied by Tahei Machinery, a manufacturer of plywood and woodworking machinery in Komaki City, Japan.
“LVL is at the heart of virtually all our products, from RedLam headers and beams and flanges in Red-I I-joists and open-web trusses, to RedPlank scaffold plank and our concrete forming and shoring solutions,” Liebich said. “With this new line, RedBuilt is better positioned to control the supply and quality of products we manufacture and serve our customers’ growing needs.”
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/redbuilt-engineered-lumber-facility-doubles-capacity?ss=news,news,woodworking_industry_news,news,almanac_market_data,news
