by Web Editor | Aug 20, 2014 | Taking Stock
Story by Rich Donnell,
Editor-In-Chief
As far as we’re concerned, the stretch run begins now for the Timber Processing & Energy Expo, which will be held October 15-17 at the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore.
Panel World magazine is one of the primary media hosts of the event. Even-numbered years are especially busy for Panel World and our staff, because in addition to TP&EE in October, you’ll recall Panel World hosted the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) this past March in Atlanta, Ga.
Of course TP&EE in Portland and PELICE in Atlanta are different animals. TP&EE is more of a traditional big machinery expo, with many exhibitors consuming a lot of space and displaying pieces of machinery. TP&EE caters primarily to producers of structural panels, engineered wood products and lumber. PELICE emphasizes two days of conference sessions, while supported by a strong field of small exhibitor booths. It appeals to not only structural panel producers and engineered wood products, but also to composite board manufacturers. Many of the companies who exhibited at PELICE will be on hand in bigger space at TP&EE.
However, TP&EE has expanded its “conference” offering a little bit. In 2012 TP&EE had one day of fairly abbreviated lumber and panel manufacturing sessions. This year, the Veneer & Plywood Manufacturing and Engineered Lumber Workshop will be held all day on the first day of the expo, while the Lumber Manufacturing Workshop will be held all day on the second day.
You can read about the lineup of speakers for the plywood manufacturing workshop on page 28. It’s an impressive agenda, and the cost to attend the workshop is minimal.
One reason we’ve expanded the workshop program is to demonstrate our intention to make TP&EE as applicable to the veneer and plywood manufacturing community as the lumber manufacturing segment. If you’ll recall, the old Portland show was at its best when plywood and lumber received equal billing and attention. But in its final stages, that show tilted heavily to lumber and much of the panel industry stayed home. TP&EE had a strong showing of panel producers in 2012—our first effort as the owner and producer—and we expect an even better turnout this October.
Of course our expectations are only just that, expectations. The reality will depend on you veneer and plywood producers out there showing up. We would greatly appreciate your attendance and we know you’ll enjoy yourselves.
And just in case you are too busy to get around to registering, there’s a good chance you will be receiving a call from one of the members of our TP&EE Attendance Committee. They will not only remind you, but they will get you registered in the blink of an eye.
So send your people, and bring yourself, to TP&EE at the Portland Expo Center. It will recharge everyone’s batteries. There’s nothing like a visit to a buzzing trade show for getting a person or a team fired up. And when you find the technology you’ve been looking for, and better yet, when you cut the deal for it on the show floor, it’s a great feeling.
by Web Editor | Apr 25, 2014 | Taking Stock
Story by Dan Shell,
Managing Editor
Let’s say you operate a plywood plant and think it’s time to upgrade or replace a veneer dryer. To help in making the decision, you decide to attend the 2014 Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) in Atlanta at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center.
Just to begin your research, in the Grand Ballroom of the North Tower, you will find three dozen exhibitors that can provide equipment or services related to your project. More specifically, two veneer dryer technology-specific presentations are part of the first morning breakout sessions following the keynote general sessions, with numerous additional presentations on particulate emissions control, operational enhancements and project development on tap over the next two days—all of which mean something to your upcoming capital expenditure.
Held recently and for the fourth time, PELICE puts people together in a relaxed environment that allows effective information exchange and networking. Competition and alliances notwithstanding, PELICE brings all segments of the industry together to emphasize challenges and opportunities common to all—while also providing technical solutions and better operational ideas for specific panel manufacturing processes and applications.
One presentation that comes to mind was that of Dustin Neumann of Neumann Process Control, who spoke about technology upgrades and migrating legacy systems to new technology platforms. Neumann brought up considerations that strike to the heart of the technology and information opportunities that an event like PELICE provides, especially for those researching system upgrades and capital improvements.
“The last few years have shown the importance of staying competitive,” Neumann said, urging his listeners to prioritize process upgrades, evaluate proposals to determine highest-value propositions and also to simply take advantage of the expertise that vendors and suppliers possess.
And that’s what PELICE delivers as good as any other business move: An opportunity to invest in yourself and your organization by gaining better knowledge of the industry around you while learning more about the latest in panel manufacturing. For technology vendors, PELICE is a solid platform to highlight their latest products and services, with key industry leaders and decision-makers in attendance.
In a social-media age when business operators, managers, suppliers and vendors are all networked and linked electronically (but remotely) as never before, an event like PELICE gives industry’s top movers and shakers—and anyone, really, from the mill floor to executive suite—an opportunity to rub shoulders, meet face to face and build solidarity through better business strategies, providing the foundation for those crucial, numbers-crunching closed door meetings that were happening all over the Omni Hotel.
A hearty thanks goes out to all who attended, exhibited or otherwise supported PELICE this year. The staffs at Panel World, Hatton-Brown Publishers and Georgia Research Institute look forward to doing it all again in the same venue on April 7-8, 2016.
