by Web Editor | Aug 17, 2015 | Editor's Blog
Written By: Rich Donnell
Organizers of the 2016 Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) have announced several keynoters from the structural panel segment of the industry. Keynoters from the non-structural composite side will be announced soon.
The fifth biennial PELICE will be held April 7-8, 2016 in the Grand Ballroom North of the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Hosted by Panel World magazine, PELICE in 2014 attracted 420 industry professionals who enjoyed 10 keynote presentations as well as forecasts and technical presentations delivered by 45 industry experts, supported by 75 equipment and technology companies that exhibited in the Ballroom.
PELICE will be immediately preceded by the fourth biennial Wood Energy Conference & Expo on April 5-6.
“The 2014 PELICE was refreshing because it was the first one going back to 2008 where all the talk wasn’t about the recession,” comments Rich Donnell, co-chairman of PELICE and editor-in-chief of Panel World magazine. “There was a lot of enthusiasm about projects-in-the-making. I believe that enthusiasm will continue into PELICE 2016 as housing and remodeling markets continue to climb. There will also be a definite buzz in the air at PELICE because it will be held right in the middle of the primary season for the 2016 presidential election.”
Donnell also notes that since the last PELICE there have been a number of production technology developments that will be addressed at PELICE 2016, as well as developments in engineered wood products, such as cross laminated timber, and in composite panels.
“We’ve rounded up a great lineup of keynote speakers from the structural segment of the industry,” Donnell adds. “We’ll now turn our attention to the non-structural side for additional keynoters.”
Donnell says two keynoters—Jonathan Martin, chairman & CEO of Louisiana-based Martin Companies, L.L.C.; and Steve Swanson, president and CEO of Oregon-based Swanson Group, will speak under the heading: “If I Could Build a New Plant In 2016, Here’s What I Would Do.”
Martin will address the development of Martco’s new oriented strandboard plant being built in Corrigan, Texas. The company currently operates an OSB plant in Oakdale, La., which it built and started up in 2006. Its history with OSB dates back to 1982 when it built and started up a plant in Le Moyen, La. It also operates a softwood plywood plant in Chopin, La., another greenfield project.
Swanson will address the new plywood and veneer facility Swanson Group is building in Springfield, Ore. to replace the plant that a fire destroyed in July 2014. Swanson Group operates veneer, plywood and lumber operations in Glendale and Roseburg, Ore. Swanson Group also purchased Olympic Panel Products in Shelton, Wash. in March and is relocating those assets to the new Springfield facility.
Also on tap is Kurt Liebich, CEO of RedBuilt and New Wood Resources, both companies part of Atlas Holdings. RedBuilt manufactures I-joists, open web trusses and LVL at several manufacturing plants primarily in the Western U.S.
Liebich joined RedBuilt’s predecessor, Trus Joist, in 1994 and served in numerous senior management roles. He remained with the company when Weyerhaeuser acquired it in 1999, and was appointed vice president of Trus Joist and later VP of marketing for Weyerhaeuser’s iLevel division. When Atlas Holdings acquired the former commercial division of Trus Joist from Weyerhaeuser in 2009, it appointed Liebich as president and CEO of the company, which they named RedBuilt.
Atlas Holdings also appointed Liebich as president and CEO of Wood Resources LLC, which later sold with two plywood mills to Boise Cascade. Atlas subsequently formed New Wood Resources with Liebich as CEO. New Wood Resources operates the long-running plywood plant in Omak, Wash., and is also building a new plywood plant in Louisville, Miss., known as Winston Plywood & Veneer.
Brian Carlson, president of OSB manufacturer Huber Engineered Woods LLC, will also join the keynoters lineup. Huber operates five OSB plants. Carlson has worked at Huber for 20 years and in various capacities prior to his promotion to president, including as product and field sales director, VP of sales & marketing and overseeing business development and strategy.
The remaining keynoters as well as the complete agenda of speakers and technical session topics will be released in September.
As of early August, numerous equipment and technology companies had already signed on as exhibitor sponsors of PELICE. Leading the way is Babcock & Wilcox MEGTEC, which is a Gold sponsor not only for PELICE, but for the preceding Wood Energy Conference & Expo.
Early Silver sponsor exhibitors for PELICE include Baumer Inspection, Biele Wood, Brunette, Cogent Industrial Technologies, Con-Vey, Dieffenbacher, Electronic Wood Systems, Evergreen Engineering, GP Chemicals, Globe Machine Manufacturing, Hexion, Imal-Pal, M-E-C, Merritt Machinery/Meinan Machinery, Mid-South Engineering, MoistTech, Raute, Sweed Machinery, TSI/ Sigma Thermal, USNR, Venango Machine, Veneer Services, Westmill Industries, Willamette Valley, as well as Bronze sponsors Ventek and GreCon. (Brunette, Cogent, Con-Vey, Dieffenbacher, Evergreen Engineering, GreCon, Imal-Pal, M-E-C, Mid-South Engineering, MoistTech, TSI-Sigma Thermal, Veneer Services/Biomass Engineering & Equipment will also join B&W MEGTEC as exhibitors in the Wood Energy Conference & Expo.)
For more information visit https://pelice-expo.com/.
by Web Editor | Aug 10, 2015 | News
Freres Lumber Co. was cited four times for safety and procedural violations uncovered during inspections launched after a worker died at its Mill City plant in September 2014, according to documents obtained by the Statesman Journal.
Bryan Dodge, a 34-year-old millwright, husband and father of four, was killed when a plywood press he was replacing a steam line for activated and pinned him between the press and a post.
According to a citation and notification of penalty report from the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division, the machine lockout procedures that prevent equipment operation were not followed. The company did not have or follow uniform lockout procedures for operating or servicing the press.
Freres Lumber, a plywood and veneer producer since 1922, allegedly violated safety rules at least 14 times in the last 10 years, according to inspection data. The company was fined and cited in 2005 after an employee lost part of his hand while attempting to free debris from a wood chipper. In 2007, a $5,000 fine was levied and later dismissed by the Workers’ Compensation Board after a worker flagging log trucks was killed when a log truck backed up over him. In 2013, an employee operating a scissor lift was seriously injured when the lift malfunctioned, pinning his head and neck against the ceiling, leaving him with a broken jaw and vertebra.
From the Statesman Journal: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/2015/08/06/freres-lumber-cited-multiple-times-worker-death/31201141/
by Web Editor | Jun 29, 2015 | News
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “North America Urea Formaldehyde Resin Market by Application (Particleboard, Medium Density Fiberboard, Plywood, Molding Powder, Adhesives & Coating, Roofing Mat), by Country (U.S., Canada, Rest of North America) – Analysis & Forecast to 2019” report to their offering.
The value of the North America UFR market was $714.6 million in 2014 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2014 to 2019.
The study provides the value chain analysis with respect to UFR raw materials, manufacturers, and end-users. The value chain describes the key contributors to the materials market at different stages from product development to end use. It represents the key players who are contributing to the growth of the North America UFR market.
The impacts of different market factors, such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities are also illustrated in the report. This gives an idea about the key drivers, such as developing furniture industry, rising demand for wood-based panels, rising population, and growing infrastructure industry; and restraints, such as UFR’s toxic emission property, which has influenced major countries to put UFR under stringent regulations.
The UFR market is also classified on the basis of applications. The important applications include particleboard, MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard), plywood, molding powder, adhesives and coating, and roofing mat, among others. The particleboard segment held the largest share of the UFR market in North America, in terms of consumption.
From Business Wire: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150625006183/en/Research-Markets-North-America-Urea-Formaldehyde-Resin#.VZGCNKaDrwc
by Web Editor | May 20, 2015 | News
PFS Corp. and Timberco, Inc. (TECO), two third-party certification agencies that have been linked for almost 25 years, have merged as of May 1, the company said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
On May 1, 2015, Jim Husom, President and CEO of PFS Corporation, and Steve Winistorfer, President and CEO of TECO, signed papers merging the two companies. In announcing the merger, Jim Husom commented, “This merger combines what have been two well-respected and successful companies into one; and as one, we’ll be able to provide even more effective and efficient service to our existing clients and grow our business more than we could individually.”
The two companies together provide certification and testing services for more than a dozen different building products, including engineered wood products like LVL, I-joists, and glued laminated timber; plus SIPs (structural insulated panels), OSB (oriented strand board), softwood and hardwood plywood, metal plate connected wood trusses, adhesives, pre-cast concrete panels, hearth products, and construction fasteners for approximately 500 manufacturing plants.
Their testing laboratories, located in Wisconsin and Oregon, perform a variety of structural tests, durability tests, formaldehyde emissions tests, and some fire tests. The PFS Manufactured Structures Division provides design approval and factory inspections to over 120 HUD Code and modular building factories in 39 states and Canada.
From Lesprom Network: https://www.lesprom.com/en/news/PFS_Corporation_and_TECO_merge_67829/
by Web Editor | Apr 29, 2015 | News
A new panel technology integrating wood, textile and geometric cutting patterns, is adding another dimension to furniture and architectural design.
Developed by Wood-Skin Srl, which was founded in 2013, the highly-flexible Wood-Skin panels incorporate a core of nylon mesh and polyester resin sandwiched between layers of Finnish birch plywood, MDF, OSB, Okume or other specialty materials, and finished with wood or stone veneer, laminates, metal or varnish.
After the panel core is made, 3D modelling software is used to create the design pattern. The sheets are then routed into the prescribed polygon shapes/angles. These become the bending points, or “digital hinges,” for shaping the one-piece Wood-Skin panel into architectural millwork, such as ceilings, curtain walls and facades, or as self-supporting 3D furniture, such as tables.
Already with projects under its belt Wood-Skin Srl also debuted its “Programmable Table” at this year’s Fuori Salone Del Mobile in Milan. The table was a collaboration with MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab, with Biesse as the technical sponsor.
Standard sheets of the Wood-Skin panel are 1200mm x 1250/2450/3050mm, 1500mm x 1550/2550/3050mm and 2500mm x 1250mm, with three thicknesses — 4mm, 6.5mm and 12mm — available. The company says Wood-Skin can be used for indoor or outdoor projects, and is available with water-resistant and fire-resistant characteristics.
From Woodworking Network: https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/wood/panel-supply/One-Piece-Wood-Skin-Panels-Can-Be-Bent-Into-3D-Shapes-301211771.html#sthash.DPEom1yl.dpbs
