How things change. When I first started working in the sawmilling industry, in Vancouver British Columbia, some thirty years ago. There were sawmills along the banks of the Fraser River. From Boston Bar to the ocean. There was a sawmill every couple of miles on the average. The lower mainland local of the IWA had over 35,000 members. There are only a hand full of sawmills surviving today. The mills that have survived are the ones that belong to the large diversified companies. With few exceptions.
Over this time I’ve watched the changes. Changes in raw materials available, management styles, work ethic of today’s workforce. Changes in markets and products. Alternatives to wood products for building materials. Such as aluminum studs, vinyl siding, a number of different roofing products and metal frame windows to mention some of the changes. A new threat today is dealing with the Northern Mountain Pine and Western Pine Beatles.
With prices for dimension lumber at the lowest I’ve seen. Sawmills that are still operating in this down turn appear to be financially sound, have a solid customer base including some sales to Japan or markets other than the US. Some are doing their best to keep their employees, by operating at a loss and building huge inventories. Anticipating an end to current conditions. These are the same mills that are taking advantage of slow difficult time to modernize. Being prepared for good times to come.
Modernization to sawmill and planer mills. Optimized canter, sweep saw gang lines running at speeds of 600-700 fpm. Edgers at speeds of 1200 fpm. Sawmill trimmer, sorter lines running at speeds of 180 pieces per minute. Lumber stackers automatically stacking and stripping at 21 tiers per minute. Planers running at speeds of up to 3,000 fpm. Planer trimmer, sorter lines running at speeds of 220 pieces per minute on 2×4 up to 20 feet in length. Automatic optimizers for sawmill and planer mill grading. Machine that make all the decisions in regard to trimming for value, highest possible grade, final grade stamping and sorting. Accuracy of 98+% at speeds, previously mentioned. Sawmills and planer mills with production of 1,000,000+ fbm. per 8 hour shift. The missing component in today’s high speed high tech. mills is people.
I’ve watched a management style transition, from tyrants that everyone feared. Supervisors and superintendents, that knew every aspect of saw-milling. Just like breathing. To become the new breed. A group of paper pushers that barely understand people, or what it really takes to run a sawmill. Not all, but a large group that manage by being absentfrom the operating floor. Sitting in meetings, or in front of their computer just hoping things some how look after themselves. Meetings may be necessary for communication and planning. However, meetings must be well organized, with time restrictions applied. Time must be used effectively by all. A new management style of positive reinforcement. Even when performance is below what should be expected. A work force which has been educated and raised with very few expectations in regards to performance. Rewarded for poor performance. No true responsibility for performance.
The days of large virgin growth timber are gone. Today trees are second growth small and knotty. Very few opportunities for grade sawing. Equipment used to breakdown logs and create lumber in the past are not suitable to survive today. Small log machines today are available in a number of designs. Single pass, sweep saw canter gang combinations. Fully optimized, canter, gang lines. Followed by optimized edgers, trim saws, lumber sorters and stackers, which virtually run by themselves.
Today an economy that is called a recession with everyone afraid to even think the term depression. In BC where sawmills once flourished, entire towns are in jeopardy of all but disappearing. Thousands of people laid off with permanent mill closures. Is the end of the battle in sight? There are small signs of improvement.In an environment where financing may be difficult or impossible. I believe to survive you must get creative. Take advantage of the fact equipment manufacturers are also suffering. Negotiate best price for major equipment upgrades, then inquire about lease to purchase. With the number of newer sawmills shutting down. There should be lots of good slightly used equipment on the market. Consider small improvements or retrofits which will provide large impacts on quality and volume.
Take on performance management strategies with supervisors and employees. Everyone wants to do a good job and feel secure, in their future. Communicate. Make people responsible for small manageable, key activities in all areas. Including maintenance. Make people truly aware of what expected performance is. What is acceptable and what is not. Record and discuss successes and failures openly. One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard would be Excellent reading for all supervisors. Record the smallest interruptions in production and pay attention to employees input for improvement. Do your absolute best to implement these ideas. The normal approach has been attack the large items first.
Work closely with all suppliers. Suppliers are in the same boat. They all need sales. Be tough negotiators. Better prices are available. Investigate new suppliers or alternative brands. Reduce inventories on items which are readily available. Work closely with loggers or your log suppliers. Correct log lengths and clean ends will result in fewer saw cuts and increased volume through log bucking stations. Limit and track sweep closely.
To survive in today’ economic environment, if you have not put in the time and effort to develop extremely loyal customers. If you do not have a special product or niche. If you are not a high volume low cost producer. If your not in a strong financial position. If you do not take control of all aspects of your business. If the economic valley continues and you don’t take all the steps necessary to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible. You may end up joining that group of many. Which now must be thinking if only I had, when things were good.