WoodDigest.com |

Is this heaven? No, it’s the WCMA Plant Tour. At the end of September members of the Wood Components Manufacturers Association gathered in Waterloo, Iowa for the annual fall conference and plant tours.

This year’s event brought together 183 members of the association.

The conference kicked off with a meeting for the board of directors followed by roundtable discussions. Discussion topics included chain-of-custody certification, tooling and moulding, innovation and new technologies and lean manufacturing.

The roundtable discussions were followed by a membership meeting and a reception and technology expo. During the technology expo members were able to meet with representatives from WCMA technology partners. All of the technology partners had information tables set up. During the next two days the group toured area facilities. For a change of pace from woodworking, a trip was also made to the John Deer tractor cab assembly operation.

BERTCH CABINETRY MFG. INC.

Since 1977 Bertch Cabinet Mfg. has been manufacturing wood and laminated kitchen and bath cabinets, in addition to interior passage doors, mirrored products and cultured marble tops. Located in Waterloo, Iowa, Bertch works out of three different facilities, one for cabinets, one for doors and one dedicated to finishing.

Bertch has been on a three-year lean journey, which was clearly visible as the group walked through the facility, from 5S efforts to the clean workstations. The company’s lean efforts have helped to improve throughput velocity. Conveyors that used to be used as holding lines are now flow lines as WIP has dropped significantly. Bertch produces 6,000 cabinet units per week and employs approximately 900 people in all divisions of the company.

WOODHARBOR DOORS & CABINETRY

Woodharbor Doors & Cabinetry offers customers a “whole home concept” by producing a complete line of cabinetry and millwork in two facilities. In Mason City the three cabinet lines are manufactured, and in Northwood the interior doors and cabinet components are produced.

The three cabinet lines include: Woodharbor, the premium custom line; CastPointe, the custom line; and Rockglen, the semicustom line.

Woodharbor laser engraves the company name into the inside of all of its drawer boxes. In addition, the sales order number is engraved on the back of all the parts. This helps track the pieces through the plant and with making replacement parts down the road if necessary.

The company has an automated door line system that is designed for JIT manufacturing with no machine or tool changeover necessary between the manufacturing of each component or door.

KENDRICK FOREST PRODUCTS

Kendrick Forest Products, based in Edgewood, Iowa, does it all from logging to cabinet manufacturing. Nothing is wasted during the entire process; all of the excess wood waste is processed into mulch and sawdust that is used to fuel the company’s cogeneration system.

The company owns its own timberlands and produces 9.3 million bd. ft. of hardwood lumber yearly. The rough mill produces cabinet components for its cabinet division and outside companies. Kendrick Forest Products added the cabinet manufacturing division to its slew of products when it purchased a cabinet company located in Waterloo.

BTS LUMBER

BTS Lumber, located in Sand Springs, Iowa, produces lumber and dimension blanks. The company also produces flooring and moulding blanks with planing, straight-line ripping and sanding capabilities. In February 2008, BTS purchased a Weining/Raimann Value-Rip System with ProfiRip Optimization System. The system helps BTS predict yields and improve quality control. It is designed specifically for smaller operations, and the one at BTS is the first one in action.

There is a company in Sweden that is willing to buy from BTS over suppliers in China because the yield is so much better. Although Chinese companies can beat BTS on price, BTS gives the Swedish company approximately 95 percent yield, while the Chinese lumber only offers about 80 percent yield.