More than 100 people participated in the WCMA plant tour, including a visit to Brodart Contract Furniture, McElhattan, Pa.
More than 130 people participated in the Wood Component Manufacturers Association’s 2010 Fall Conference and Plant Tour Event, which was held in Williamsport, Pa., October 3-5.
A day of conferences and talks ranging from pricing to environmental chain of custody certification was followed by two days of plant tours in the greater Williamsport area. Buses took attendees to visit seven different companies. Steve Lawser, WCMA executive director, said the trips encourage an open exchange of ideas related to the latest woodworking production techniques.
“Attendees are able to observe actual applications of new technology and visualize how they might apply them in their own plants,” he says.
Companies visited included:
Bentley & Collins Company, Muncy, Pa.
Started in 1987 to serve commercial contractors with casework, countertops, and reception desks/nurse stations for the health care industry, the company has been a member of the Architectural Woodwork Institute since 1997. Their current facility built in 1994 encompasses two 10,000-square-foot buildings on nine acres. Equipment includes state of the art CNC panel processing machines.
Brodart Contract Furniture, McElhattan, Pa.
In business for more than 50 years, Brodart manufactures high quality furniture using wood, metal, glass, solid surfaces and other materials. Much of the work is targeted to the library market, and tour participants saw a metal stamping and powder coating line that was producing metal library bookends on the day of the tour. Some 25,000 square feet in the 150,000-square-foot plant is dedicated to metal fabrication. On the woodworking side, tour participants saw a variety of CNC machines, point-to-point boring, profile molders, and UV finish technology.
Dwight Lewis Lumber Co., Inc., Hillsgrove, Pa.
WCMA tour participants saw the IDM Activa PUR adhesive edgebander in operation at Brodart Contract Furniture.
Founded in 1941, this third generation sawmill and timberland management company is the parent company to Lewis Lumber Products and boasts a full-scanning band head rig, two line bar band resaws, optimizing edge, trim and grading line with dry kilns. Primary species harvested include black cherry, red and white oak, red and hard maple. The company manages more than 15,000 acres of FSC certified forest land in north central Pennsylvania.
Lewis Lumber Products Inc., Picture Rocks, Pa.
Spun off from its sister company Dwight Leis Lumber Company and incorporated in 1995, Lewis Lumber, a WCMA member, distributes hardwood and softwood lumber, mouldings, components, parts and ripped blanks. Tour attendees saw such equipment as Weinig Powermat moulders, a LuxScan optimizing rip system with Raimann moveable blade system, a Grecon chop system, a Cemco planer-sander and more.
David R. Webb Company, Williamsport, Pa.
Currently a member of the Danzer Group of Companies, Webb has been producing veneer for over 100 years. They produce quality hardwood veneer to supply both international and domestic markets.
Wheeland Lumber Company, Liberty, Pa.
Also a WCMA member, Wheeland is a fourth-generation, family-owned business that began in 1940. They manufacture 40,000 board feet per day through their optimized sawmill, which is equipped with INOVEC scanning on a double-cut-head rig and edger. The company also has nine dry kilns with a total drying capacity of half a million board feet. Primary species include ash, cherry, soft and hard maple, red and white oak. Tour participants saw their recently added optimized rip line and a Powermat 1000 moulder. This line is equipped with a new 424 Mereen Johnson and a KF-24 Newman Whitney. Both saws are fed with a new 24-inch wide board scanner (UV9 Rip Scanner by Ultimizer) capable of identifying thickness, width, length, knots, wane, holes and crook on both top and bottom faces.
The James Wood Company, Williamsport, Pa.
Manufacturer of the SelecTrim System of interior millwork products, The James Wood Company supplies customers primarily in commercial construction. SelecTrim’s system of grooved mouldings and interchangeable decorative inserts is designed to provide versatility, ease of installation, and affordability. Products include handrails, custom mouldings, door casings, wainscoting, and wood ceilings.