WWP September 2010

When the market gets tough, the tough start marketing. Wood manufacturing firms did so this year. Whether positioning for green leadership (Steelcase, Kimball), launching Websites (JK Concepts); rebranding (Stow); joining social media (Paul Sturch NY Times blog); or going online (mainefurniture.com), marketing is the now the middle name for woodworking businesses.

Woodworking firms reset tactics: To find and reach customers in the downturn, wood industry firms adopted new Go-to-Market Strategies to reach target audiences, especially home organization suppliers — Wellborn Cabinets supplies closets to builders; Closet Works launched a wholesale division; PremierGarage partnered with Closet Tailors; and Windquest became Stow.

The business side of the woodworking business touches on finance, new acquisitions, management shifts, pursuit of government investments and restructuring.

Wily woodworkers: Positioning is an important part of a firm’s business strategy. Carving out core business identity can separate a company from its competitors.

It’s more than machinery: Throwing technology at a productivity program is not always the solution. It’s actually more important to take dozens of small steps, advancing productivity incrementally. This section celebrates companies that have made the journey of a thousand paces to productivity beginning with a single inventive step.

Optimizing production with new and existing technology: In order to be profitable and productive in today’s economy, woodworking facilities need to optimize their resources: equipment, supplies and their workforce. Many companies have done so through investments in new technology and production methods, including lean and sustainable manufacturing methods.

Building or buying capacity: Manufacturing consolidation, relocation and expansion is driven by reductions in workforce, initiatives to consolidate operations to improve workflow and productivity, or moving to sites to lower-cost labor or nearer raw materials or markets. Despite, or because of, the downturn, the reformation of plants continued apace the last 18 months.

As businesses continue to grow, they are looking to manufacturers to supply them with casegoods and products, providing these manufacturers an opportunity for expansion.

Take one part wood, another part tools, add skilled hands and creative minds, and you have a recipe for innovation. Either the slow down allowed more open time for creativity or demanded new product solutions for survival.

Thinking outside the box: Developing products that tap changing lifestyle trends, or with an altogether new value proposition for commercial applications, opens opportunities.

WALKING THE WALK ON GREEN: As adoption of sustainable operations become pervasive, a parallel move is afoot among woodworking firms to adopt corporate social responsibility. This steps beyond concerns about wood sourcing, VOC emissions or industrial pollution, to embrace longer-term impact of manufacturing on workers and communities.

In recent years, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has become a source of global environmental concern, as a growing body of scientific evidence points to the potential long-term human and environmental health dangers. This hampers recycling and creates challenges in reducing environmental impact over the office system life-cycle.

Measure twice, cut once: Quality control is critical to mass production as well as custom applications. Woodworking firms must meet specs for demanding clients — and always get it right.

More than lip-service: Many firms say they emphasize customer service, but structuring it into the culture of an organization is easier said than done. In smaller organizations it can mean that everyone on the team accepts personal responsibility for customer satisfaction – following through to make sure clients get the service, support and answers. Larger organizations must structure it into the mechanics of operation.

Stories suggesting a renaissance among wood manufacturing businesses have been reaching editors Karen Koenig, Rich Christianson and Michaelle Bradford over the past months. Some come from woodworking firms, others are passed along by suppliers who seem in awe of what their determined-to-succeed customers are doing.

Sponsored by: Weyerhaeuser Hardwoods

We’ve always said about the WOOD 100 companies, they may not be the biggest, but they are among the best. Though not all increased their profits in 2009, these secondary woodworking firms found numerous ways to improve their businesses through: new marketing initiatives, innovative business strategies, productivity enhancements, technology integrations and customer service.

Never mind that this year’s International Woodworking Fair, Aug. 25-28 in Atlanta, was smaller than any I have attended since my first in 1986 and had 300-plus fewer exhibitors than 2008. It was still daunting and left me to wonder how anyone of the estimated 11,000 attendees that came to the show could have adequately covered it, especially if they were only there for one or two days, which I surmise from traffic patterns was the max for most.