The Wood Component Manufacturers Association (WCMA) will hold its 2011 Fall Conference & Plant Tour Event in the Louisville, Kentucky area on October 2 - 4. This is a very popular event for WCMA Members and Technology Partners.

This year’s Fall Conference will feature educational sessions designed to help dimension & component manufacturers improve their businesses. WCMA Members and Technology Partners will participate in several educational sessions and roundtable discussions planned for attendees to learn more about the proposed hardwood checkoff program and get an update on the WCMA’s product costing project.

The WCMA’s Wood Technology Expo will be held in conjunction with the Fall Conference and will connect WCMA Technology Partners with WCMA Members. WCMA Technology Partners are leading providers of woodworking machinery, equipment, supplies, software, and business solutions. They help WCMA members adopt new technologies, implement advanced wood processing methods, and utilize improvements in tooling and equipment.

WCMA plant tours are designed to encourage an open exchange of ideas regarding 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.

This year’s Plant Tour Event will feature tours of several innovative woodworking operations located in the Louisville, Kentucky area. Among the Plant Tour host companies are:

Anderson Wood Products Company; Louisville, Kentucky. WCMA Member Anderson Wood Products Company provides a full scope of component products from dimension blanks to fully machined parts. Using lumber from environmentally responsible sawmills, they specialize in the manufacture of stair components including handrail and bending rail as well as institutional furniture parts. Their moulding, tenoning, profile sanding, and mortising capabilities allow them to produce many other types of components.

Northland Corporation; LaGrange, Kentucky. WCMA Member Northland Corporation is a full service concentration yard producing a wide variety of species from White Ash to their own freshly steamed Walnut. Northland has been in business for over 50 years providing solutions to customers' lumber needs. Their surfacing and straight line ripping capabilities allow them to produce rough dimension.

Cox Interior, Inc.; Campbellsville, Kentucky. Cox Interior, Inc. is a manufacturer of interior trim, custom interior and exterior doors, moulding and millwork; stair parts and stair systems, crown columns, and custom mantels. They provide high-quality products to their customers through the implementation of high technology machinery and the employee training needed to optimize this equipment. Their newest equipment includes a stacker and grading system; automated scanning rip saws and chopsaws, fingerjointers, and programmable moulders. Their latest additions are programmable CNC machines and a CNC bandsaw.

Independent Stave Company/Kentucky Cooperage; Lebanon, Kentucky. Independent Stave Company is a family-owned, dynamic, global company reaching customers in over 40 countries and cooperages around the world. Kentucky Cooperage, a subsidiary of ISC, manufactures barrels for spirits. They begin by selecting the highest quality oak with straight, very fine-grain. The oak is then processed into staves and then into barrels.

Kitchen Kompact; Jeffersonville, Indiana. Kitchen Kompact is a nationwide manufacturer of oak and maple cabinetry since 1937. Their goal is to produce a quality product at a reasonable price, and deliver these goods in the most dependable lead times in the industry. They concentrate on efficiency of production, labor, and financial stability. KK focuses their resources on assembly and distribution of their kitchen cabinets.

Lebanon Oak Flooring Co., Lebanon, Kentucky. Lebanon Oak Flooring Co. is a long-time family business and is a manufacturer of multiple wood products including hardwood flooring, stairs treads, risers, handrails, mouldings, and edged glued panels. They use the finest quality of red oak, white oak, maple, cherry, hickory, ash and walnut to produce their products.

VT Industries; New Albany, Indiana. VT Industries was founded more than 50 years ago and is an industry leader in the production of architectural wood doors. They apply their company’s principles of craftsmanship, attention to detail, and service to meet their customer’s needs. They produce high quality and environmental friendly solutions. VT Industries offers 5-ply wood veneer, high pressure decorative laminate, stile & rail doors, and specialty doors. These doors are available in a variety of wood species with standard or custom-matched stains.

Maker’s Mark Distillery, Inc.; Loretto, Kentucky. Maker’s Mark is the oldest operating distillery on its original site. From their antique roller mill crushing the grain to the giant cypress tubs full of sour mash to the "white dog" (new whiskey) running through the "spirit safe," this is where you can see Maker's Mark being made by hand every step of the way. In the fermenting room, the sour mash ferments, eventually becoming bourbon.

Collectively, these companies can produce a wide variety of wood products from lumber and rough dimension & components to fully finished cabinets, mouldings, millwork, flooring, and barrel staves. In fine Kentucky tradition, we will also be touring Maker’s Mark Distillery. The most valuable part of these tours is seeing different methods of manufacturing and observing what other companies are doing successfully.

The WCMA represents more than 115 manufacturers of dimension and wood component products for the cabinet, furniture, moulding & millwork, flooring, building products, and related decorative wood products industries. Member companies are located throughout the United States and Canada. The WCMA also has over 30 Technology Partners who are leading suppliers of machinery, equipment, tooling, supplies, software, and business solutions to the woodworking industry.

SOURCE: Wood Components Manufacturers Assn.