No touch, automated hardwood marketplace launched

NEW YORK -- Mickey, a startup company, launched its automated lumber marketplace that offers a variety of hardwood lumber sourced directly from producers who have been certified by the National Hardwood Lumber Association for harvesting logs from sustainable and renewable forest resources around the United States. 

Alex Rabens, co-founder and CEO of Mickey, said the program offers real-time inventories and the Mickey Marketplace will handle the entire transaction from order placement and payment processing to shipment and delivery "without any human touch."

The Mickey Marketplace will handle the entire transaction from order placement and payment processing to shipment and delivery without any human touch, said Alex Meyers, chief operating officer.

Meyers said, "We've built a buyer facing and supplier facing marketplace. On the supplier facing side, we allow suppliers to run as an operating system through Mickey's platform. A supplier can service their customer base, have all the credit risk and all of the logistics processes done by Mickey."

Mickey, he added, becomes the suppliers’ complete operating system taking their payments from their customers, paying the supplier immediately upon the time that the truck is loaded and shipped from their facility. Mickey handles buyer issues such as quality disputes, product claims, and they also extend terms to potential buyers. The platform allows a buyer from anywhere in the nation to get an all-in quote delivered for a full truckload of hardwood lumber.”

The company leverages tech-enabled logistics partners that links in real-time to their API, and gets an all-in delivered trucking rate from any two points in the country. The company is able to give a supplier an all-in delivered per 1000 rate for a truckload of lumber. In addition to that, a buyer can search for a product and get an instant quote. All the inventory that a buyer may be browsing on Mickey's website is live inventory.

Since 2019, Mickey has focused on modernizing the day-to-day operations of North American natural resource suppliers– such as lumber sellers. Mickey’s core product, ‘Mickey OS’ is an operating system that automates and streamlines logistics, payment processing, and real-time fulfillment.

U.S. manufacturers, builders, and others have direct access to securing the lumber they need and orders can be placed for delivery within 1 to 30 days depending on buyer demand and supplier availability. Expected delivery times will be around 1-5 days depending on buyer and supplier proximity, and currently, Mickey can only ship within the continental United States.

“We kept hearing from suppliers that this was something they wanted as an additional lane for their e-commerce business,” said Rabens.

At launch, buyers will be able to purchase full truckloads of kiln-dried hardwood, rough or S2S in Western Red Alder, White or Black Ash, Basswood, Beech, Yellow or White Birch, Cherry, Hard or Soft or Pacific Coast Maple, Red or White Oak, Walnut, Hickory, Sap Gum, Tupelo, Sycamore, Cottonwood. Inventory will include a variety of thicknesses from 3/4 to 16/4 and random widths and lengths.

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Larry Adams | Editor

Larry Adams is a Chicago-based writer and editor who writes about how things get done. A former wire service and community newspaper reporter, Larry is an award-winning writer with more than three decades of experience. In addition to writing about woodworking, he has covered science, metrology, metalworking, industrial design, quality control, imaging, Swiss and micromanufacturing . He was previously a Tabbie Award winner for his coverage of nano-based coatings technology for the automotive industry. Larry volunteers for the historic preservation group, the Kalo Foundation/Ianelli Studios, and the science-based group, Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST).