March 11 - 13, 2014

PRESENTED BY:

Wood Industry Week: Improving Operations to Remain Competitive & Profitable is a comprehensive educational program focusing on hardwood properties and yields, plant optimization, lean manufacturing and more. The program also will feature plant tours. Sponsored by the Wood Education Resource Center, USDA Forest Service, Woodworking Network and Virginia Tech.   

For more information on this 3-day workshop, please click here or contact Urs Buehlmann.

Why you should attend:

• To get an update on techniques to improve your operation 
• To learn about new trends and opportunities in the industry 
• To learn from experts and colleagues 
• To learn about customer expectations, global implications and the future
• To network and to benefit from five days of learning, discussing, and observing with experts 

*Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops to the workshop.*

 

 PRESENTERS:

Urs Buehlmann: Associate Professor, Virginia Tech Department of Sustainable Biomaterials, focuses on assessing industry competitiveness and market economics. Urs has given special focus to the impact of foreign competition on the wood products industry and on the interrelationship of the U.S. housing market and the wood industry. He also practices and promotes Lean Principles as a way to improve business results. Urs has more than 15 years of experience working in industry, including serving as General Manager of Enkeboll Designs, Carson CA.

Scott Leavengood: Director of the Oregon Wood Innovation Center at Oregon State University. The center is a joint initiative of OSU’s College of Forestry and the OSU Extension Service. Scott began his career with OSU in 1994 as a Wood Products Extension Agent located in southern Oregon. He moved to the Corvallis campus in 2006 when the Wood Innovation Center was established. His job duties include coordinating the outreach activities of the department of Wood Science & Engineering at OSU, providing technical assistance to wood products firms, and assisting entrepreneurs.

 

AGENDA

IMPROVING OPERATIONS TO REMAIN COMPETITIVE AND PROFITABLE

March 11 – 13, 2014 - Princeton, WV

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Tuesday, March 11, 2014 — Day 1, WERC Classroom

Process Improvement in Wood Products Manufacturing I – Leavengood and Buehlmann

9:00 - 9:15 Workshop introduction (Buehlmann)

9:15 - 10:30 Wood technology (Leavengood)

Wood anatomy & structure (emphasis on hardwoods)

Within-species variability (heart/sap, juvenile wood, reaction wood)

Between-species variability (maple vs. oak vs. cherry, etc.)

Wood and water relations (shrink/swell, kiln drying, warp)

10:30 - 11:00 Break

11:00 - 12:00 Mill layout – lecture followed by hands-on exercise (Buehlmann)

12:30 - 1:00 Lunch

1:00 - 2:30 QC tools (Leavengood)

Pareto analysis & checksheets

Flowcharts – lecture/hands-on exercise

Cause-and-effect diagrams – lecture/ hands-on exercise

Statistical process control – intro

2:30 - 3:00 Break

3:00 - 4:00 Statistical process control (continued) and lumber size control (Leavengood)

4:00 - 5:00 Plant optimization (Buehlmann)

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Wednesday, March 12, 2014 — Day 2, Hands-on exercises

Process Improvement in Wood Products Manufacturing II – Leavengood and Buehlmann

9:00 - 9:30 Review of last day, break into 2 groups (A & B)

9:30 - 12:30 Group A: Activity related to mill layout & optimization (Buehlmann)

Group B: Hands-on QC & lumber size control (Leavengood)

12:30 - 2:00 Lunch

2:00 - 5:00 Group A: Hands-on QC & lumber size control (Leavengood)

Group B: Activity related to mill layout & optimization (Buehlmann)

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Thursday, March 13, 2014 — Day 3, WERC Classroom

Process Improvement in Wood Products Manufacturing III – Leavengood and Buehlmann

9:00 - 9:15 Introduction

9:15 - 10:30 Theory of Constraints (Buehlmann)

10:30 - 11:00 Break

11:00 - 12:00 Intro to Design of Experiments (Leavengood)

12:00 - 1:30 Lunch

1:30 - 3:00 Review lessons-learned in mill re: mill layout & optimization (Buehlmann)

3:30 - 4:30 Review lessons-learned in mill re: QC/size control (Leavengood)

4:30 - 5:00 Workshop review and feedback

 

CONTACT

Urs Buehlmann
Phone: 540/231.9759
e-mail: [email protected]

For other information on the USDA FS' Wood Education and Resource Center:

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/werc/events.shtm

Phone: (304) 487-1510