VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Smith, Robert M."

Browsing by Author "Smith, Robert M."

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Adoption of Bamboo in Ghana's Forest Products Industry: An Investigation of the Principal Exporters and Institutions
Bonsi, Richard (Virginia Tech, 2009-04-22)
This study sought to determine the feasibility of introducing bamboo as a raw material to supplement the dwindling stock of traditional timber species for Ghana's forest products industry. First, the CEOs of the leading exporters of tertiary and panel products in the industry were canvassed to assess the current situation. Using descriptive statistics, it was discovered that the companies studied consume logs 12% in excess of the annual allowable timber harvest for the whole industry. There has been a drop in raw material availability and a 30% increase in raw material costs in the past five years. Harvest of lesser-used species in place of traditional species has also increased. Smaller companies have lost customers and are more restrained in raw material procurement. Next, barriers to the adoption of bamboo as a raw material perceived by the CEOs and institutional heads were identified. The major barriers perceived by CEOs include lack of information (e.g., on bamboo plantation management, products, processing, machines and markets) and lack of capital for investment. Institutions lack adequate information about bamboo technology and policy; they have research needs, (e.g., training, funding, laboratory equipment) and collaboration from all stakeholders. Institutions have done little to promote bamboo. Smaller companies were found to be more innovative in product development than larger companies. Companies located in the Ashanti region show higher propensity to engage in process innovation and product development. Companies appear to be receptive to initiatives that encourage bamboo adoption. In the current situation, few companies are willing to adopt bamboo but most companies are ready to adopt in the future if the existing barriers are mitigated. In the current situation, it is difficult for the industry to adopt bamboo until the government officially specifies roles for institutions and other stakeholders to make a compelling case for bamboo. Suggestions made for policymaking and change management include strategies for the creation of awareness, desire and knowledge for bamboo. Others include providing resources to enhance the ability of companies and institutions to adopt or promote bamboo, and reinforcing the change from timber to bamboo.
Assessing Eastern White Pine Lumber Production and Use in the Eastern United States
Duvall, Paul Mason (Virginia Tech, 2003-02-26)
A survey of primary and secondary manufacturers of eastern white pine (EWP) was executed within three regions of the Eastern US: New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Lake States. Two hundred ninety-six usable questionnaires were returned in total, with 185 coming from primary manufacturers and 111 from secondary manufacturers of EWP. The data from these surveys was used to identify differences in market characteristics between the three regions producing EWP, and also between primary and secondary industries. It was found that markets for EWP were growing in all three regions. Overall growth among primary manufacturers was estimated at 6.9% during the next 5 years, with 18.9% expected from the secondary industry. Industry members in all three regions reported that they would be able to sell more EWP products if they could get more logs. This theme of log shortage and availability was present in all three regions, and likely has to do with the loggers in those regions and how much importance they place on harvesting EWP. Results indicated that primary manufacturers overestimated how highly secondary manufacturers valued machinability, product range, and the rustic look of EWP, as significant differences were found in all of those categories. This implies that sawmills need not emphasize these aspects as much as they have been, as they are less important to customers than sawmills may have believed. Conversely, primary manufacturers underestimated how highly secondary manufacturers valued on-time delivery, consistent price, JIT delivery, and flexible payment options. These results suggest that EWP sawmills would be able to gain an advantage by putting more effort into providing these services. The effect of imported species appeared to be less than anticipated, with more than one-half of both primary and secondary respondents reporting that imports had had no impact on their operation. However, primary manufacturers were more likely to report a negative effect than their secondary counterparts, with negative response rates at 41% and 20%, respectively.
Assessing sustainability of the continuous improvement process through the identification of enabling and inhibiting factors
Madrigal, Johanna (Virginia Tech, 2012-08-09)
This research presents results of innovation management practices and sustainability of continuous improvement. Innovation is recognized as a growth tool for economies in general however not all economy sectors have innovation as a strategy. This research served as a case study to analyze how innovation is managed within innovative firms to help less innovative sectors, such as the wood products industry, to become profitable. Among the observed innovation management practices, this study was able to identify the use of continuous improvement to support incremental innovation. Although, continuous improvement is well known and accepted, there are still challenges to reach a sustainable state of continuous improvement. This research also addresses the difficulty in sustaining continuous improvement through a longitudinal case study. A literature review was conducted to identify factors influencing the sustainability of the continuous improvement. These factors were gathered within a research framework which functioned as the main source to establish the questionnaire used as the research tool. Utilizing this tool, the study evaluated the hypotheses relating to the effects of time, location and company type on the behavior of the enabling and inhibiting factors, and the relationships among them. Results demonstrated that time has no effect on factors affecting the sustainability of the continuous improvement, although changes affect how the factors are perceived as success factors in sustaining continuous improvement. The study also concluded that type of company and location impact how the inhibiting and enabling factors are perceived as supporters of the sustainability of the continuous improvement. Finally, the study revealed that these factors are correlated among them, thus sustainability is the result of a dynamic multifactor process rather that an unique factor. In addition to this new framework, the study also developed a self-assessment tool to be used for continuous improvement practitioners. With this tool, the new developed framework can be continuously monitored and proper and informed action can be taken by managers to address any observed gap in sustaining continuous improvement. Finally, the study also brings an example of interdisciplinary research which gathers quantitative methods from the statistics field, and qualitative methods from the business and social science fields.
A Business Model for a Red Oak Small Diameter Timber Processing Facility in Southwest Virginia
Perkins, Brian Russell (Virginia Tech, 2006-12-12)
The conversion of red oak small diameter timber (SDT) into solid wood products was investigated. The objectives of this research were to 1) determine the yield of lumber, pallet and container parts, and residues from SDT and the market potential for these products; 2) determine the economic feasibility of a SDT sawmill and pallet part mill located in Southwest Virginia; 3) develop a business plan for a SDT sawmill and pallet part mill located in Southwest Virginia. The methods for this research consisted of resource, yield and economic analyses, and the development of a business model. The resource analysis indicated an ample supply of red oak SDT available in Southwest Virginia. The yield analysis used red oak SDT logs, which were manufactured into lumber, container parts and wood residues. The yield of 3" wide container parts from cants varied from 63% to 66%. The 1" nominal lumber produced was mainly 2A and 3A, 74%, and 24% was 1 common. The economic analysis utilized break even, net present value and internal rate of return analyses to determine the economic feasibility of utilizing red oak SDT. The results of the study indicated that the sawmill-only processing level scenario is not economically feasible given the specified conditions and assumptions. However, the results showed that the sawmill and pallet part mill, actual yield scenario at $35/ton delivered log cost is economically feasible. The hypothetical business model for Southwest Custom Hardwoods was economically feasible. The final net present value was calculated to be over $750,000 and the final internal rate of return was 11%. Future yield studies should weigh logs so that the yield of residues and solid wood products can be directly compared. Future research into the utilization of hardwood SDT should include yield studies of other species and other product mixes.
The Effect of Pallets and Unitization on the Efficiency of Intercontinental Product Movement Using Ocean Freight Containers
Hagedorn, Alexander (Virginia Tech, 2009-07-20)
Global industrialization was developed in response to both consumers and manufacturers demand for lower product prices and availability of goods and services. As a result, products are transported greater distances. Shipping constitutes the majority of costs in the export/import supply chain. Shippers and buyers commonly attempt to offset these costs by maximizing the capacity of ocean freight containers (cube or weight). Boxes (usually constructed of corrugated fiberboard) containing consumer grade products are commonly floor loaded into containers to maximize capacity. Boxes that are not floor loaded are likely to be unitized on pallets in containers. Beyond maximizing a container with cargo, a defined decision to determine which method of loading is most efficient in regard to cost and time does not exist. For this research, field studies were conducted and questionnaires were distributed to identify the variables that influence efficiency. A method to make an efficient decision was developed by incorporating the variables into a model. The model compares the overall export/import supply chain efficiency for boxes that are floor loaded to boxes that are unitized on pallets in containers. The recommended decision is determined by comparing the shipping and handling costs and the receiving dock door capability for the two loading methods. The results of this research reveal that floor loading boxes can provide a higher value per container due to increased capacity. Increased capacity by floor loading often reduces the number of containers needed to meet daily demand. However, since manual labor is utilized for the loading/unloading process, more time is required, which results in higher labor costs and restricted product throughput. Unitized boxes loaded in containers on pallets can limit container capacity, but allows for faster loading/unloading times (if no incompatibilities between product and pallet or pallet and/or material handling equipment exist), reduced labor costs, and the potential for increased product throughput. Importing boxes unitized on pallets commonly requires more containers to meet demand, but fewer receiving dock doors. Utilizing fewer dock doors allows otherwise occupied doors to be available to receive additional product. The decision to floor load or unitize exports/imports needs to be made on a SKU basis meeting daily demand, not only per container capacity. Labor cost, pallet cost, the magnitude of box variation between loading methods, and the ability of the receiver to process containers are all influencing factors in determining which loading method is most overall efficient. Given the current cost for containerized shipments and considering all costs, most consumer goods are more efficiently shipped floor loaded. When additional containers would be needed to meet demand for product unitized on pallets, floor loading will be more efficient. When there is only a small difference in box count between floor loading and palletizing, palletizing product will be more efficient. This will often occur when loads will meet container weight capacity before it reaches volume capacity. If the product is too heavy to move manually it will be palletized.
An Evaluation of the Organizational and Interpersonal Communication Strategies Used by a Major Forest Products Firm in East Tennessee
Plyler, Jennifer Lee (Virginia Tech, 1997-04-24)
Fifty-four community leaders from Anderson, Campbell, Cocke, and Scott Counties, Tennessee, participated in two in-depth interviews and a mail questionnaire over a 17-month period aimed at assessing the communication efforts of Champion International Corporation's East Tennessee Expansion Project. The East Tennessee Expansion Project was centered around CIC's purchasing 85,000 acres of forestland and building a chipmill in east Tennessee. The coorientational variables of accuracy and agreement were measured, and the channels most likely to increase scores on these variables were identified. The results indicated that CIC failed to accurately measure the coorientational variables prior to the East Tennessee Expansion Project to determine if the campaign was necessary. In fact, the land purchase and chipmill may have been non-issues. Instead, it appeared that the East Tennessee Expansion Project should have focused communication efforts on the Canton, North Carolina, papermill and Pigeon River issues. The channel type most likely to increase accuracy for community leaders was a combination of interpersonal and mass media channels, while agreement was more likely to occur with an interpersonal channel. While a general level of accuracy and agreement was achieved, a more precise measure of these coorientational variables indicated that agreement and accuracy were generally low.
The Impact of Environmental Certification on U.S. Hardwood Flooring Manufacturers
Alt, Curt (Virginia Tech, 2001-04-06)
A nation-wide survey of hardwood flooring manufacturers was conducted in the spring of 1998. The objectives of the study were to determine the differences in beliefs towards certification between certified and non-certified hardwood flooring manufacturers and to explore the decision to certify and the implications of that decision. Those objectives were chosen because certification is a developing phenomenon of which there are some aspects that remain unknown. The survey consisted of a mail questionnaire that was sent to more than 250 hardwood flooring manufacturers. The questionnaire was used to collect demographic and attitudinal information from the respondents about certification. The second part of the research used the Analytic Hierarchy Process to model the decision process hardwood flooring manufacturers go through when deciding whether or not to certify. Data were collected as part of the mail questionnaire. The final goal of the research, to explore the experiences of certified manufacturers, was met through the use of personal interviews with the manufacturers. The results from the mail survey indicated that certified hardwood flooring manufacturers tended to be smaller than non-certified hardwood flooring manufacturers. The total amount of certified hardwood flooring produced in the U.S. in 1997 was estimated to be 435,579 bdft, roughly 0.1% of the total reported amount of hardwood flooring produced. The research also indicated that certified manufacturers felt that there was a need for certification in the U.S. and that it was the environmentally responsible thing to do, while the non-certified manufacturers felt that that was untrue. The most important factor in the non-certified manufacturers' decision whether to certify is the profit potential of the product, while the certified manufacturers based their decision to certify on the marketing advantages, image benefits, and access to new markets that the certified product provides. Overall, certified and non-certified hardwood flooring manufacturers hold widely differing views on certification, and those differing beliefs contribute to the choices each group makes.
An Investigation into Attitudes towards Recycling CCA Treated Lumber
Alderman , Delton R.Jr. (Virginia Tech, 2001-04-12)
This research examines the effects of evaluations, beliefs, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control on the contractor's decision intention to recover used CCA lumber. The purpose of this research was to determine the factors that affect recovery. This research proposes that a contractor's decision intention to recover is affected by evaluations, beliefs, subjective norms, and perceived barriers to recovery. The study included a mail questionnaire that was sent to over 2,800 contractors. The questionnaire was used to collect both demographic data and an evaluation of the factors believed to affect the recovery of CCA treated lumber. Data was collected primarily through the mail survey, where participants rated the factors believed to affect the recovery of spent CCA lumber. Extrapolation indicates that nearly 2.4 million cubic meters of treated lumber were removed in 1999 from the demolition of decks. It was also discerned that only two of the respondents recovered used CCA lumber on a full-time basis. Additionally, there appears to be a lack of knowledge regarding the chemical components of CCA treated lumber, the proper disposal methods, and handling of the product. This has profound strategic implications for not only the wood treating industry but other industries as well. The second phase of the research utilized ordinary least squares regression and a structural equation modeling program to model the factors concerning the contractors' decision intention to recover. The findings indicate that contractor beliefs and components of perceived behavioral control are the primary drivers in the contractor's decision intention to recover. Regarding beliefs, the findings indicate that contractors have a minimal belief that the recovery of the CCA lumber is necessary. This indicates that a marketing communications program should be developed to address the necessity and benefits of recovery. Recovery facilities and programs were found to be nonexistent and will have to be developed in order to facilitate recovery. Concerning programs, the overwhelming response was that some type of financial incentive would have to be incorporated to initiate recovery. In conjunction with the development of programs, recovery facilities will have to be developed that are convenient for the contractor to dispose of the used lumber.
Merit pay at an institution of higher education
Bailey, Gracie Massenberg (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1983)
This research sought to answer the question:"To what extent is the merit pay system at a state-supported university consistent with selected tenets of operant conditioning?" The population for this study consisted of one state-supported institution of higher education in the Commonwealth of Virginia that has a merit pay system. Nine department chairmen and six faculty members (two per academic rank--assistant, associate, and full professors) from the nine departments were randomly selected and interviewed. Two structured interview schedules were developed by the investigator to elicit the characteristics and perceptions of the current merit pay system in order to assess the extent to which the six tenets of operant conditioning were being applied in the merit pay system. In analyzing and presenting the results, the findings were presented according to general salary policy, demographic data and salary information, and the objectives of the study. The major findings of this study were: 1. The University does have a merit pay policy stated in the Faculty Handbook, but the investigator did not find evidence of a systematic procedure for determining faculty salary increases. 2. The department chairmen were better informed of the merit pay policy and procedures than the faculty members. In fact, faculty members were not familiar with the procedure for allocating merit increases. 3. A merit pay system was preferred by the majority of the department chairmen and faculty members over alternative salary policies. 4. The merit pay system at the University was not consistent with selected tenets of operant conditioning. 5. There were a limited number of rewards other than merit pay at the university that the department chairmen and faculty members believed were important. Some of the rewards that they considered important were tenure, promotion, reduced load, travel money, graduate or student assistant, release time, and good teaching schedules. Some rewards they desired to have at the University were parking space, free tuition for family, sabbatical leave, travel money, and release time.
Modeling Factors that Influence Firm Performance in the Eastern Hardwood Lumber Manufacturing Industry
Perkins, Brian (Virginia Tech, 2009-05-04)
This research investigated the relationship between several firm-controlled, marketing and management factors and firm performance. Hypotheses describing the relationship between the strategic, geographic, tactical, technological and organizational factors and firm performance of hardwood lumber manufacturers were tested. These factors were operationalized, measured in a mail survey and used in statistical analysis to identify relationships among the variables. An adjusted response rate of 19.8% was obtained from the mail survey. Non-response bias was not found to be a significant problem in the data. A twelve measure performance indicator was developed and utilized to evaluate the performance of hardwood lumber manufacturers who were predominantly privately-held companies. The averages for the profit and costs performance measures were the lowest of all twelve performance measures and this suggested that firms should focus improvement on these measures. The current marketing tactics, including species mix, product mix, customer mix, and promotion mix was determined. The utilization of advanced production technology has increased in the industry since it was last measured in 1999. The majority of respondents (60%) had dry kiln operations and 49% had a surfacing mill. Thirty five percent of respondents indicated that their company was certified by either forest, chain-of-custody, or both. Of the five firm-controlled factors investigated in this research, four of them were found to be related to firm performance. Geographic location was not found to be related to the performance of hardwood sawmills. Firms who were backward integrated and firms who were both backward integrated and forward integrated performed significantly better than firms who were not vertically integrated or forward integrated. Higher performance scores were associated with larger firms, firms who had multiple sawmills and firms who were members of the NHLA. There was no relationship found between diversification of the product mix, species mix, customer mix variables and performance. The diversification of a firm's promotion expenditures was positively correlated to performance. Firms that used optimized headrigs, optimized edgers and optimized trimmers performed significantly better than did firms not using all three of these technologies. Firms that used computer based log tallying, lumber tallying or inventory control performed significantly better than firms utilizing none of these technologies. An increase in the use of business strategy from previous studies along with a shift towards the use of a differentiation strategy was discovered. Firms interpreted to be following a hybrid differentiation/cost leadership strategy performed better than firms following a cost leadership, focus, or differentiation strategy. The implication of these results is that larger, vertically integrated firms are likely to perform better than smaller, non-integrated hardwood lumber manufacturers. It is recommended that firms diversify their use of promotion media and venues in order to attract new customers. Adoption of production and information technology will help some hardwood lumber manufacturers improve their performance. It is recommended that hardwood lumber manufacturers control costs and differentiate their products in order to gain competitive advantage.
Modeling the Adoption Decision Process of Future Scanning and Optimizing Technology in Hardwood Sawmills
Bowe, Scott Arthur (Virginia Tech, 2000-06-02)
A nation-wide survey of hardwood sawmills was conducted in the fall of 1999. The objectives of the survey were to determine the differences between adopters and non-adopters of scanning and optimizing technology, identify the company expectations of scanning and optimizing technology, and model the adoption decision process for future scanning and optimizing technology. These objectives were chosen because timely information was not available on the hardwood sawmill industry, and even less was known about the overall state of technology with the industry. The survey consisted of a mail questionnaire which was sent to over 2000 hardwood sawmills. The questionnaire was used to collect demographic, equipment, and preference scale information on the hardwood sawmill industry. The second part of this project used the Analytic Hierarchy Process to model the adoption decision process for future scanning and optimizing technology in hardwood sawmills. Data was collected through personal interviews with two hardwood sawmill groups including adopters and non-adopters of advanced scanning and optimizing technology. The interviewee rated the importance of the decision factors in the adoption decision process. They also rated the influence of four sawmill departments on the adoption decision process. The results from the mail survey found that the average yearly lumber production was 7.6 million board feet per sawmill. The most common type of scanning and optimizing technology, headrig optimization, was only in use by 27 percent of the responding mills. Advanced scanning and optimizing technology such as edger-optimizers and trimmer-optimizers were only in use by 10 percent and 5 percent of the respondents respectively. Adoption decision factors for scanning and optimizing technology were rated. Improved raw material recovery and increased lumber revenues were the two most highly rated factors. Accuracy of grading was the most highly rated factor for automated grading systems. The adoption decision model found that production related issues were most important in the decision process and that the production department was the most influential of the sawmill departments. Overall, scanning and optimizing technology adoption within the hardwood sawmill industry is low. For those that have adopted advanced scanning and optimizing technology, production issues were the driving factors.
Quality Measurement in the Wood Products Supply Chain
Espinoza, Omar A. (Virginia Tech, 2009-05-01)
The purpose of this research is to learn about quality measurement practices in a wood products supply chain. According to the Supply Chain Management paradigm, companies no longer compete as individual entities, but as part of complex networks of suppliers and customers, linked together by flows of materials and information. Evidence suggests that a high degree of integration between supply chain members is essential to achieve superior market and financial performance. This study investigates the potential benefits from adopting supply chain quality management practices, focusing specifically on quality measurement. A case-study was conducted to accomplish the objectives of the research. An exemplary wood products supply chain was studied in great detail. The current state was compared with best practices, as reported in the literature. Supply chain quality metrics were used to assess current performance and a simulation model was developed to estimate the impact of changes in significant factors affecting quality, such as production volume, on the supply chain's quality performance. Quality measurement practices in the supply chain of study are described in detail in this dissertation. A high degree of internal integration was observed in the focal company, attributed in great part to the leadership of management, which formulates comprehensive quality planning, specifying quality measurement practices and goals. These practices provide the company with a competitive advantage, and have undoubtedly contributed to its relatively strong market share and financial performance. Significant improvements in defect rate and on-time performance at all levels in the supply chain have been achieved in great part thanks to current initiatives. There is room for improvement, however, regarding external integration; the supply chain of study could benefit from more information sharing with its external suppliers and increasing its supplier development efforts. There is also a lack of true measures of supply chain quality performance that could facilitate tracing variances back to their origin upstream the supply chain. Supply chain metrics must reflect the contribution of each supply chain member to the overall performance, and span the entire supply chain. This is the first study that looks in depth at quality measurement practices from a supply chain perspective. It is also one of very few studies of supply chain management applied to the wood products industry. Examples are presented of how a supply chain performance measurement system can be developed. Results from this research show that it is important to adopt a supply chain perspective when designing a performance measurement system, not least to avoid sub-optimization. Poor quality at any point in the supply chain eventually translates into higher prices for the final customer, is detrimental to customer dissatisfaction, and hurts profitability; with the end result of declining competitiveness of the entire system.
Time-Based Manufacturing System Design for Softwood Lumber Production
Leonard, Henry Taylor (Virginia Tech, 2005-11-28)
Manufacturing industries in the United States continue to experience increasing pressure from foreign competition. Through decreasing product lead time, U.S. manufacturers can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Southern yellow pine manufacturing is an example of an industry that can benefit from product lead time reduction. This project involved a case study of a southern yellow pine lumber manufacturer. Value stream mapping was used to evaluate the current lead time for the lumber manufacturer as well as design future state systems. Current state evaluation discovered an average lead time of 35.3 days according to six months of inventory data. Four future state systems were developed according to current demand and had lead times ranging from 10.8 to 14.9 days. Lead time reduction was achieved through more closely synchronizing and planing operations with sawmill output. To illustrate the impact of lead time on financial performance, the amount of capital invested in inventory was evaluated for the current state value stream as well as the future state value streams. All of the future state capital inventory requirements were less than 50 percent of the current state capital inventory requirement. Implementation of future state value streams would allow the manufacturer to benefit from having more available capital. This research project also investigated the use of pull production at the softwood lumber manufacturing operation. Effective implementation of pull production would require improving headrig optimization programs, presorting material by grade before drying, little or no drying degrade, and reducing both drying and cooling time. Due to the technological requirements of pull production in lumber manufacturing, the system was not currently feasible for the lumber manufacturer. Future research efforts should be directed towards creating the technology necessary to economically implement pull production in the softwood sawmill industry.
Winds of Change: Mexico in a Town in Appalachia
Knowles, John William III (Virginia Tech, 2006-07-14)
This qualitative study examined the changes that have occurred due to global and hemispheric market forces, and particularly through Hispanic immigration, in a small town in Southwest Virginia. The interdisciplinary study is written as a narrative, and includes descriptions of the town and people of Galax, Virginia and of the predominately Mexican immigrants who have come to live there. The primary focus is on the changes and challenges that occur in schools from the perspective of teachers and administrators, as well as from the students. Local residents and Hispanic immigrants alike share their perspectives on the impacts of immigration and their efforts to accommodate changes in their lives and communities. The researcher draws from his personal experience as an immigrant to Mexico to probe the search for identity and meaning that are common to immigrants. The study found that Hispanic children have devised an unofficial dual-language peer support system for learning in the classrooms that circumvents the assimilationist approach to which the schools have adhered. Immigrant children experience marginalization even in caring school environments such as those found in the Galax schools, due largely to the lack of preparation of teachers and administrators in culturally appropriate pedagogy. The study calls for more direct involvement between the university and local communities experiencing significant change due to global forces. Demographic change through immigration impacts schools implicitly, and requires the support and education of teachers and administrators through regional schools of education.
Wood Material Use in the U.S. Cabinet Industry: 1999 - 2001
Olah, David F. (Virginia Tech, 2000-09-01)
A combination of fax and mail questionnaires were used to estimate consumption of wood based products by the U.S. cabinet industry and evaluate current management issues affecting the cabinet industry. Group 1 companies (>$20 million in sales) were contacted and sent a fax questionnaire. A random sample of 1034 Group 2 companies (<$20 million in sales and >10 employees) were sent a mail questionnaire. A total of 19 usable questionnaires were received from Group 1 companies and 217 usable questionnaires were received from Group 2 companies. Group 1 respondents averaged 1,108 employees and $125.81 million in sales. Group 2 respondents averaged 27 employees and $2.31 million in sales. A shortened questionnaire (questionnaire 2, one page) was sent to half of the Group 2 sample frame resulting in twice the response rate as that of the long questionnaire (questionnaire 1, three pages). Results indicated that the cabinet industry used an estimated 484 million board feet of hardwood lumber. Nearly 95% of the hardwood lumber purchases were grade 1 common or better. The most common used species were red oak (44%) and hard maple (24%). An estimated 58 million board feet of components and 68,344 doors were also purchased by cabinet manufacturers in 1999. Softwood lumber use was estimated at 25 million board feet, consisting primarily of white (49%) and southern yellow (36%) pine. The most commonly used panel products were particleboard and hardwood plywood, at an estimated 1,044 million square feet (1/2 inch basis) and 279 (3/8 inch basis) million square feet respectively. Other panel products used by the industry were medium density fiberboard, hardboard, and softwood plywood. Approximately 156 (any thickness) million square feet of veneer was used. Lumber purchases were primarily direct from sawmills (66%) for Group 1 companies and from wholesalers/distributors (53%) for Group 2 companies. Panel product purchases followed the same trend with Group 1 companies buying primarily direct from manufacturers (44%) and the majority of Group 2 purchases coming from wholesalers/distributors (84%). Group 1 companies sold their products through factory sales people (54%) and to home improvement/building supply centers (37%). Group 2 companies sold their products through factory sales people (77%) and to builders and remodelers (62%). The largest proportion of cabinet types sold by both Groups 1 and 2 were face frame kitchen cabinets (74% and 38% respectively). Companies from both groups reported producing certified (green) products. The majority of companies indicated they purchased some parts from outside sources. Companies from both groups reported considering alternative materials to substitute for wood. Products that were mentioned include strawboard, urban waste MDF, and plastic mouldings. Concerns rated highest by cabinet companies were finding qualified employees, increasing raw material prices, keeping qualified employees, and wood quality.

Browsing by Author "Smith, Robert M."

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