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MOnth

"There's no elevator to success: you have to take the stairs."

- Kenneth Ford, founder, Roseburg Forest Products, Roseburg, Or. [ 1908- I 997] and leave us with an empty cash drawer and empty shelves. Changing the basis of payment under Chapter I I from the liquidation value of a business (as Chapter 7 specifies) to the going concem value is only fair," he said.

Smick also called on the commission to protect unsecured lenders like lumber dealers from secured creditors who dominate the system.

Plastic Lumber Standards

American Society of Testing & Materials has approved five test methods for plastic lumber.

The tests cover compressive properties, flexural properties, bulk density and specific gravity, compressive and flexural creep and creep rupture, and mechanical fasteners.

Research is continuing to provide standards for plastic lumber regarding shear properties, thermal expansion and contraction, weatherability, marine/waterfront applications, combustibility, electrostatic, traction, and use in residential deckine.

lndustry Plants Most Trees

Despite owning just 14% of all U.S. timberlands, the forest products industry did 42Vo of all tree planting in 1996, according to a recent U.S. Forest Service report.

Industry planting fell 3Vo from 1995 to 1,005,802 acres. Planting on non-industrial private lands rose 77o to 1,082,009 acres, on federal lands dropped 27Vo to 206,239 acres, and on National Forest System land fell l6Vo to 174,359 acres, the lowest total since 196l due to reduced harvest levels.

Tree planting on all lands slipped less than l%o to 2,406,700 acres.

North Florida Renames Rex

North Florida Lumber, Inc., Bristol, Fl., has changed the name of its pine sawmill in Bristol from Rex Lumber to North Florida Lumber.

With the installation of a curve sawing gang system in late L997, North Florida's lumber production will increase from 55 million bd. ft. annuallv to over 62 million bd. ft.

Your First Choice In Fencing

fiVER TFIE years, strategic plan\-lning has taken on a mystique. Many managers may believe that unless you have a Harvard business degree, you are incapable of creating a good, workable strategic plan. This is nonsense.

You need to demystify strategic planning. Simply put, it's developing a strategy that addresses all probable eventualities and determining the best actions to take to reach goals, overcome obstacles and maintain a competitive edge in good times or in bad. Clear away all the unnecessary jargon and approach planning as a simple, six-stage process: analyze the past, take a look at what's currently happening, set goals, create strategies, put systems in place, and ultimately cre-ate change.

To create a valid strategic plan, first take a critical look at the past. Examine your company's history to gain insights into how you arrived at your present position. Take a look at why and how your company was started. Analyze the changing revenue and profit stream over time, and the original mission of your business. Most importantly, pay close attention to past changes in profitability and the stimulus for these changes.

Try to objectively determine the impact the company's leadership has had on the direction the business has taken over the years. Since this may be difficult to accomplish if you have been the leader, an outside party may be called in to facilitate this process.

Story at a Glance

Benefits of a strategic plan six steps to creating, implementing your plan.

Over the last 20 years, Ganahl Lumber, Anaheim, Ca., has sent over 100 managers through Management Action Prograrns workshops to finetune their executional skills. "Our people need to be expert at executing the nuts and bolts," says Peter Ganahl, president. "We've succeeded at our business for 113 years because we know that we must execute well at the little things, the details, and concentrate on providing excellent service."

After you have a better understanding of the past, you will find it easier to study the present. Take the time to