OPERANNG OPPORTUNITIES

WALLY LYNCH. Paid Associates PO. Box741623 Dallas, Tx.75243

Ll Ow MANY times have you said to I I yourself, "if it weren't for meetings and keeping up with reading, I could get something done around here"?

Our clients say that when sales are up, meetings are down and vice versa, but, no matter what, they are four months behind in their reading. Most companies have routinely scheduled meetings which drag for lack of substance on many occasions.

Here's a program that can liven up your meetings, make them more productive and help out with the reading as well.

Companies in our industry receive publications relating to hardware, lumber and home centers as well as association bulletins and a variety of news- letters and local newspapers. The norm in handling this onslaught is to stack it for a rainy day and/or put a buck slip on it. This way everyone in the organization can initial that they have seen it.

The buck slip is the original revolving door. It insures the movement of information, but does nothing to guarantee assimilation or even familiarity with content.

Let's assume that your company has a staff meeting once a week attended by someone from operations, finance, merchandising and sales. Assign each person a specific reading assignment. It doesn't matter which goes to whom because responsibilities should be rotated periodically.

As an example, finance could take association news, newsletters and local newspapers; sales, home center publications; operations, lumber periodicals; merchandising, hardware magazines.

Each publication should be read from cover to cover by the person to whom it is assigned.

The idea is that someone will actually read an industry trade journal for about l5 minutes per work day. Approximately 30 days later he will report on its contents at the weekly meeting. A different area should be covered by a different reader each week.

One reporting method uses copies of the table of contents for each person. The reviewer can run through this, quickly summarizing each article. The purpose is to point out what is new, what is being done and what the company could do.

When an article is noteworthy, copies can be made for all. The buck slip can be utilized for anyone wanting follow up.

Using this system, you will never be behind in your reading. Your people will acquire information from each other in a new and effective way. You will change an endless chore into a productive training tool at very little, if any, cost.

Call (714) 852-1990

Arizona Lumbermen Convene

Arizona lumbermen will meet May 19-20 for a convention sponsored by the Mountain States Lumber & Building Materials Dealers Association. This is their first convention since the Arizona Lumber & Builders Supply Association disbanded last year.

Larry Butler, Mallco Lumber, Phoenix, Az., and Larry Grabe, Snavely Forest Products, Chandler, Az., are making plans for activities which will be held at various locations in the Phoenix area.

Phoenix Hoo-Hoo Club will host a golf tournament at the Foothills Golf Club on opening day (Friday). The Young Lumbermen of Arizona are in charge of the steak fry that evening at Rustler's Rooste at Pointe South Mountain. A roundtable discussion session will be held at convention headquarters Fiesta Inn, Tempe, on Saturday morning with the Supplier's E,xtravaganza reception that evening at the same location.

Qudity Control Starts at a Very Early Stage at Pacific Southeast Forest Products

Whatever happened to . . .?

By Matt Moulder

Kieran Madden, former Wood Moulding Association president, mayor of Redmond, Or., and Timber Product*s Manufacturers Association president?

We contacted him between trips to the Oregon National Bank and learned that he has been living i life of leisureifter selling out his interests in 1986. Redmond is w:here Kieran and his wife,"Shirlev, spend the greater part of their time. Trips to China, Yellowstone park, Yuba City, and Baja California have accounted for part of the couple's retirement agenda, with a trip to lreland planned for later this year.

On The Soap 8ox

LMA Sets 5Oth Gonvention

The Lumber Merchants Association of Northern California will hold its 5Oth annual convention May l720 at the San Diego Marriott Hotel, San Diego, Ca.

Annual election of oflicers will be held during the general membership meeting. LMA member Merle Mensinger, current NLBMDA president, will address this session on Friday morning, May 19. A quick pitch program with associate members will follow. Bill Lee, Lee Resources, the final speaker of the morning, will discuss "Customer Care."

Executive committee and associate council luncheons will conclude the morning program. That evening a president's reception and dinner with entertainment are scheduled. The annual award's breakfast will be held Saturday morning.

A past presidents meeting, the annual Dangerous Divot Diggers golf tournament at Carmel Mountain Ranch and a manufacturers-suppliers reception with table top/booth displays are planned for the first two days (Wednesday and Thursday) of the meeting.

The WWPA meeting held in San Francisco in February was the 31st such meeting attended by A.D. Adkins, popular sales manager for Wetsel Oviatt Lumber Co. A.D. has missed only one WWPA spring meetingin 32 years. 1989 marks A.D.'s 36th year as sales manfger for the Folsom, Ca., lumber producer and his 52nd year in the lumber business. Coneratulations, A.D.!!

. Several things in th-is world shouldn't be allowed to happen: (1 ) The WWPA meeting should never be held in any montl-r except March; (2) Attorneys should not receive 30% to 50% of settlements or judgments in. law suits; (3) Foreigners should not be allowed to buy real estate in the U.S.; (4) The WWPA meeting should be held in some location other than San Francisco.

lf you missed the WWPA meeting this past February, you were not aione. A lot of people passed it Lip, some due to a ionflict with other meetings, some due to a conflict with the Presidents' Holiday, and some because San Fransicso has become such a seamy place. S.F. seems to have a corner on derelicts. Nowadavs thev tall them "homeless people," but it seems to us an injustic'e to tlie lady with two kids whose husband has run off. These are homeless oeople, deserving of a helping hand. We used to call bums many'of 'the others you pass on the street. Lumping together these two diverse types undei the heading of homeless feople doesn't seem right.

San Diego would be igood location'for the wwpa meetin[. Very few bums, nicer climate, l6ts to see and do, very few waiters riitfr an earring in the wrong ear.

Structural Panel Exports

U.S. softwood plywood and other structural wood panel exports broke the one billion square foot mark in 1988 for the first time ever.

The American Plywood Association (APA) said that the record-setting volume exceeds the industry's previous best (set in 1987) by some 208 million square feet. Total exports last year, according to official U.S. Department of Commerce figures, were 1.004 billion square feet, 3/8-inch basis.

The record year, according to Tom Fast, APA director of international operations, Tacoma, Wa., was the result of favorable exchange rates. strengthening economies around the world, continuing progress in reducing tariff and other import barriers, and aggressive international promotion by APA in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service.

Approximately 78oh of U.S. structural wood panel exports last year went to Europe, with the United Kingdom leading the list. The U.K. imported 250.6 million square feet in 1988 compared to 225.7 million square feet in 1987. Strong gains were also registered elsewhere in E,urope, including increases of 1060/o in Belgium/Luxembourg, 890/o in Italy, 54oh in West Germany, l6% in lreland, and l4% in the Netherlands. Markets beyond Europe, although much smaller, demonstrated equally vigorous growth. Exports to the Caribbean were up 16.6 million square feet to 60.9 million. Shipments to Mexico were ahead by 8 million feet to 20.3 million. The Japanese market was up 300/0, from 12.03 million in 1987 to 15.8 million square feet this year.

Grossman's Drives To Expand

Grossman's has opened a drivethru lumberyard as the cornerstone of a new shopping center in Pomona, Ca.

"What's unique about us is that we operate on the drive-thru concept," said warehouse manager Gary Norman. Customers drive in. select the lumber they want and load it onto their vehicles.

The warehouse anchors Grossman's Plaza, named not for the store but after unrelated plaza owner Abe Grossman.

Grossman's also operates

Southern California stores in Ventura, Long Beach, Montebello and North Hollywood.

Dataline Name Retrieved

Unisys Corp. has sold its Convergent Building Material Systems to a management group which has returned to the Dataline Corp. name which the business operated under as an independent, privately held company from l97l through 1984, according to Bill Simmeth, Dataline president. "We are now positioned to take the company private."

Retailer's Earthquake Kit

National Lumber & Supply, Fountain Valley, Ca., is the first retailer in the state to sell the QuakeAwake kit, an early warning earthquake kit.

The battery-powered device is mounted on a wall like a smoke detector, but responds to low-frequency sound waves that precede a seismic shock. The $39.95 kit, which also includes an earthquake survival guide, can give as much as a 30 second warning, depending on the distance to the quake's epicenter.

Purchasing your own building materials can be a tricky business.

Are you absolutely sure you are buying your building materials right? If not, there's one way to buy with confidence. Central Builders Supplies Company.

buying that has helped independents remain price-competitive with big chains for more than 50 years. our in-house buying departments will get you the right price on lumber, insulation, roofing, drywall-you name it,

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HARDWOOD PLYWOODS

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IMPORTED

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Zebra Wood

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