Sloppy handling can kill sales

lFnnflESS handling is disasYtrous to many products. You can protect your investment in merchandise and keeP Your customers impressed with your comPanY's quality by training your employees in proper handling techniques.

Plywood and other structural wood panels, for example, are engineered products with excellent dimensional stability, bond durability and structural ProPerties, but these positive characteristics can be killed by sloppy handling. Employees should be trained in and expected to follow the basic guidelines illustrated in this article to insure the best performance and maximum durability for customers.

Use this information as a script for handling classes. Make copies of it and post prominently or include it in your training notebooks for ernployees. Check your storage area to make sure that it is in good condition for storage and equipped with materials necessary for proper handling.

Handling

Handle panels carefullY. Avoid dropping them on edge, which maY splinter or chip corners. Although such damage won't affect the struc- tural capability of the panel, it can add to the customer's in-place repair costs. Be especially careful to protect the edges of tongue-and-groove floor and shiplapped siding Panels.

If you expect to move a stack of panels with a forklift, place it on a pallet or bunks when it is received to avoid damage from fork tines.

Panel stacks transPorted on open truckbeds should be covered with standard tarpaulins. Panels arriving in open rail car shipment should be protected with "lumber wraP" to avoid extended weather exposure.

Storage

If possible, panels should be stored in a warehouse or under a roof, especially if they won't be sold soon after being received. KeeP sanded and other appearance grades awaY from open doorwaYs, and weight down the top panel in a stack to avoid any possible warpage from humidity. If moisture absorption is expected, cut steel banding on panel bundles to prevent edge damage.

If panels must be stored outside, select the driest and highest ground available. Stack panels on a level platform supported with 4x4 stringers or other blocking. Never leave the

Pad corners with rags. Lay

platform in contact with the ground. Use at least three full-width supports along the 8 ft. Iength of the panel-one centered and the others 12 to 16 in. from each end. KeeP the area free of grass and debris that could wet or contaminate the panels. Cover the stack loosely with plastic sheets or tarps. Anchor the covering at the top of the stack, but keeP it open and away from the sides and bottom to assure good ventilation. Tight coverings prevent air circulation and, when exposed to sunlight, create a "greenhouse" effect which encourages mold formation.

Story at a Glance

Train employees in handling procedures enforce proper methods... bulld library of information.

Problem Prevention

Most structural wood Panel Problems are the result of insufficient pro-. tection from moisture, incorrect panel specification, or improper application. The guidelines presented here can do much to Prevent such problems from ever occurring for your customers.

Handling information such as the foregoing was provided bY the American Plywood Association and is available from other Product associations as well as manufacturers. Build a library of handling literature and put it to use. It'll pay offin both customer relations and dollars.

-fTd;'P;rthnd hffi*tiil ana,r* Beach

@ch are stafred r&h ifficient, kno d$$@te, "'highly bained and specialized people'*i,. leto ' 'lnieet all the needs of an expanding lumber supply business.

Cascade is a wholfy owned subsidiary of Forest City Trading Group in business since 1976. We re a financially sound, rapidly expanding technologically advanced computer oriented company with a definite competitive edge - we're the Cascade Team.

The federal gov. has ruled that Canada isn't subsidizing its lumber exports to the U.S.; while this is expected to end the matter, further appeals are technicallY possible

Roberts Consolidated, City of Industry, Ca., has purchased l|tilhold Glues, Santa Fe Springs, Ca., for an undisclosed price; Wilhold will operate as a whollyowned subsidiary North Pacific Plywood has transferred mfg. operations to its Cresham, Wa., mill from Tacoma . . Koller Forest Products is a new Canby, Or., wholesale firm specializing in cedar.

Sites for plants to be constructed to increase LouisiqnaPacific's Waferwood capacity to more than a billion sq. ft. by the end of '84 include Id., Co. and Ca. . L-P is considering selling its l2.6Vo of National Gypsum Co. stock . L-P's Rounds Distribu' tion Center, Cloverdale, Ca., has been closed. the re-man facilities continue, with sales being handled at Cloverdale, rather than Samoa, Ca., as before

Canevsri Timber Co., Fortuna, Ca., has filed a $40.5 million suit against Pacific Lumber Co., alleging breach of an oral harvesting contract and violation of anti-trust provisions . . Msnville Corp. has been given 30 more days to file a reorganization plan with the bankruptcycourt...

Anderson- Borrows Met ol Corp. has moved production facilities to Valencia, Ca., from Burbank, Ca. . . Ash Grove Cement Co. is acquiring Oregon Portland Cement Co. for about $42 million . Kaiser Cement Corp. has opened a modernized $150 million cement plant in Lucerne Valley, Ca. . .

California Wholesale is opening a yard office in the City of Industry, Ca., reporls Russ Swift, mgr. . C. Meek Lumber Co. is moving its Hq. office to Sacramento, Ca., from Redding and seeking acquisitions to expand Sterling Forest Products is a new wholesale co. formed in Seattle, Wa., by Terry Tate . .

Mqrtin Forest Industries has moved from Santa Rosa, Ca., to its new 3 acre distribution yard and offices in Healdsburg, Ca. After 19 years with MarquartWoAe Lumber Co., Orange, Ca., Sterling Wolfe, Jr. has left to form his own firm, Wolfe Lumber Co., in Newport Beach, Ca. . .

Californio Forest Products, Gilroy, Ca., is celebrating its 4th anniversary in business, according to pres. John Wilton Mountain Val[ey MouldingCo., Dorris, Ca., has been purchased by Consolidated Lumber Corp. of Clifton, N.J....

Sanford-Lu.ssrea Los Angeles, Ca., is adding an additional 2% acres near its Van Ness Ave. facility for a new mill and lumber sheds . Notianal Softwood Soles, Pomona, Ca., has added an 8,000 sq. ft. storage building to its existingyard...

Jones Wholessle Lumber Ca., Alameda St., Los Angeles, Ca., has acquired an adjacent acre of property for a planned expansion . DeBritz Lumber Co., Wilmington, Ca., is phasing out of business after 38 years

Buitders Supply, a div. of Col lins Pine Co., Portland, Or., has acquired Freeway Lumber Co., Oroville, Ca. . Builders Supply outlet in Gridley, Ca., has closed, the building will be remodeled into a retail store for d-i-y and contractors...

West Ilth Building Moterialsis the new name for the HighwaY 126 lumber yard in Veneta, Or., recently purchased by Jim LowerY and Lonne Morse . . . Homeowners DIY Centers, La Puente, Ca., is testing a discount Pricing program. .

Handy Andy, Tucson, Az., has been remodeled and remerchandised with the rest of the 5 store chain due for the same by July: total cost is nearly $400,000 . Harding's Building Center, Orofino, Id., has been purchased by Leon Swinehart and renamed BiRite Lumber Co.

Nationol Lumber & Supply, Inc., Santa Ana, Ca., plans to open 6 new So. Ca. stores within the next 14 months . . Timber Town Home Center, Honolulu, Hi., is open and predicting a $l million-per-month volume Bates Lumber Co., Albuquerque, N.M., suffered an as yet unestimated amount of damage in a fire caused by spontaneous combustion. .

Foxworth-Gslbroith has purchased the Silver City, N.M., retail yard of A.C. Houston Lumber Co. and is operating it as a FoxGal unit . . Olsen Paint and Lumber, Yale, Or., is celebrating its 15th anniversarY and recent expansion . . Hayward Lumber, Morro Bay, Ca., will raze its 23-year-old store and rePlace it with a new 9,600 sq. ft. metal building

Macon Supply Co., Billings, Mt., has been named a Steel-Ply Concrete Forming System dealer . . The Glass Tempering Association has adopted a new trademark to identify tempered safety glass in building products . .

Mountoin States Lumber snd Buildins Mqterial Dealers Association has moved to new offices at 5500 So. Syracuse Circle #105, Englewood, Co., with a new telephone, (303) 793-0859 . .

Housing starts in April (latest figs) slid back 8.490, (the second decline in a row) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of I,490,000 . . . building permits for future construction reached the highest level since 1979 with aleapof 6.5V0 over March

"ln the first year we've had the Trlad, our inventory has been reduced over lEol,^,^',,^ ;^^,^^^^: tJ /o! vvu vu il tuluoJEU sales and our gross profit margin is up 3% That's unheard of in the lumber business. Quite frankly, t,.,^,,ti^'+ d yudr dvu I vvuulul I t have believed we could do it but we did. We did it with a Triad in one of the wo'st years the lumber business has ever had.

"We have four point-of-sale stations and three office terminals. Triad had us uo and running with almost ail our outside inventory on the system in under five weeks. And everybody was suooortive. Triad bent over backwards to make sure everything was done right. Our people got all the training they needed to be oroductive immediatelv

"We've become much more accurate with the Triad lt's given us total control over inventory, pricing, customer credit, purchasrng and accounting. The system even produces all our price stickers. That alone has reduced a lot of tedious manhours. We have more time to spend with customers and more time to spend with our families.

"l used to think I was a pretty good manager. But since we installed theTriad l've found out how much better I can be. I can make faster decisions with more complete information about inventory prices, receivables, payables. Anything I need is right at my fingertips. That wasn't the case before we had aTriad. So now when people say to me'Hey Dalton, this is a tough businessl I look 'em right in the eye and say 'Sure it is, that's why I have a Triadl "