LISA is getting quite a Reputation

"... LiSA allows us to track inventory easi[ With LISAwe are able to see our entire inventory @t all locatiors), allowing us to instantly quote prices and delivery times on just one phone call, usua\ resulting in more orderc and a faster inventory tum.'

Steve Power Power Wood Corp. Coquitlam, BC

"... As witlt any software change, I was apprehensive, but now, one year later, I canl imagine doing my job withoutUSA.'

Angie Daugherty

J.M. McCormick Co. lnc. Indianapolis,lN

"l would llke to say that over the past sevenl years it has been extremely dilficult to frnd a software package hat was geared toward wholesale lumber distribution. HSA 96 has ended our search.'

Ray Unick Manufacturers Reserue Supply lrvin$on, NJ

Boise Cascade Fights L-P For OSB Maker

Weeks after Louisiana-Pacific agreed to buy Groupe Forex, Boise Cascade offered to pay nearly 20Vo more per share for the Canadian OSB manufacturer.

Boise Cascade bid approximately $20.50 (U.S.) per share in either cash or stock for Groupe Forex's 23 mlllion shares and assumption of its long-term debt.

Although Louisiana-Pacific's letter of intent was initially okayed by Groupe Forex's directors, the board reopened the bidding following Boise Cascade's offer.

At press time, Forex officials were awaiting a possible counterbid by LP, after announcing that they would accept any L-P bid that at least matched Boise Cascade's.

Still, the company said that their shareholders would benefit equally no matter which suitor is selected. "We are in the right place at the right time," said Forex's v.p. of legal affairs, Jacques Dalpe.

Groupe Forex, which operates three OSB plants and two sawmills, all in Quebec, is among Canada's largest and most technologically advanced OSB makers.

Louisiana-Pacific is the world's largest producer of OSB.

Boise Cascade, on the other hand, is one of the newest producers of OSB, operating a single plant in Ontario, Canada.

According to a Boise Cascade spokesperson, "We would like to be a lot bigger in that business to take advantage of the growth."

Wood Consortium Formed

A consortium has been formed to develop a new generation ofadvanced wood and fiber-reinforced composites.

The organization consists of APAThe Engineered Wood Association, the University of Maine Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center, USDA Forest Products Laboratory and the Market Development Alliance of the Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites Industry.

Its mission is to lower the cost of wood fiber, improve its efficiency, and enhance the performance ofstructural wood products.