Plant is remanufacturi

IItILLAMETTE Industries reUU cently purchased a versatile remanufacturing plant in Woodburn, Or. But no sooner had the company added the facility to its family of holdings than it pushed it out on its own.

Technically, the remanufacturing plant is one of Willamette Industries' 64 facilities in l6 states. The building materials division includes l0 plywood plants, seven sawmills, a machine company, four particleboard plants, and single medium density fiber board, veneer, custom. I-beam and remanufacturing plants.

Still, says Woodburn general manager Perry Nydigger, "We're on our own. We're a customer of our own sawmills, just like everyone else. We receive no special deals. So we may or may not buy from them, depending on the price."

But the remanufacturing plant, known as Willamette's Industrial Wood Products division, is well equipped to be alone. The 8.8 acre facility is a beauty, entirely paved in asphalt, well sloped for water runoff, and totally enclosed by chain link fence. On the lot are a 24,000 sq. ft. mill building, a 24,000 sq. ft. warehouse, and a 4,000 sq. ft. oflice building. The mill equipment includes a planer, resaw, gang rip saw, and a sorting chain with trim saws.

The operation ships to all 50 states, from Alaska and Hawaii to Florida. The bulk is delivered west of the Rockies. and the Alaskan demand comes and goes with the oil business there. It is also beginning to export products to Japan.

On the average, Woodburn ships about 3-l/2 to 4 million feet each month by truck, piggyback van, and Southern Pacific rail car. Local business is just as important. "We've got a good location right on the I-5 corridor," says Nydigger. "We're not out of the way like some plants."

Willamette Industries as a whole is a pro-wholesaler company. The Woodburn plant, though, will sell to selected retail yards, but not to contractors.

The product list is plentiful. A sample: fir uppers, stepped flooring, ceilings, subflooring, hand rail, furring strips, clears (both vertical and mixed grain), fascia and sidings, some standard dimension items, plywood, particleboard, do-it-yourself items (all species in green and dry), decking items in Southern pine,