Berco Manufacfuring of Sacramento ln New and Expanded Plant

Berco Manufacturing, Sacramento pro. ducers of sliding door frames and related wood products, has just completed a move to a new and expanded plant at 8255 Belvedere Ave. in a recently opened industrial area of Sacramento, just east of Power Inn Road. The company, owned and managed by Erwin M. Bjerke, started here in 1950, and has steadily grown as a leading area manufacturer of sliding door frame components.

The new facilities include a wood frame and wood truss building,. 152 by 50 {eet, with unobstructed floor area and inside vertical clearance of 14 feet. Siding is corrugated galvanized iron. The plant is designed for in"line production with lumber storage and woodworking mill at the rear. Five wide service doors assure efficient flow of material with lift truck handling. Berco Manufacturing occupies one-half acre of developed land and holds two additional acres for future expansion.

In addition to its primary product, pocket sliding door frames, the firm manrrfactures wardrobe sliding door frames, folding doorso outside door frames, prehung doors and specialized items related to these products, The firm also serves as , distributor for Yale builders hardware.

Over twelve years ago, the firm was started by Bjerke in an old barn on Fruitridge Road with just a thousand dollar investment. A{ter two years it was moved to another building across the road, where it has remained until the present move.

During this period of growth, Bjerke points to the tremendous changes in the homebuilding industry which his firm serves. Doors and door openings are no longer an item fabricated by a carpeneter on the job. Instead they are installed by the carpenter as a pre-fit, pre-hung unit.

o'Construction becomes more unitized in every way," says Bjerke. o'People are demanding more and more in their homecountless closets, storage space, special openings. To provide these at the reasonable cost necessary, there must be standardization and pre-fabrication. This is the specialized field of our company."

He sees a bright future {or wood products with no limit other than availability of wood itself. In this connection, he considers the company's location, Sacramento, to be advantageous for lumber supply, as well as a strategic point for serving the Northern California market.

In making the expansion, a new plant was built rather than adapting to an existing structure, Bjerke explains, so that the firm could plan for a layout and design specifically suited to their needs, {lexible, with a smooth flow of material and the least amount of handling. Because the products are specialized. the cutting and assembling tables in the fabrication section o{ the plant were designed and built by the firm for specific jobs. The millwork section at the rear presently includes planer, rip saw, sticker and sander. Eventual plans call for the construction of additional storagespace.

Moving the plant at this time was a real problem for the company. Plans required a move with no interruption of the production schedule. The actual job was accomplished in two days by Shippers Distribution and Drayage Company, Sacramento. The following day critical parts of the operation were back in production.

Domestic Hordwood Production Shows Good 196l Gqin

Recent figures released liy the domestic hardwood plywood industry disclosed a good gain in 196l production over the previous year. Domestic hardwood plywood production from 196I was pegged at 924 million square feet. This included production from 166 plants East of the Rockies, and 33 W'estern manufacturing plants. Production for 1961 increased 132 million square feet over the industry's 1960 output of 792 million square feet.

Approximately one-third of domestically produced hardwood plywood in recent years has been "captive" plywood-produced and used by parent firms such as furniture factories, according to Tarifi Commission Report fi77. Census Bureau reports of domestic hardwood plywood shipments since 1955 have not included 'ocaptive" productiontherefore showing only approximately 2/s oI actual domestii production.