The Lamber lDealer and, Prefabrteation

. Bf 'F. Vaux Wilson, Jr., lice-President, : Homasote Company, Trenton, N. J.

There are certain areas in this great country of ours where lumber dealers are in close contact with active prefabricators-who are making definite inroads into their housins businesses. Some say this has caused them to lose as" much as 4 out of eveiy 5 house sales. While this rnay be the exceptional case, the trend is growing, and dealers should take a long look at the overall problem and the possibility of an overall program to protect their interests.

Our company has been interested in the problem since 1935, when its Precision-Built System of Construction came into'being. During the last war, this system stood out against all other -methods-in the completion of 5,000 houses, on one site, in 5 months-the fastest and most economical sroup of qualitv houses ever produced at the time. The Piecision-Biilt System had been specifically designed, taking advantage of the big 8'x1Z and 8'x14' wJatherproof H-omasote Panels, to help the lumber dealer sell the lompleted home-and make his normal profit on all the materials which he sells that go into it.

Some of the operations were very successful, but the maioriw were not too successful. Cold, hard analysis of ixacily what the lumber dealer was getting out,-for what he- waq putting in, often proved discourag-ing.

Reason: the in;bility1o get enoug-h volume and suffici' entlv consistent volume.

You can have a plant geared to a house a day and, ifit is kept constantly busy, yoiu have a profitable operation. But if ^that plant d6esn't i,itt a couple of days a week, the overhead quickly eats up the savings in cost the plant operation has produced.

We betrieve that the lirmber dealer is not the proper level for prefabrication, partlcularly in q1all- oPgrations, and --y a dealer ii going to learn tbis, vital fact in the next 10 years.

We feel that the logical place for the dealer to procure the parts of the house is from his jobber. At this level, the spread between the dealer and the jobber is eliminat-ed, a whole lot of extra handling and delivery is eliminated. Overhead and profit on the manufacturing procebs are at a lower level. A properly organized set-up could reduce costs as much as $SZdpeiEt,000 of parts. The thinking is this:

A group of dealers could make arrangements wi-th one ol their jobbers to set up a housing program. The jobber would set up a shop to produce wall, ceiling, hoor and roof sections which would be delivered direct' ly to the job. The dealers would orgartize themselves to "ill hous6s in their communities, u--sing the local archi' tectq to do the designing and local lending institutions to do the fihancing.

Were our Precisibn-Built System used, everything is based on a {' module-so the jobber can build any house ! No stock plans are required. To kick tlre program off, each dealer should build a model house. If such a group consisted of 150 dealers, this would give the fabricating plant an .excellent start at major cost reductions almost from the beginning.

OurEstimating System, with Z2 years' experience behind it, enables a dealer to estimate accurately most any plan in an hour's time. This greatly enhances his selling ability, because we feel that stock houses do not properly fit the average family and that a family rvould be much h,allie_r with a house ilesigned to its needs. The dealer would work out arrangements with his local contractor to build the houses he sells.

Assuming a group of 150 dealers selling houses in a

Sqles qnd Generql Oftice ql Anderson, Colifornic

75-mile radius of the jobber, with an average sale of only 5 houses apiece the first year, the volume would still be 750 houses-and we can say, from our many years' experience, that there would be a considerable reduction in costs.

If the dealers so desired, they could individually contribute to a mortgage money pool. If they each ilut in $3,000, this should itimulate about 4l mittion dollars' rvorth of mortgages and be most helpful. The return on their investment would be good.

The interesting point about this program is that it is completely workable and practical. It will put the lurnber dealers in command of the housing business in their areas. 'fheir customers will get what they r,vant, at prices they can afford, and the tvhole iob rvill be done by members of the community.

(Tell them you saw it in The California Lu.m.ber Merchant)

Relaxation of Government Regulations will make some Quick Sales...

Our Production and Inventories are normal assuring you of Rapid Service on illired Cars

SUGAR PINE PONDEROSA PINE

DOUGLAS FIR . S7HITE FIR and INCENSE CEDAR PRODUCTS. Moulding . Glued Panels . Millwork available in mixed cars.

All products sbipped are precision made, carefulll graded by experts for custoners satisfaction,

Mills at Anderson, Red Bluff, Castella, Wildwood, and Mt. Shasta, California

Buck Golemqn Wirh Indusfriql Lumber

Buck Coleman, popular Southern California lumber salesman, is now associated with Industrial Lumber, Glendale, reports I. S. Brown, president of the wholesale lumber concern. In making the appointment, Mr. Brown declared his firm was planning a sales expansion program for 1958 to furnish the retail lumber dealers throughout the southwest a source of quality materials from reliable mills.

Coleman has been identified in lumber sales for several years. He started his wood products career prior to World War II, following graduation from the University of Colorado School of Engineering, when he joined a Denver retail concern as a salesman. Following his discharge from the United States Air Force in 1951 as a maior. he settled in Los Angeles with hiswife and family ind has been prorninently active in the industry since that time. He is a member of Los Angeles Hoo-Hoo Club 2.