Norioncrl Plywood Disrributors Associotion To Open Service Burequ on West Coqst

Chicago, Ill.Albert Hersh, president of Industrial Plywood Company, Jamaica, L. I., was elected second vicepresident of the National Plywood Distributors Association at the membership meeting of the organization at Miami Beach last month. Leonard E. Hall of Lumber Products Company, Portland, Ore., is president of the association and presided at all sessions. Earl G. Thuresson, Associated Door & Plyrvood Company of Chicago, is first vice-president.

Following favorable action on an amendment to the bylaws increasing the number of directorships by five, new directors elected include (representing the Western region) Kenneth J. Shipp, California Builders Supply Company, Oakland, California.

Registration at the meeting, a combination regional conference and general membership convention, totaled 215 with substantial registrations from all areas, including the Pacific Coast.

Reports on Mill Meeting

Discussion at membership sessions included a report by Louis G. Riecke, Tulane Hardwood Lumber of New Orleans, of a joint meeting with a committee of fir-plywood manufacturers on the subject of grading rules, standardized packaging, prevention of damage in transit and an outline of the demand for plywood items other than 4x8 sizes and the lack of adequate production facilities to meet that dernand.

The Past Presidents' Council, through George L. Waetjen of Milwaukee, outlined preliminary plans for the annual election of individuals to the NPDA Plywood Scroll of Honor, a procedure established to honor those whose achievements for the industry merit permanent recognition. He stated the names of those selected each year would be engraved in the bronze placque to be installed as a part of the permanent plywood exhibit in the Museum of Forestry in Portland, Oregon.

An outline of the information contained in the annual Financial Survey was presented to the membership by Charles E. Devlin, managing director, who pointed out that the operating ratios developed would serve as management tools in the control of costs. National summaries of margins and expenses of jobbing operations, he stated, would also be valuable supporting data in the campaigns to strengthen the position of the wholesale distributor by emphasizing the costs involved in performing the function of primary sales outlet for panel distribution.

430 Warehouses Subscribe to Fund

At a meeting of the board of directors of the Jobbers Plywood Prornotional Fund, a separate non-profit corporation organized to raise funds for promotion of plywood at the wholesale level by joint local effort, M. C. Davidson, president, announced that the number of subscribing participants now totaled 430 warehouses and represented about 75/o of the total dollar volume of plywood moving through jobbing channels. Directors voted to begin collections of 15c per M on purchases of plywood products from West Coast sources beginning January 1,t956. Funds so collected will be credited to local trading areas and rvill be spent cooperatively by local participants.

Davidson announced that, during the period funds were building up, one or more test campaigns would be conducted in specified areas in cooperation with the Douglas Fir Plywood Association. This would be done, he stated, in order that helpful suggestions would be available to local participants as a guide to the planning of the joint promotional efiort at the wholesale level.

Service Bureau Started

At a further business session, another non-profit corporation was officially brought into existence t'ith the election of officers and the adoption of the by-laws.

This activity, the Jobbers Plywood Service Bureau, will maintain an office on the west coast to serve as a clearing house and information center for member distributors in need of assistance in placing specifications and expediting mill contracts.

This clearing house office will also be available to plywood manufacturers in making occasional contacts with the market through jobbing channels.

Organizing directors of the Bureau include M. C. Davidson, L. E. Hall, Albert Hersh, and Hubert F. Heying, Timberline, fnc., Kansas City; Emil J. Kochton, Plywood & Veneer, Chicago; R. C. Whitmeyer, J. R. Quigley Company, Gloucester City, N. J.; J. R. Welsh, Welsh Plywood Corporation, Memphis; Wm. H. Hunt, United States Plywood Corporation, New York; V. A. Breitenbucher, Roddis Plywood Corporation, Marshfield.

E. G. Thuresson and Wm. F. Fahs, California Panel & Veneer Company, Los Angeles, were elected directors of the bureau to bring the board to the minimum provided by the by-laws.

Davidson reviewed the urgency of the demand that had developed among distributors for the establishment of the bureau and stated that a full report would be mailed shortly to the NPDA membership soliciting memberships. Income to finance the bureau, he pointed out, would come from dues and fees charged for use of the offices by non-member jobbers and by manufacturers.

The first annual membership meeting of the bureau, Davidson declared, would be held during the annual NPDA convention in Colorado Springs, May 15, 16, 17 and 18. At that time action taken by the directors in the interim would be reviewed and additional directors would be elected to bring the board to full maximum strength.

At subsequent NPDA sessions, speakers included }forace B. Edson, director, Management Supervisory Techniques, fnc., who outlined a program for training supervisors, pointing out the possibilities of organizing cooperative classes to further this work in small organizations.

A products clinic brought forth an outline of 1956 promotional plans of the Douglas Fir Plywood Association detailed by James Fowler, promotional director, who promised an expansion in the hard-hitting campaign designed (Continued on Page 53)