​Some industries have their roots so deep in rural America that the impacts you see are but a fraction of their full effect. The hardwood forest products industry plays several roles in small-town America, providing good paying jobs, nurturing healthy communities and preserving cultural traditions. It is also essential for conserving nature and wildlife, which brings tourism revenue to the country’s rural and remote areas. Read more

Every year National Forest Products Week, observed the third week of October, offers an opportunity to highlight the important connection between forest products and healthy, resilient forests. This year National Forest Products Week is October 20-26, 2024.

The Forest Products Laboratory is observing the week by highlighting new research and important collaborations between Laboratory scientists and partners. Researchers from the Lab will be presenting their work in Forest Service SCIENCEx webinars. 

Wood, a renewable and recyclable resource, is one of our Nation's most environmentally friendly building materials. Wood fiber is used throughout our daily lives, from the paper we write on to the office buildings where we work. Its beauty is valued in furniture, homes, and artwork that surrounds us. Modern technology and stewardship practices by Federal, state, Tribal, and private landowners have improved natural resource management to meet the needs of current and future generations.

​Recapping a WCMA Fall Conference & Plant Tours Event can be a daunting task at the onset. Highlighting plant tours, recalling conversations, and catching the small details that make these events interesting and unique could be overwhelming except for one thing. The people. When it comes right down to it, the wood industry is chalk full of interesting, hard-working, down-to-earth people who value respectful interaction and learning opportunities. So, when the dust is settled and the bags are unpacked, it's actually easy to look back and recall more highlights than we can list in just one blog post. But, we're going to try!

The event kicked off on Monday evening with a Welcome Reception at the Waterloo Convention Center. It's always good to catch up with Members and Tech Partners and welcome the Young Professionals and guests. 

Tour Day 1 started off with an early morning bus ride through some of Iowa's most scenic farm country as we made our way to the Dubuque area for tours at Trappist Caskets, John Deere Dubuque Works, Adams Architectural Millwork Co., and Kendrick Forest Products. We also enjoyed a pleasant mid-day lunch break at Convivium Urban Farmstead.

Take-aways from Day 1 included the observance of skilled craftsmanship and reverence in the production of caskets, the management processes of mass production, the importance of customer satisfaction in custom wood products, and implementing business strategies to expand and market wood products from logs to a diverse and  finished  product line. One more thing worth noting: The bonus ball cap we each received as a parting gift from our John Deere tour guides!

Tour Day 2 kept us local to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa area with plant tours at Kryton Engineered Metals, O'Neal Manufacturing, and Bertch Cabinets. Take-aways from these tours included plant layout options, the use of "nesting" and work stations, the importance of outsourcing, exposure to a campus-style production facility, applying robotics, and workforce cross-training.

Another round of thanks go out to all the Plant Tour Hosts as well as Kendrick Forest Products for sponsoring the transportation and providing road trip goodie bags! The Edgewood Locker smoked sausages were a huge hit as were the custom ornaments.

It's not every day one gets to see such a wide variety of products being manufactured. And even though not all tours centered around wood product, they did focus on what we all have in common. Manufacturing. Whether you're producing caskets, cabinets, railroad ties, or Captain America shields for a movie studio, in the end,  it's all about manufacturing.