operationalexcellence

At our Sutton oriented strand board plant in Heaters, West Virginia, 200,000 pounds of wood strands are dried in four sets of triple-pass dryers every hour. Those dry strands are blended with resin and formed into 12-foot-by-24-foot mats, which are then cured in the hot press and cut into 4-foot-by-8-foot boards of high-quality OSB. ... Read More

Rebekah Allen believes the heart of innovation is improvement. So, when she became dissatisfied with an inefficient process for collecting critical seedling survival data, she looked for a way to make it better. ... Read More

Having detailed, accurate information about stream networks is critical for our Timberlands teams to protect and manage water resources on our land. This information facilitates our forest harvest, planning and silviculture operations, as well as environmental compliance and our sustainability and certification processes. But it’s not easy data to get — in many places the forest canopy covers streams and other water features, making them difficult to spot using standard mapping tools. ... Read More

For some, innovation can feel like a lightning bolt, a sudden flash of clarity or inspiration for a great idea. For others, innovation is more like a million tiny steps that lead toward continuous improvement and greater efficiency over time. ... Read More

For Zack Allen, innovation isn’t a special project or something extra. It’s simply always on his mind. “It starts with a problem or opportunity,” says Zack, filing team leader at our sawmill in Cottage Grove, Oregon. “And there’s always something that needs to be fixed for good or that could be done better.” ... Read More