Industry News News
Strong Canadian presence at TP&EE

Oct. 16, 2014, Portland – Day one of the Timber Processing and Energy Expo saw many major manufacturers in the North American sawmilling industry raving about the strength of their Canadian market.

After a downward period both during and following the recession, many manufacturers are seeing a significant bump in sales activity to the Canadian market as sawmills start investing once again, while others restart their operation.

Some of the larger manufacturers of sawmilling equipment like Comact, USNR and VAB spoke about new installations happening at sawmills throughout western Canada. That positivity extended throughout the gambit of parts, equipment and technology suppliers, with companies like Gilbert, SonicAire, Carbotech and Brunette also quick to discuss new projects in the works in the Canadian market.

One of the most highly anticipated sawmill projects in Canada, the reconstruction of the Lakeland Mills sawmill in Prince George, B.C., was also a hot topic for manufacturers. Several manufacturers were quick to inform Canadian Forest Industries of their involvement in the reconstruction of the mill, set to come online sometime in 2015.

One of those companies, Samuel Strapping, had an extensive display of their newest technology at the show. General Manager Wayne Van Tassel was enthusiastic about the strides made by the company in providing the newest technology for the market, including their ink jet stencil system, automatic package tag stapling system and bar code system.

The bar code system in particular is a significant new development for Samuel. Providing a basic paper sticker system that avoids printing bar codes right on the wood itself, the system is easy to interchange, as print cartridges are recycled and replaced with very little effort every few days. Printing the bar codes on paper also helps secure a consistent quality of printed code across all boards. The system is being used in several Canadian mills, including the EACOM sawmill just restarted in Ear Falls (see the November/December issue of Canadian Forest Industries for an exclusive story on the restart of the mill).

Van Tassel said that the company is currently experiencing one of the largest manufacturing backlogs in company history, a clear sign of the recovery of the sawmill industry here in Canada.

October 16, 2014  By  Andrew Macklin