Hamberger Industriewerke is a sinial
operation located near Munich, Germany. It eniploys 15 peo-.

wood processing

ble and uses only 5,000 cu.m. of lumber a year,

Hotes

Given a modern mill in B.C. will cut that amount in Just a
ingle week, the German company scarcely seems worthy of

though considering’ the company

nerates'$6 million a year in.using that comparatively small

On _ Sponsored trip, Terrace Precut’s

©. from the Other.’ ~~

alue-added - products and.
sbetter utilization of wood "are
iotherhood’ ‘issues’ in B.C.'s
ood industry. but too often
they are paid little more than lip -
“service,: +. _ a
“But the convepts are a reality
-in Germany, says the owner of a
local wood-processing facility « .
. Just returned from/a trip tothe

country, ©

. One of 34 participants on the —
provincial -. -government- ~

Mo Takhar was impressed by:
. What- the’ group saw when

" visiting value-added operations: '
in that country,
- One of those was Hamberger

|. Industriewerke, near Munich, -

the country’s largest supplier of

. -» flooring and ceiling supplies
‘and kitchen cabinet .

com-
--: ponents, ~ 7
=.= Takhar said Hamberger’s -

_. Plant was a three-stage, in- YO piece
“tegrated set-up consisting of a_ Clear. Because the ‘filling’? was

--- sawmill, reman: operation’ and. .
finishing. department in: which

raw logs go in one end and

finished products emerge from .
the other,
«yHe said one-inch’ slices ‘were

' taken off all-sides of logs being’
fed. into the sawmill to recover
more clear (top grade) wood un-
til a squared-off piece of lumber-
‘known.as 2 cant had. been pro-

- duced. The cants were then cut

to get the desired appearance.
~. Another example of combin-
ing woods of different quality
while at the same time achieving
the required end product is ‘the

facility’s window jamb produc-_

tion, :
_Takhar said it has always

-been., his. understanding’ - that

Clear 3x4 are needed to make

‘these ‘jambs. ‘It's’ not easy ta

find large quantities of: this
“quality and dimension, he add-

“ede

_. “They are getting way
more value out of their
wood,”’ says a local
lumberman after a trip
to tour German process-
ing facilities... ~~

However, the German techni-
que is to sandwich second grade
wood between two pieces of

hidden, they are able to provide
the desired outer appearance,
eliminate the problem ‘of fin-
ding enough larger. dimension

‘clear wood and make use of the

slower. grades. - - ;

'- Another technique is finger-
jointing — the technique of tak-
ing pieces of clear wood:as smal]
as eight inches: in length and
joining them to produce a
longer, top quality piece of

“in half leaigth-ways before being _W0od.”

‘sent to the dry kiln.
“~~: Once dried, the wood went on

sto: the reman section’ where it Ta SIZE
_ > Was further .processed using a mills were achieving’a less than Mo
ay duplicate the emphasis on

~ planer-moulder. As an example
of..what, that machine can do,

Takhar said he had ‘watched:a’ were getting )/*70per,cent and...
“1x4 being fed ‘into onl tyftiand UP. saeincaes morn aati este anbia PI
+ being . Although these methods: are «

six pieces’ of dowellitfa‘emtierge™’

--:, Components produced by the
Planer-moulder then passed

" through to the finishing depart-

_ ment where -the final. product °
was put together. Exactly how.

_ ‘that was done, however, was to
“remain a mystery to the delega-
tion, Takhar said, ;

-“He (a Hamberger represen-.. countries sych as’Germany in _ time.’’

tative) told us up front,-‘I’m ©

_» “They: are, getting: way more
value’ out of their wood,”
Takhar emphasized. While B.C.

50 ‘per cent recovery rate on
their logs, he said the Germans

with the restrictions on log ex-
ports, the province is now. get-.
ting more out of a tree than it
used to, Takhar said ‘‘It*s still
not as much as it could be: We
still have one more step to go.”"

As to why the industry here
should be so far behind other-

the field of value-added pro- -

THE MACHINERY may not look too different from that found in

"Feman operations in B.C. except it’s smaller than most. Where the

difference is between this German wood-processing operation and

many in B.C. is it turns out value-added products only. The com-

_ Markets, cost big factor |

in value-add

TERRACE —. Impressed by-

’ what he saw during his recent

trip to Germany and visits to.

wood-processing plants there,
Takhar says he wants to

value-added products.

| ‘lumber to make value-added °
“of HOt unknown:.over- here:and, products, he says its ‘main

_ business is custom cutting jobs
for a local sawmill. He currently
employs five people. .

_ *However, having. seen what
canbe done, Takhar is ready to
try to change things. ‘I’m going

to look into it,” he says, but —

cautions “It’s

going to take

It’s also going to take a lot of

sorry, that’s our secret ducts, he suggested B.C, wood money, Before his. operation

~. technology,’ ”* said Takhar.
The visitors did get to see the

- finished products, One major

e , line. for Hamberger is its par-
“4 quet flooring. Takhar said

~ Number. two grade wood is used
~as the base'and then faced with
“a thin’ layer’ of. just a few
‘= millimetres of clear hardwood

producers had over the years
settled into a comfortable rut.
He said the attitude is one’ of
“Tf we're making: a profit now,
why change?’'. _

That situation is now chang-

ing, Takhar said, and he-expects -

value-added: processing to’ ac-
celerate. _

sama ‘time, a city committee

USQ. as

". ‘Sholild:be made by local groups while.a provinclal forestry»:
commission advocates more education In the area of wood

sayS more’ forestry ‘decisions °

La
RS

can begin-to turn out. vatue-
added goods, Takhar needs to’
buy a dry kilo, finger-jointer
and planer-moulder. And thot
could cost as much as $2

While recognizing there are
many issues of forest manage-
ment that have to be dealt with,
the province’s Forest Resource
Commission suggests improved
‘education should also be a goal.

Commissioner Bob Kennedy,
past forest faculty head at UBC,
said the need for education
_Teflects the views in many of the
1,700:submissions the commis-
sion received during a tour of
the province this year.

He said the move toward
more and better education
should begin in primary school
so children Jearn to understand
the importance of the ‘forests
both in economic terms,and ‘‘in
the existence of ‘life on this
planet:” |

Although: Takhar’s’-Terrace ~
recut.s does~ occasionally). bys:

Tt was equally important that:

Local say needed in forest use

guidance,” itadds, ©
Recognizing locaily-based.
Broups would have to confine: -

Decisions about the area's
Forests should be made by a
local group, says city council's
forestry committee,

Ina submissiénito the provin-

sion, the committee notes the

O'years been forestry bas-

ae “And, 4 BAY:
« to’ diversify the local economy,

ned in. Terrace

— on - fe cial “Forest: Resource, Commis: _
‘Wwioagern ways |
MODERN MILLS such as the Skeena Cellulose facility In Ter-
race ara. at the forefront of wood processing In’ B.C,-At-tha *

economy: of..Térrace and the
‘surrounding ated’ has ‘for. the:
ae 0

3; despite efforts:
Tt ls estimated 75-per cent of

million.

With that kind of expen-
diture, he first needs to: find
markets for the new products.
Given the small local popula-
tion base and the current over-
supply on the jower mainland
market, that would.mean look-
ing at exports, particularly to
‘ Japan‘and Europe. °°:

Takhar, however, is sure the
markets are there, provided the
Price is tight. Pointing out Ger-
man companies are buying B.C.
wood at the moment, he adds,
“Lumber is very’ expensive in
Europe.” =

Even if marketing the fully

finished product proved dif-
ficult, it might be ‘possible to
‘take the wood to the "last step
but one”, what Is known ag a
blank, and export that for the
customer to take to the end pro-
“duct, --

Turning to. the Japanese
market, he points out 15 years

improved education be extend-
ed to the public, Kennedy add-
ed.

_ “If we're going to have more
local community
involvement,..people have to
have a better understanding of
the issues,’? Kennedy said.

He said the message of more
local involvement was one of
the recurrent themes heard dur-
ing a recent weekend workshop
conducted by the commission in
Terrace. Participants made it
clear there is a need for public
involvement on all issues of
land and resource use.

- Also’, identified was the
desirability of “‘a mature and
_ balanced understanding of the
need -to retain an industrial
base’’ while at the same time

can in some way be attributed to
the forest industry.” Nor is that
dependency likely to change in
the forseeable future.

-. That. means,..the committee
continued, forestry decisions

its ‘stability, making: it impor-
‘tant fora-loral:body to be in-
volved, a
‘It suggests the local commit-
tee be appointed by council and
represent all-résource users in
the area, a
| Such. a- body — “keenly

pany also has less wood wastage, better utilization of low grades

tek +,

rman way

- Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 5, 1980°—~ Page'AS::

and a higher priced end praduct, all of which has one local operator
looking at the possibility of adopting the same methods.

ago the Japanese were only in-
terested in raw logs. When thelr
suppliers switched the emphasis
to lumber with some logs,
Takhar recalls they accepted the
change, ;

Since then, a change ‘in
government: policy has:resulted-
in tougher restrictions on log.ex-
ports and the situation changed
again. Japanese companies
made the adjustment,

This Jeads Takhar to expect
the companies will change again
and purchase components for
things such as pre-fabricated
houses or “end-use products,”

However, even if the sales
potential looked certain enough
to justify the large capital
outlay, “I'd also need a secure
lumber supply,’’ Takhar points
out.
Only when all three of those
prerequisites had been met
could he seriously contemplate
changing his operation.

Education the key
on any wood debate

recognizing ‘‘the need to protect
and enhance other values in the
forest,’’ said Kennedy.

Describing the commission's
work as @ successful exercise to
date, Kennedy suggested it had
contributed to a “better mutual
understanding of viewpoints’*
both for participants and the
commissioners themselves,

He was also impressed by the
reduced ‘‘stridency” of oppos-
ing groups as people came to
realize the complexity of
forestry issues.

The commission now begins
work om a. report to be
presented to the provincial
government in February.
~ That report, said Kennedy,
will attempt to outline the
values people saw as important

aware of our region, its needs
and concerns ’’ — would be
able to both help determine the
wishes of the community as a
whole, and get the message to
the province, the . committee

will affect the community and" said

a While decision-making power
would ultimately rest with Vic-
toria, the committee says the

province should give con-.

~

siderable’ wéight to any local

reommendations. ‘‘Those af-
fected most. by’ fdrest resource
- decisions should be in a position
of: providing :; direction and

4

ded product |

Mo Takhar

With the timber supply dif-

ficulties being experienced by

mills across the northwest these.

days, that last requirement may
be the toughest to achieve.

Bob Kennedy

and suggest ways their aspira-
- tions could be realized.
Following that, the commis-
sion wants to produce a series of.
more detailed reports dealing
with the specific issues of.

tenure, harvesting and public

involvement,

their” recommendations. to
policy within a clearly defined.

geographical .region, . the com=|
mittee suggests existing timber,
supply area boundaries might:

be most appropriate, .

.. The committee says Terrace,

should be the centre of any such

. horthwestern body because it is:

the economic ‘centre ‘of the

region and because’ allforest
issues ultimately affect the city’s:
ECONOMY, goo et aed