{"id":132,"date":"2019-05-21T23:28:24","date_gmt":"2019-05-21T23:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optware.com\/?page_id=132"},"modified":"2019-05-30T01:10:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T01:10:22","slug":"plywood","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optware.com\/industry-applications\/plywood\/","title":{"rendered":"Plywood"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Roseburg Forest Products (RFP)\u00a0<\/strong>is the largest player in the west coast veneer and plywood business. Roseburg\u2019s veneer-based business is comprised of four Oregon mills (Riddle Plywood, Riddle EWP, Coquille Plywood, and Dillard Plywood) plus the Weed Veneer mill in Northern California. All the mills are located within an 80 mile radius. All mills have the ability to ship veneer to other Roseburg facilities as well as to outside customers; in addition, RFP supplements internal veneer production with purchased veneer from a number of outside sources.<\/p>

The business utilizes softwood veneer in several species including: Douglas-fir, Hemlock, White fir and Pine as well as a number of hardwood and decorative veneers. Softwood veneer lengths range from 8\u2019 to 10\u2019, widths range from 4\u2019 to 5\u2019 and thicknesses range from 1\/10\u201d to 7\/32\u201d. RFP makes a very broad range of plywood products including traditional siding, sanded, sheathing, underlayment, concrete form as well as many specialty items including hardwood overlay panels. RFP also makes quality LVL and I-Joist products in the EWP plant at Riddle.<\/p>

Leadership<\/h3>

Steve Killgore, recently promoted Vice President of Solid Wood for Roseburg Forest Products, played a significant role in bringing profit optimization technology into the company along with Plywood Business Director Pat Lynch, Manufacturing Director Bob Jewell, Plant Manager Ted Downs and Division Controller Mike Carr. Killgore had a very positive experience with Optware Solutions when he managed McKenzie Forest Products in Springfield, Oregon before joining the Roseburg team. In his prior experience, Steve developed a strong appreciation for the complexities of the plywood manufacturing business and how optimization brings value. Steve understands that traditional spreadsheet solutions and cost accounting fall far short of what is needed for optimized profit guidance; adding linear programming to the tool kit ensures that product mix (and the related impacts on revenue and costs) is fully considered.<\/p>

There are different philosophies about how to run a mill: Some operators focus on recovery, some emphasize production volume, and others focus on sales realization. At the end of the day, profit maximization must be the key objective. RFP recognizes that optimization modeling is an essential tool to help managers find the best possible blend of business variables.<\/p>

Objectives<\/h3>

Roseburg\u2019s multi-mill environment and shared wood supply included many complexities. The management team hoped to answer the following questions:<\/p>