Do you manufacture wood dust?  As soon as a saw blade, belt or cutting head touches the wood, the composition of the wood changes and wood dust is created in one form or another.  Everything from large chips to fine wood flour is created.  However, is the wood dust you manufacture combustible?  According to OSHA combustible dusts “are fine particles that present an explosion hazard when suspended in air in certain conditions.”  “Certain conditions” refer to two parameters that define a fire triangle from an explosion pentagon, they are dispersion and confinement.  A potentially combustible fine wood particle is additionally defined by particle size, shape, age, moisture connect, as well as other factors.  If there is any doubt of combustibility, the dust must be sent to a certified facility to be tested. 

NFPA 652 (2015) states “To determine if the dust can present an explosion hazard, the simplest test that can be performed is known as the “go/no/go” test “yes, it blows up, or no, it doesn’t” according to ASTM E 1226 Standard Test Method for Explosibility of Dust Clouds.  Additional tests include (MIE) Minimum Ignition Energy test ASTM E-2019, and Explosion Severity Test (KSt and PMAX) ASTM E-1226.  Testing prices ranges from approximately $350-$1300 up to $3850 for a full OSHA NEP Package.

Come learn more about this topic at the "Combustible Dust...an Explosive Issue" session at the IWF Education Conference.

By:  Terrance K. Resnick and Leon B. Resnick

Business Succession Planning - although the topic on the surface may appear to be rather mundane, improper succession planning can literally cause the loss of a company and place family members in situations where they never speak to one another again. It’s that serious.

Statistically, only 1/3 of all family businesses will survive from the first to second generation and less than 15% will survive from the second to third generation. I’m not referring only to companies that are struggling to stay afloat, this sobering statistic includes many, many, businesses that at one time were hugely successful. Think it can’t happen to you? None of the individuals involved with those businesses expected it to happen to them either. Ask any family members of those business owners if it could happen. Improper business succession planning is the leading cause of ultimate business failure.

My client base of proven business owners and entrepreneurs stretches across the United States and although they are involved in different industries, they share many similar attributes including understanding the importance of business succession planning.  More critical than understanding the importance is that they actually took action and implemented a business succession plan that protects the company owners, their families, the employees and business.

Clearly if a business owner has not established a succession plan and the company ends up not surviving it’s no big surprise. What’s actually worse is businesses that ultimately fail even though a succession plan was in place. Why would a business ultimately fail if there was a succession plan in place? There are many reasons. In fact, many very successful business owners and their businesses are unknowingly sitting on ticking time bombs.

Come learn more about this topic at the "Survive and Thrive - Assuring the Long-Term Success of your Company" session at the IWF Education Conference.

What options do companies have to adhere to the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule to reduce public exposure to toxic formaldehyde emissions from engineered wood?  

Though much focus will be on lowering the levels of formaldehyde and other toxic resins in the traditional production process for engineered wood, there are other solutions.  For example, the EPA rule specifically cited Ecovative’s formula for biofabricating MycoBoard™ panels as an innovative alternative to the traditional manufacturing of particle board and other composite wood products.

MycoBoard™ panels are premium, highly machinable, and certified sustainable. Rather than being bound together using formaldehyde and other toxic resins, the panels are literally grown together using Ecovative’s mResin™ adhesive system. Derived from the mycelium in mushrooms, this “nature’s glue” is formaldehyde-free, safe, and healthy. This versatile, non-toxic engineered wood, which offers acoustic and fire-resistant properties, can be molded into custom shapes or pressed into boards, making it an ideal solution for the architectural and design community.

When the new rules were released in July, Ecovative’s co-founder and CEO Eben Bayer said: “We welcome the EPA’s new lower urea-formaldehyde emission standards and are thrilled to be referenced as a potential solution in the guidelines. At Ecovative we believe that less bad is not enough. That’s why we are scaling our mResin™ adhesive system for mill level deployments as well as designing, developing, and selling biofabricated furniture for the home and office. All are grown from natural materials without any added toxic glues.”

Ecovative’s co-founder and Chief Scientist Gavin McIntyre said: “Today Ecovative is working with mills across North America and Europe to pilot our mResin™ adhesive system. By using a living organism to transform existing feedstocks, primarily wood fiber, into glue, we can help mills raise their product performance rather than just focusing on meeting these lower emission standards. While our pilot program is currently full, we hope to have capacity to work with other mills starting in 2017.”

MycoBoard™ panels are available directly from Ecovative, as well as through its west coast distribution partner Trinity Innovations. Ecovative is also using its innovative mycelium-based technology to produce a range of products for the home and office under its Ecovative Interiors line.

Interested in talking about how to integrate this new bio-resin into your product planning and production?  Join us at the “Wood Composites Symposium,” on Tuesday, August 23^rd.  In session one (8:30 a.m.) we will be talking about “Resins and Coatings for Wood Composites” – including Ecovative’s bio-based resins—for composite panels and structural members.

*The EPA’s Formaldehyde Emission Standards for Composite Wood Products; Final Rule--Prepublication Copy includes the reference to Ecovative on pages 46-47

Multi-step Coloring

Mitch Kohanek

A multi-step wood finishing schedule is for custom coloring. Obtaining a visual presentation on wood that goes way beyond “brown and shiny”. Color(s) built on top of color(s) that attracts the customers’ eye.

There are basically only three coloring agents to choose from, one of them being on the exotic side. Those three are pigments (which I refer to as stains) dyes (which are not pigmented) and chemical coloring. Chemical coloring, sometimes called “reactive” coloring is the exotic coloring agent is not widely used. The use of chemical “reactive” coloring is to create colors dyes and pigments can’t. The chemicals used will react the woods chemistry such as the tannin's. Since it is a chemical reaction the color presentation is not as predictable as using dyes and stains.

Dyes by nature penetrate into the woods structure. Consider them “molecules” of color. The solvent of the dye dictates how deep it penetrates into the wood. The first use of a dye in the coloring process is to change the base color of the wood. Poplar wood is naturally a light tan (sapwood) and a greenish heartwood. A green dye used as the base color and a “reddish” dye on top of that can produce a warm brown hue.

Pigments by nature lay on top of the wood shifting the colors of the large and small pores. It can be a great advantage to have dyes and stains (pigments) that have the correct chemistry so that they can be mixed together and then applied.

Glazes are normally pigmented coloring agents that are applied on top of a coating. Reasons for using glazes are for accented coloring in the recessed areas of the object. They also can create a depth of color even though there can be a loss of transparency.

Toners are made by putting color into the coating before you apply the coating. If you understand the color wheel, toners can be made to correct colors that are already applied to the object. Toners can lay down a “blanket” of color on the entire piece or selective areas. They can hone in sapwood to heartwood or correct the entire object if the color is not the correct hue.

So a finishing schedule may look like this.

Walnut substrate

1. Dyed yellow

2. Stained burnt umber

3. Sealed

4. Scuff sand

5. Glazed raw umber (cools the color and color strikes the larger pores a darker color)

6. Topcoated

7. Scuff sand

8. Amber toner

9. Topcoat without exceeding the recommended dry mil thickness

Layering Color

Mitch Kohanek

When you have damage to the object that includes the loss of the substrate and color, you have a variety of choices of materials to fill the void. These different filling materials come in a wide range of colors to assist you in establishing the background color you need. 

For some repairs, the correct color of filler and a couple of grain lines is all you might need. For repairs requiring more detail, it is going to be more important to concentrate on the colors that go on top of the filled area. The more you understand color, the fewer repair sticks and the fewer powders you actually need. 

Hue is another name for color. If you are able to identify earth tone colors, you would say that the object has a warm burnt umber hue shaded with raw umber hue. If no color name comes to mind, you would begin by identifying the color as having a "warm" or "cool" hue. Warm hues are an orange or reddish hue while cool colors are a greenish or blue hue.

When trying to reestablish color on the repair, if mixing colors together does not work, you will need to layer a color on top of a color. 

Layering thin layers of color on top of the fill allows you to have more color control. An example would be layering your colors from warm to cool. Establishing a yellow background of dye or pigment on the filled area, followed by a warm brown such as burnt umber will create a "brown" you can't make by mixing the two together. A light layer of green, such as raw umber on top of that color will "cool" that color. 

Once you learn how to layer your colors, the color of the filler material is not as critical. 

By: Eugene Wengert, President: The Wood Doctor's Rx, LLC

Quality loss due to machining issues can be very expensive.  In addition to the basics of machining, the defect causes and cures will be illustrated and discussed.  Quality programs that can be used in the plant will be illustrated.  In addition to traditional machining with heavy machines, we will also discuss sanding and sandpaper issues that cause problems, especially with high end furniture and cabinets.

Come learn more about this topis at the "Rx for Machining Wood: Practical Tips and Troubleshooting Defects" session at the IWF Education Conference.

By: Eugene Wengert, President: The Wood Doctor's Rx, LLC

The basic wood characteristics and properties certainly affect the manufacturing process.  But what about the special characteristics of wood (like tension wood, bacterial infection, staining, spiral grain, juvenile wood) that cause headaches from time to time?  Is all oak the same?  Is all hickory the same?  Is all pine the same?  Is all soft maple the same?  Is it possible, at the least,  to identify and eliminate problem pieces of wood early in the manufacturing process or should we ignore them and let them go through until the final inspection finds the problem?  Learn some practical aspects of wood that affects profits.

Come learn more about wood manufacturers and woodworkers during the session "Wood 101.  All about Wood for Manufacturers and Woodworkers" at the IWF Education Conference.

By Christine Corelli, IWF Atlanta Speaker

Forget tough. Today, competition is fierce. As never before, whether you are a woodworking machinery manufacturer, cabinetmaker, or company that offers wood products, your business faces sophisticated many new competitors. And these competitors are using some very aggressive marketing strategies to shake up the status quo. 

To survive in this environment, your company needs to have smarter strategies than the competition. Your management team (in fact, everyone who works for your company) must be aligned with those strategies and be committed to working hard to support your company's efforts. Here, market research, customer input, and employee involvement are key.

Take this simple "yes" or "no" test to help you determine whether your company is positioned for future success:

1. Have you conducted research to identify consumer or industry trends and do

    you have a formal program to obtain information from your customers regarding

    their needs? ___yes____no

2. Have you consulted with groups of end-users to help you reach decisions in

    your strategic initiatives? ___yes____no

3. Did you learn what direction your competitors are taking and analyze what you

    can do to differentiate your product or service? ___yes___no

4. Have you analyzed what new markets your company can tap into? ___yes___no

5. Are you doing business internationally, or preparing to do so? ___yes___no

6. Did you involve your customers and your sales force in creating your

   strategic plan? ___yes___no

7. Are your sales goals and incentives aligned with your company's marketing

    strategy? ___yes___no

8. Did your marketing team involve your entire sales team when creating your

    marketing plan? ___yes___no

9. Did your marketing team share the consumer or end user data they obtained to

   create the plan with your sales team? ___yes___no

10. Did your company meet with your sales team to discuss strategic areas they

     may disagree with and come to a mutual understanding? ___yes___no

11. Do your product manager, chief engineer, director of operations, warehouse

      manager, etc. add their input when your sales people discuss customer needs with

     upper level management? ___yes___no

12. Is your sales team committed to "agreeing to disagree," with your plans if

     necessary, and fully support the company effort? ___yes___no

13. Does your company, recognize that where there are conflicting opinions,

      creativity is stimulated, and positive results can occur? ___yes__no

14. Did management communicate the strategic plan, marketing plan, and sales

      strategy to the entire company and obtain staff input? ___yes___no

15. Does everyone in your company—from sales to customer service, from marketing

     to R&D and from the warehouse to the front desk—fully support those plans and

     recognize that everyone must be on the same page if you are to succeed?

                                                                                                            ___yes___no

16. Does your company have a diversified team, or several teams, working

      continuously to determine ways to make those plans work? ___yes___no

17. Does your company realize that such teams can take fragments of ideas and

     structure a wide variety of options and solutions to problems? ___yes___no

18. Does upper level management solicit, listen, and respond to all ideas,

     selecting the best ones to implement? ___yes___no

19. Do your sales people enlist the help and expertise of your techs, product

      manager, CSR's, etc. to help their customers and do they recognize that they,

      too, are "in sales?" ___yes___no

20. Do your sales people recognize that, regardless of their individual sales

      prowess, it requires a strong sales team for ultimate company success?

            __yes___no

21. Does your company strive to outdistance your current and future competitors

     with innovation? __yes___no

22. Is your company willing to take calculated risks to diversify what they

     offer and introduce new products to the market place that customers are

     demanding? __yes___no

23. Does your company strive to leverage vendor expertise and partner for

      success through strategic alliances? __yes___no

24. Does your company invest in training and learn faster than your competitors?

      __yes___no

25. Is there a sense of urgency to solve any service problems, quality problems,

      or problems with employee morale? __yes___no

There are many more questions we can add to this list. For now, your goal is to

answer "yes" TO AS MANY AS possible. If you can, your company is in a better

position to grow and prosper.

By: Ron Gilboa Director, Functional & Industrial Printing Service: InfoTrends

During the biennial International Woodworking Fair (IWF), I am always amazed to see the variety of businesses and brands that impact our living spaces and work environments. Scheduled for August 24 to 27 in Atlanta, Georgia, this year’s event is expected to attract over 20,000 attendees. IWF is a great place for small professional shops, furniture manufacturers, mills, and others to gather together and learn about the latest solutions and technological advancements. In 2014, over 14,000 buyers—10% of them from international countries—made their way through the halls to peruse the products and attend the educational sessions.

As the woodworking industry continues to adapt to new supply chain realities, the demand for unique, environmentally-friendly, and functional solutions is ever increasing among consumers as well as institutional clients. Professionals like architects and interior designers are seeking innovative ways to create unique spaces, and they are relying on a wide range of materials and surfaces to achieve their goals.

The demand for an ever-expanding range of substrates, materials, and surfaces is fueling the growth in digital printing. By their very nature, many decorative surfaces are made from a range of materials, including natural or raw materials like wood, metal, or glass. In cases where these surfaces are uniquely decorated or printed to create the look of a natural material, cost parameters may unfortunately limit their use. Technologies are improving all the time though, and lamination/direct decoration of wall coverings, flooring, and wood products is becoming very common. Decorated surfaces are now available to furniture manufacturers and consumers via wholesale suppliers of raw materials, big box distributors, and/or local home improvement stores.

Figure 1: Formica Envision Retail Display

Today’s flooring products and laminates are available in a dizzying array of designs that can meet almost anyone’s needs, but a large initial order is often required to ensure a low per-unit cost. Due to high setup costs that must amortize over a longer job, some orders of décor papers for high-pressure laminates may require a minimum print run of one ton of décor paper material. However, growing demand for unique designs is driving new product innovations that bring more choices to consumers. Today’s web/Internet-enabled business model enables end-users to design and produce creative woodworking products with ease. This is enabled by a new generation of digital printing devices that make it possible to print very short runs with minimal setup and associated fees.

Figure 2: Digitally Printed Bedroom Décor from Mimaki

A new generation of inkjet printing solutions based on UV curable as well as water-based inks is also making an impact on the industry, In addition to enabling new levels of creativity and operational efficiency, these inkjet solutions are also creating new business opportunities. From high-pressure laminate décor paper printed for a single piece of furniture to a high-volume printer that is capable of customizing thousands of square meters of output, turnkey solutions are available today. Inkjet printing devices are capable of producing up to 500 feet per minute in a timely manner with reduced inventory. Furthermore, they are able to create even the most creative designs based on clients’ demands. Meanwhile, a generation of printing systems that can print directly onto natural or manmade wood products (e.g., MDF) provides another path for decorative surfaces that are durable, eye-catching, and cost-effective.

Figure 3: Building Material Sampler from SFC Graphics

Digitally printed decorative products are part of an industry that generated over $460 billion in value during 2015. Although this market is small in its adoption today, InfoTrends believes that the opportunity for mass customization will generate a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 13% through the year 2020.

Figure 4: Cefla PixArt Single-Pass Device

During IWF 2016, leaders in the digital transition will gather in the exhibit halls and educational sessions to expand their knowledge about digital printing and its impact on the industry as a whole. Print equipment suppliers such as Cefla, HP, Hymmen, KBA, and Mimaki will be sharing their experiences in developing solutions of for the woodworking industry. Meanwhile, industry pioneers like Formica Corporation, Kodak, and SFC Graphics will also be in attendance to share their experiences with others.

By W. Brad Carr, President: SonicAire 

Two strategies address how to control combustible dust:  a managed solution or an engineered solution.  Even though the goal is the same, the principles undergirding each approach are vastly different.  Let’s examine each approach, and determine its strengths and weaknesses.

Managed= Manual Housekeeping

A managed approach is essentially manual housekeeping.  In this scenario, third-party cleaning services or plant employees remove accumulated dust and fiber intermittently.  The interval of cleaning depends on the processing and the type of particles - the more dust generated, the more frequent the cleaning required. 

The approach looks like this:  A person gets up on a ladder (worst case scenario) or on a scissor lift and starts removing the dust from overhead structures and processing equipment.  Once the dust settles on the floor it is them removed from the building.

The cost of cleaning this way varies widely.  A range of prices has been reported to me, including:

•    Larry Baker, president of Fuzion Solution, noted that one company in the paper and pulp industry spends an average $2.40 per square foot on manual cleaning.

•    For one woodworking facility, the cost of cleaning was $0.40 per square foot.

•    One small mill reported spending $10,000 monthly on manual cleaning. 

The cost is there, at whatever level.  Now the question is - is that a good solution for the price?

Benefits of a Managed Approach

A managed approach is the status quo solution.  Before technological advances were made, manual housekeeping was, in fact, the only solution. 

Many people find that ongoing cleaning is an attractive option because there are low upfront costs.  You don’t have to invest a lot of money at one time to continue either using cleaning services or using your employees to manage combustible dust levels. 

What’s more, manual cleaning for combustible dust can even appear not to cost anything, as it is absorbed in operational budgets.  It costs, of course, but that cost is buried, which appeals to some companies’ budgeting process. Continuing in this way just seems like less of a hassle. 

Manual cleaning also does not need a strategic plan, which can be viewed as a benefit.  If companies do not have a capital investment plan, it can be extremely difficult to allocate the funds needed for an engineered approach.  Even if the engineered solutions can show ROI for the installation, some companies can’t secure the initial investment needed.  Within this framework, ongoing manual cleaning is appealing.

Weaknesses of a Managed Approach

A managed approach means that personnel or third party businesses clean the overhead structures on a continuing basis.   This means that these personnel are at risk when cleaning overhead areas, which is considered a mandatory activity.  If you have ever seen anyone on a ladder or scissor lift in those high-ceiling plants, you know exactly what I mean.  This seems to be a solution that uses dangerous practices to eliminate a dangerous situation.   That’s not a trade-off that makes sense to me.

The second weakness in a managed approach is equally problematic.  Given the fact that people are scheduled to clean at certain time intervals, it is axiomatic that there are times when the facility does not comply with safety standards.  As I said earlier, there is basically a zero-tolerance approach to fugitive dust buildup.     The cyclical nature of manual cleaning allows for too much accumulated dust, preventing the plant from being in compliance with OSHA.  

The third weakness is a monetary one.  A managed approach requires never-ending costs.  You have to keep the cleaning services forever because you are always cleaning up after the fact. 

Not only are there ongoing costs that continue for the duration of the life of the plant, but there is also lost production time when the cleaning takes place.  You can’t clean safely when the machines are operating.  Lost production means lost profits. 

Engineered = Automated Housekeeping

The assumption of an engineered approach is that technology can be leveraged to automate cleaning processes and continuously protect against the risks of combustible dust accumulation. 

Two types of engineering solutions exist.  The first is localized filtration.  With this the equipment captures the combustible dust by either vacuuming or suctioning.  This approach is often needed, but the reality is that it can’t be used alone.  Localized filtrations simply can’t capture every particle of fugitive dust.

The second technology is barrier technology, which prevents fugitive dust from accumulating on overhead structures.  With barrier technology, a robotic clean fan automatically establishes and maintains OSHA compliance throughout the plant.  With this approach, there is a one-time deep clean of fugitive dust, and once that dust is removed, the barrier technology prevents new dust from ever accumulating again.

Often there is a synergy between the filtration and the barrier technologies for enterprise-wide compliance, since they can be effectively used together in one facility. 

Strengths of an Engineered Approach

The value of using technology stems from its operating principle.  It’s a simple principle, actually:  It’s better to prevent dust from accumulating than clean it up after the fact.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Only engineered solutions have a proactive approach to prevent dust from accumulating.

The first is that employees are not put at risk to clean.  No longer do people have to climb ladders, mount scaffolds or scissor lifts to reach the fugitive dust in overhead areas.  Often in these cases, personnel have to extend their bodies beyond the confines of the scissor lift to make sure all the dust is removed.  With an engineered approach, these safety hazards are eliminated. 

The second benefit is that a one-time investment means a permanent clean.  Professionals can show the ROI of their expenditures, amortizing the costs against the ongoing costs of manual cleaning.  The duration of the payoff will depend on the technology chosen. An engineered approach allows for automated, controlled cleaning that doesn’t interfere with production. 

Most significant is the benefit that an engineered approach means that plants can now be in continuous compliance.   Depending on the sophistication of the specific technology, it also delivers consistently higher levels of clean to meet or exceed those standards.  Plants can avoid stiff fines and more importantly, keep their employees safe continually.