August 10, 1917 



Hardwood Record — Veneer & Panel Section 



25 



Working with the Veneer Mill 



Consumer Who Relies on Co-operation Instead of Rigid 



deifications Gets Results 



Spec 



HE VENEER BUYER who understands best the 

 conditions under which this material is produced 

 makes a point of working with the manufacturer 

 instead of against him. He reHes upon co- 

 operation rather than rigid specifications to get results 

 in character and quality of product, prompt delivery and 

 the other factors that go to make up satisfactory service. 



There are some rather important consumers of thin 

 stuff scattered over the country, however, who seem to 

 have an idea that veneers can be produced like wood- 

 screws along absolutely uniform, standard lines, and 



without variation. They therefore write their specifica- 

 tions w^ith the apparent idea of leaving no loop-hole 

 through which a piece of material not absolutely perfect 

 can slip, and then they lean back and say to themselves, 

 "There! Now let those veneer chaps go to it!' 



This is all very fine, and sounds good, especially v^^hen 

 read rapidly by the man who is doing the buying. How- 

 ever, the specifications written by a buyer of this class 

 serve a purpose which undoubtedly is far different from 

 that intended; they help to restrict the market within 

 which he can buy. Putting it bluntly, requirements 

 which are expressed in this form simply shove out of 

 the competition a great many wise manufacturers who 

 don't care to tackle an impossibility, and w^ho are not 

 anxious to do business with consumers who fail to appre- 

 ciate the practical limitations of veneer manufacturing. 



For example, there is a big door company in the 

 Northwest which is famous for the severitj' of its spec- 

 ifications. If one were to read the description of the 

 veneers which those selling it agree to furnish, he would 

 come to the conclusion that making stock that is 1 00 

 per cent good is an absolute cinch. However, there are 

 a great many manufacturers noted for the quality of 

 their timber, the accuracy of their manufacturing meth- 

 ods and the zeal with which they serve their customers 

 who will have nothing whatever to do with this buyer. 

 "The concern is unreasonable, " said the sales man- 

 ager of one of the latter mills. "We did a little business 

 ■with it some time ago, but it was a case of fussing from 

 the time the order was received until the transaction 

 was closed. The buyer does not apparently know or 

 care anything about the way veneers have to be pro- 

 duced, and seems to take the view that all that is neces- 

 sary at the mill is to press the button, and. Presto, the 

 crated bundles drop out of the hopper ready for ship- 

 ment. By getting on the other side of the fence and 

 fighting in an arbitrary manner, it prob?bly thought that 

 it was sure to get full value for its money and to prevent 

 anything from being put over on it. 



"As a matter of fact, however, concerns which work 

 with the mill and which try to be reasonable are able to 



establish a basis for co-operation which is much more 

 satisfactory to everybody concerned, and 1 am sure 

 leads to better results to the consumer both from the 

 standpoint of product and delivery. " 



One of the things w^hich buyers overlook is that the 

 veneer manufacturer is dealing with a natural product. 

 Nature did not make all the trees alike, and many of 

 them are more or less imperfect, judged from the stand- 

 ard of the consumer of the material which it contains. 

 The veneer manufacturer selects his timber with care, 

 and uses only the cream of it, so to speak; but even so 

 it is not always possible in cutting veneers to get stock 

 which is able to stand up under inspection that takes 

 into account the slightest discoloration and other minor 

 defects. 



The better the consumer understands the methods 

 of producing his stock, the less likelihood there is of 

 his being unreasonable- In fact, it would pay leading 

 veneer buyers to emulate the example of many concerns 

 which use large quantities of lumber, and send their buy- 

 ers to the mills so as to give them an opportunity to get 

 in close touch with the various production factors. After 

 the buyer has w^itnessed the work of logging, of cuttiig 

 the logs to the proper size, of preparation in the steam 

 vat, of cutting on the rotary machine or other veneer 

 manufacturing equipment, of clipping, drying and sort- 

 ing, he will have much more respect not only for the 

 organization which is required to handle all of these im- 

 portant details, but for the product itself. He will ap- 

 preciate the advisability of using a more or less elastic 

 method of judging the quality of the product, and will 

 be able to make occasional allowances for deviations 

 from the standards which have been set up. 



Another point is that the buyer who is constantly 

 changing his order is not giving the millman a fair chance 

 to render service. Suppose that a consumer has placed 

 an order for material with several mills, and finds that 

 the delivery of a certain item runs over the amount an- 

 ticipated. His first impulse is to wire the other mills 

 to change the specifications of his order as to the sizes 

 and number of pieces to be cut. He does this without 

 considering whether the operations of the mill will be 

 interfered with by this action, and whether it virill be an 

 expensive or inconvenient proposition to change the 

 order as originally entered. 



He does not stop to consider, probably, that each de- 

 partment has its cutting cards, and is following these 

 exactly, so that the order is being given attention by each 

 section of the mill, from the time the logs are cut to the 

 proper lengths until the stock is bundled in the shipping 

 room. Thus any change in the specifications means a 

 1 evision of instructions all along the line, and any ex- 



