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| July 5, 2004 | Volume 3, Edition 25 |
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BC Wood Member Spotlight: Sitka Log Homes
Coincidence or not - when John Johnson built his first log home for himself
in 1970, little did he know that he would be building these homes for a living
in his home town of 100 Mile House - now considered the log home capital of
Canada.
Sitka’s homes are hand-peeled and hand crafted, resulting in less log waste, with typical logs reaching 12-14 inches in diameter. Each of their homes is custom designed, using premium quality old growth, tight-grained timber from Northern BC forests. Although Pine is the most popular species among their customers, Sitka also utilizes Engleman Spruce, Douglas Fir, Lodgepole Pine, and Western Red Cedar in their projects. Beetle killed pine is often used as it is dead standing and less destructive to the environment. "Dead standing wood also dries before it is harvested, offering a head start to the drying process and reducing shrinkage problems," adds owner and operator, John Johnson.
In order to gain access to materials for their projects, Sitka has partnered with two other log home building companies in the 100 Mile House area and has obtained their own timber license. "Now that we have our own timber license, we are comfortable that we can have a large and constant inventory. With this license, we can bid on both government wood and on the public market," comments John.
Sitka’s success can be attributed to many factors, some of which include their attention to details, pride in their work, commitment to quality, and the quality of their workmanship. "I believe that we have a competitive advantage in the fact that we were one of the first companies to start building with log accents. When the trend started years ago, we were already prepared for the demand that would soon follow," comments John.
John considers the greatest benefit of being a BC Wood member the exposure that BC Wood gives to the rest of the world through their participation in tradeshows. Sitka recently attended the Log Home Show in Florida and this was the first time they ever partnered with anyone in exhibiting at a show. "Usually, we go to a show on our own and exhibit, but we had a great experience exhibiting in the BC Wood booth," says John. At the last show they attended, Sitka built their own 900 square foot house to use as their exhibit. The house was fully furnished and landscaped, complete with windows, doors staircases, and an upstairs loft. "We usually sell the house right at the show and it provides a great way to exhibit what we can do," adds John. Future plans for Sitka include building some large houses in Colorado and keeping potential customers informed of what they can offer them. They were recently featured in the June issue of Log Homes Illustrated where some of their projects were displayed, and have also included a new mill in their construction yard, allowing them to build large timber frame details. "With this added exposure and new facility, we hope to establish a greater presence in both the US and international markets." For more information on Sitka Log Homes, you can visit their website at www.sitkaloghomes.com. 
PSI Certified for Formaldehyde Testing
The Eugene Engineered Wood Products office of Professional Service Industries,
Inc. (PSI) announced that the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport (MLIT) has approved PSI’s application to become an "Overseas
Recognized Performance Evaluation Organization" (ORPEO). Full MLIT
approval was granted on June 7, 2004.
As the only accredited ORPEO, PSI will provide the necessary services to manufacturers or their agents desiring Japanese Ministerial Approval of building products exported to Japan. PSI will be able to provide the same services as Designated Performance Evaluation Organization (DPEO) in Japan. Effective July 1, 2003, the Japanese Building Standards Law (BSL) now requires all building materials containing formaldehyde or chlorphyrifos used in habitable rooms to be controlled as a countermeasure to sick house related illnesses. The application and implementation of this law has proven to be a complicated and time-consuming process, especially for foreign manufacturers. By having a certified testing body in North America, this process should become much simpler and quicker for Canadian manufacturers. BC Wood’s own research earlier this year showed that 96% of builders were using F**** (F four star) materials, which is the highest rating attainable. The BC Wood Japan office has received numerous inquiries from people looking for Canadian products with this rating. Many low cost foreign competitors have been pushed out of the Japanese market as they cannot meet these new requirements, thus creating greater opportunities for certified Canadian materials. For more information on how to get your products certified, please contact Randy Webb of PSI’s Oregon testing facility. Randy’s contact information is as follows:
Mr. Randy T. Webb
Outsourcing to China – Part 3
With all the recent buzz about China, what is a small to medium sized wood
products manufacturer in BC to do? Ignore China, fear China, or develop a
China strategy?
Before you answer this question, take the following vulnerability test to
evaluate the potential risks facing your firm:
If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, your company or product line is likely at risk to Chinese competition both in China and here in North America. In recent issues of the BC Wood newsletter, Bill Downing, CEO, discussed some of the key issues and opportunities regarding outsourcing in China. Specifically, he introduced the concept of how to go about outsourcing in China and how to use China’s manufacturing capacity to access this fast growing market. Certainly, these are important pieces in the China puzzle. But the China puzzle presents unique challenges to individual companies that may not be resolvable with a cookie-cutter approach. This has lead BC Wood to develop a new one-on-one service, China Direct, that can assist BC Wood members in developing and implementing their own custom China strategy. This service is completely confidential and is designed to deliver relatively quick results. This service utilizes our almost five years of market presence and experience in China, as well as our strong network of contacts throughout China. The service is designed to assist member companies in moving forward and in putting their China strategy together. Some of the potential issues you may be looking to resolve include: finding suitable contacts/partners in China (i.e., a suitable lawyer, agent, supplier); how to deal with Chinese Government officials; determining the competition, supply chain and supply channels; and assessing investment and infrastructure options and requirements. In BC Wood’s new China Direct program, we sit down with you, get to understand your specific situation, and then propose a course of action to help you achieve your goals. If you are interested, please send an email to mjahraus@bcwood.com so we can further discuss China Direct.
BC Wood Member Spotlight: Trout Creek Enterprises
When Trout Creek was first looking to establish their business, they worked with Venture Kamloops, an economic development society, who toured their plant and provided some recommendations on their products and programs that they should be involved in. Through this involvement with Venture Kamloops, Trout Creek also became more aware of what was happening in their community.
Dave believes that there are many advantages to being a BC Wood member, including having access to good market intelligence. "BC Wood is great because they are out there in the market, making things happen for the members. They help businesses get off the ground," adds Dave. When looking ahead, Dave sees his company growing and continuing with the pace they have been having in the last four years. "I would like to look into some other markets to see what opportunities they can offer us. We would also like to manufacture more finished products so that we can sell them into the US without the duty being implied. There is still so much to learn and we are still in the process of doing that for the overseas markets."
Prince George Furniture Maker Takes Two First Place Wins at Forest Expo Wood Competition
Furniture maker and BC Wood member, Gordon Rapson of Highland Woodworks entered the recent Forest
Expo 2004 Wood Competition and placed first in the Open/Fine Furniture Category.
"Heatwave" is a beautiful handcrafted cd/storage cabinet in which Rapson used
traditional mortise and tenon joinery with African Wenge wedges, a book
matched crotch walnut panel surrounded by local quilted Western Birch with
African Wenge inlay in the door and inner shelves.
Rapson also entered a 4 drawer dresser from his "Gendai" collection of bedroom furnishings in the Commercial/Fine Furniture Category and received another first place win. Rapson has been designing and building wood furniture in Prince George since 1995. His studio is located in downtown Prince George at 844 4th Avenue. For more information, you can visit the website at www.highlandwoodworks.com.
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BC Wood 2004 Global Buyers’ Mission
BC Wood European Market Report
The European Market seems to be picking up. Overall figures show this as well
as numbers from specialized industries such as the furniture industry - which
after years of slowing down has experienced a 1-2% increase in the first two
quarters of 2004. Housing also remains to be an important sector – most
importantly in France, the UK and in Spain.
For housing, the next focus will be the "Salon Maison Bois" show in Angers, France, held October 1-4, 2004, occupying a space of 246m² - one of our biggest presences at housing shows in Europe. This will be the fourth time in a row that BC Wood will be participating in this show. This is one of the secrets for success in Europe: building trust with your customers by repeatedly exhibiting at the same show year after year. People in Europe build one house in their lifetime, so they can take up to two years looking for a builder. This is one of the reasons why it is important to come back to the show and why a single participation in a housing show might not necessarily bring you business right away. October is still far away, but to guarantee good planning and organization of the event, we would need to know of your interest to participate by mid -August. For more information, please contact Dave Farley, Jennifer Rose or myself. BC Wood will also be participating in "Plan Expo", the "Interbuild" of Ireland, held November 4-6, 2004 in Dublin, Ireland. Last year the show gave members a very good perspective into the European market, which is very open to building with wood. We hope to see you in Europe soon!
Making Branding Work - Four Simple Rules for Better Branding and Corporate ID
Got an artistic relative who will give you a family rate? Hanging on to a dated
or unwieldy design for posterity's sake? OK, but consider that the purpose of
a brand is to support and position your company and its products today and
into the future. If designed right and used properly, your logo or brand
is often the most powerful and cost effective tool in your communications
arsenal. Your identification requires certain attributes. If you're
going to get the most out of it, here are some questions to ask yourself about
your current brand or logo.
1. Is It Scalable?
2. Is it Succinct?
3. Is it Flexible?
4. Is it Appropriate? Bottom line, developing a brand is a science. Make sure you employ a real professional and that they take the time to really examine your products or services, the means by which they can be marked or are communicated, the environment in which they are sold, and who your competition is. Do this and challenge yourself with the above questions during the design process and you're certain to get a better result.
Here are three examples of brand designs I’ve developed for clients in the
lumber and wood products sectors:
http://members.shaw.ca/jkenmuir/
John Kenmuir is a Certified Management Consultant and
President of Wood Marketing Strategies.
To download the tentative 2004-2005, BC Wood trade event schedule, click here.
6th China International Building and Decoration Fair
Glee
Salon Maison Bois For more information on these tradeshows, visit the BC Wood website.
Consultants & Marketing Services
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At the age of twenty, John built his first log home, long before log buildings
became popular for recreation and residential
purposes. It wasn’t long before his neighbours were asking him to build one
for them as well. At the time, John was an aspiring carpenter’s helper with
a passion for log homes. He learned the log building process himself, through
many trial and error efforts. However, after a year of building homes on his
own, the demand was growing so much that John hired his own staff. Today,
Sitka Log Homes remains a family owned business and employs up to 35 people
in their busy summer season out of their 10,000 square foot facility in 100
Mile House, British Columbia.
In addition to building log homes, Sitka also manufactures log accents for
homes. "Many customers are choosing this approach as it eliminates the
potential settling that may occur with a traditional log or timber frame home,"
comments John. "This method also allows architects and designers to be more
creative in their process and allows for more flexibility in design." Sitka's
log and timber frame accents include structural and non-structural log
trusses, posts, rafters, floor joists, log siding, stairs, structural decks,
hand rails, and mantles. These accents can be incorporated into the design
of a new home or added to an existing home.
Currently, Sitka’s biggest market is the United States, comprising almost
85% of their sales. They also do business in Australia, Korea, Japan, and
Europe. John recently returned from a trip to Northern Italy where they
finished building three structures for a ski resort in the Alps. They
received this job through an Italian customer who was visiting Whistler,
BC and stayed in one of the cabins that Sitka had built. The customer liked
what he saw and inquired about them building the ski resort.
This success and competitive advantage has won Sitka many prize projects,
including building three lodges for the site of the downhill events at the 2002 Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City. Based on the designs of the lodges, snow loads that the building
would have to endure, and high elevation of the facility, the architects and Sitka decided to
build the lodges with log accents including log siding and large timber
spans.
Established in 2000, Trout Creek Enterprises is a lumber remanufacturing plant
located in Kamloops, British Columbia. They take pride in using local prime
raw materials such as tight grain Douglas Fir, Engleman Spruce, Western White
Birch, Lodgepole Pine, and Western Red Cedar from local mills and forest lands
in the central interior of BC. These materials are used to make a large
assortment of products including solid wood floors, wainscoting and paneling,
door and window stock, log profile siding, custom moulding, hot tub panels,
and select and better C+ grades and components. Owner, Dave Baxter, currently
employees eight workers and has experienced at least a 35% growth rate every
year.
What makes Trout Creek unique, and at the same times offers them a competitive
advantage, is that they produce high-end millwork with select clear wood.
The fact that they specialize in these products and that you can’t find their
products in lumberyards, sets them apart from their competition. "We focus
on a small niche market, and because of this, we can offer exceptional
service to their customers," comments Dave.
As a BC Wood member for over three years, Trout Creek started selling their
products to the Japanese market through the help of individual brokers and BC
Wood. By participating with BC Wood in a market intelligence mission to
Japan, BC Wood’s Japan in-market representative took Trout Creek on a market
orientation tour of Tokyo and the Home Show that is held there every year.
Trout Creek also sell their products into local markets, but very little of
their business in done in the US because of the countervailing duties.
"As we are a relatively small company, these duties would be very
imposing on our business. However, if we could get into the
US market, I think we could do very well," comments Dave.
From September 16th to 18th, in Penticton, BC Wood will host the biggest
event ever dedicated to the value-added wood industry – the 2004 Global Buyers’
Mission.
The Global Buyers’ Mission will build on the success of the recent Pacific Northwest Buyers' Mission
by bringing up to 90
qualified buyers from China, Japan, Korea, Europe and the United States. These buyers will be
recruited by our in-market staff, with the assistance of Canada’s
International Embassies and posts.
BC Wood members will have the opportunity to display products in a
tradeshow format, designed to maximize networking opportunities and
connection with buyers. You will also have an opportunity to meet with our International
Representatives and network with our Associate Members throughout
the event.
Program information and registration forms are now available on the BC Wood
| July 5, 2004 | Volume 3, Edition 25 |
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| Copyright 2004. BC Wood, All Rights Reserved. | |
| For past issues of this newsletter, please see the archives. | |