Atlantic Veneer Receives 1B4NC Award from NC State University

The North Carolina State University Industrial Extension Service (IES) awarded the entire staff of Atlantic Veneer with the 1B4NC award as proof of their progress with lean manufacturing. In addition to the 200 plus employees and IES representatives, partners Tammy Childers from the Eastern Carolina Workforce Development Board and Perry Harker of Carteret Community College also attended the celebration.

IES recognizes those companies that report significant value from IES projects. 1B4NC is the IES promise-to create $1 billion in value to North Carolina industries in five years (2006-2010). To date, IES has generated $540 million in value for the state.

Atlantic Veneer, founded in 1964, wanted to remain vital in the hardwood veneer industry. Competition from emerging markets such as China, Eastern Europe and Vietnam caused the company to look for avenues to produce more, better, faster while maintaining the quality level their customers expected.

In 2006, the IES introduced lean to the Beaufort facility. Lean is a set of principles that reduce waste; waste in materials, energy and time. Adopting a lean mindset allows companies to increase productivity, efficiency and often, profitability.

A team effort

“They have a team that is experienced and committed to the success of the business,” said Jim Kurian, IES extension specialist. Kurian was able to see the company’s inventory reduce by one-third since he began working with them. Since veneer has a shelf-life, especially in the summer months, reduced inventory is a plus.

The gains Atlantic Veneer has encountered with lean manufacturing allowed them to make capitol investments of more than $10 million.

Atlantic Veneer provides hardwood veneers including walnut, cherry, maple and oak to the furniture and cabinet industries. The majority of their clients are international, with only a handful of domestic furniture companies that purchase their products.

The Beaufort facility has two principal product lines, sliced veneer and plywood. Initially, each log that enters the yard is tagged and identified based on origin. This identification is tracked throughout the facility to assess yield and its ultimate value.

Not created equally

To produce veneer, logs are first soaked in large vats, but not all trees are created equally and therefore require different treatments.

Walnut may be submerged in water for an extended period whereas another variety such as maple requires a brief submergence and no wait before being processed. In short, even though lean is typically based on a ‘pull’ system designed to create just what the client requests, some of the processes for producing veneer must be a ‘push,’ due to the needs of each particular type of wood and their availability. Kurian also helped reduce work-in-process inventory so that a greater variety of veneers were available at any given time, equaling more sales. Work-in-process is product that may be backed-up during one step in production therefore it is unfinished.

Once soaked the logs are then placed on machines that mimic that of a cheese grater. They are then sliced to create veneer that is 1/45th inch or a ½ millimeter in thickness. This gargantuan slicer is a highly advanced piece of machinery, slicing at a rate of 80 strokes per minute.

Once the veneer is produced it is then dried by a press dryer that has a self-regulating feature. It is equipped with adjustable speeds and heat based on the moisture content of each particular veneer.

The veneers are then graded based on characteristics and standards familiar to the veneer industry. Veneers are chosen by clients based on this grading system. Many high-end clients actually visit the Beaufort facility to choose the veneer of their choice for a designated end use.

Typically, a client and two Atlantic Veneer employees meet at a specified pallet based on veneer grade. Each individual veneer is presented to the client, one by one, much the same way tobacco leaves used to be displayed and sold.

This display process was one of many that Kurian helped automate. Kurian participated in design and implementation of a showroom mechanization system for the company, which saved approximately $160,000 annually.

The value stream mapping event, facilitated by Kurian, pointed to the benefit of linking processes, which were formerly separate and often in different parts of the expansive facility. Less handling is a benefit to linking production processes, which is a major consideration when your raw material weighs about 5,000 pounds each.

Bridging the gap

The lean culture has helped build a connection between hourly employees and the management team. The company offers opportunities for education, including Lean 100s, English as a second language courses and a manufacturing certificate program.

“Lean for us is an ongoing philosophy we practice every day but having great people is the greatest asset of our company,” said Mike Kraszeski, vice president.

The company, founded by Karl Heinz Mohring, chose Beaufort due to proximity to the ocean and ease of transport. Today the Mohring Group has facilities in Estonia, Poland, Russia and Germany, which provides access to a wide range of raw materials.

The Mohring Group is also associated with Veneer Technologies, in Newport, which is a high-tech veneer processing facility and a value-added component to its sister company.

The business continues to be in the family as Mohring’s grandson, Christian Weygoldt, has responsibility for both facilities. “My goal is to build a strong company that is a leader in the industry,” said Weygoldt. Having a good workforce is “everything that really counts,” he added.