Forestry mills becoming more service-oriented. (Forestry: Special Report).Becoming more service-oriented with a specialized spe·cial·ize v. spe·cial·ized, spe·cial·iz·ing, spe·cial·iz·es v.intr. 1. To pursue a special activity, occupation, or field of study. 2. line of wood products is key to building a better relationship with customers. Benoit Melancon, general manager of Domtar's Timmins wood product division, says the company is constantly studying ways to produce higher grades of lumber lumber, term for timber that has been cut into boards for use as a building material. The major steps in producing lumber involve logging (the felling and preparation of timber for shipment to sawmills), sawing the logs into boards, grading the boards according to to meet customer specifications and introduce new value-added products. "We're trying to build a better knowledge of our customers," Melancon says. And upcoming major investments in the mill are designed to do just that. In the past 10 years, both Domtar and previous owner E. B. Eddy have invested $13.6 million in the Timmins operation, including a recent $4.3-million edger-optimizer. The company has already made some strides in that direction through a joint venture I-joist mill in Sault Ste. Marie Sault Sainte Marie — pronounced "Soo Saint Marie" (IPA /su seɪnt məˈɹi/) — is the name of two cities on the Saint Marys River, which forms part of the boundary between the United States and Canada. with Anthony Log of Arkansas Arkansas, river, United States Arkansas (ärkăn`zəs, är`kənsô'), river, c.1,450 mi (2,330 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts., central Colo. . The pulp and paper producer operates 16 sawmills in Ontario and Quebec, employing 135 people in Timmins and contracting out 300 more jobs in forest management operations. By way of future investment, plans are in the works to replace some sawmill sawmill, installation or facility in which cut logs are sawed into standard-sized boards and timbers. The saws used in such an installation are generally of three types: the circular saw, which consists of a disk with teeth around its edge; the band saw, which buildings and mobile equipment, including a wood kiln dryer. The spinoofs in the community amount to about $21 million in annual purchases to the city, benefiting about 250 businesses from industrial suppliers to restaurants. "Domtar is here to stay as a sawmill and expand," says Melancon. |
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