Rison Man develops tracking software for lumber companies.

FOR FRANK WILSON OF Wilson Brothers Lumber in Rison, necessity certainly was the mother of invention.

But it wasn't a question of survival that prompted Wilson to design a computer software concept to manage his lumber company's doings. Efficiency, accuracy and ease of operation were the main factors in Wilson's 1999 development of a program he calls TimberTrack.

Wilson's software is a more advanced method still used by several Arkansas timber companies--recording transactions by hand and manually researching back orders.

"The timber industry was so backward and still is to some extent," said Janice Taylor, Wilson Lumber's former secretary, said of the typical record-keeping system.

Taylor helped Wilson develop this and two other programs called LandTrack and EquipmentTrack.

Wilson has sold about 20 TimberTrack programs to companies nationwide, and while it's not a significant amount, Wilson is pleased. And at $3,000 each, TimberTrack is a bargain for larger companies such as Deltic Timber Co. of El Dorado, which purchased the program in 2002, he said.

Conversely, it's the price that keeps many local timber companies using pencil and paper, said Wilson, who founded the lumber company with his brothers Jewel and Grady.

The tool allows companies to manage more information than ever before, including product description, cost, method of delivery and taxes.

LandTrack hasn't been as popular or as heavily marketed, Wilson said, as its sibling program; five or six licenses have been sold. EquipmentTrack is still being tested, said Taylor, who left the lumber company earlier this year but still helps Wilson market and install programs.

All three programs were built by Peggy and Ervin Pate of Pate Enterprises Inc. of Benton, and each is copyrighted.

Developed as the flagship program, TimberTrack is Wilson's pet project. A Windows-based program, it is customized to the timber company and stores customer, order and tax information. It also shows volume of each order, whether sold by the ton or by board-feet, and tracks the land off which each load was harvested.

"All of this information is available at the touch of a button," said Taylor, who spent many years pulling each field separately for every inquiry. "It reduced the workload" by more than half, she said.

Information is entered once, as opposed to Wilson's previous labor- and paper-intensive system. Employees previously wrote several tickets to track orders outside, Wilson said. It was then entered into Lotus or DOS programs by company secretaries.

This process was time consuming and fallible. With many timber companies moving to Windows-based programs, Wilson felt the spreadsheets he designed for Lotus were no longer adequate.

Wilson combined his favorite aspects of both programs, and designed TimberTrack to create production reports and profit margin tables.

There are a number of safeguards that aren't unique to TimberTrack. In each of Wilson's programs, warning messages display if expenses exceed revenue or if a ticket is entered twice, Taylor said.

LandTrack delves more deeply into business concerning landowners, including harvest information, taxes, leases and logging crew payroll.

There is a possibility EquipmentTrack might not go commercial, Taylor said, but that's at least a year away as Wilson continues to tweak the program.

If it does go on the market, any company that tracks its equipment can benefit from the program, Wilson said. As with its sister programs, EquipmentTrack is customized using company-specific formulas and other data. It also can be used with TimberTrack and LandTrack.

Wilson didn't intend to sell his products, but when he realized the impact it could have on timber companies--small and large alike--it was too valuable to keep to himself, he said.

Wilson Brothers Lumber Co. was founded in 1970 as the three brothers worked every Saturday. By 1980, business had grown to require full-time attention, said Wilson, whose son, son-in-law and nephews also are involved in the company.