World-class technology for North American woodworkers.

WORLD-CLASS TECHNOLOGY FOR NORTH AMERICAN WOODWORKERS

WOOD & WOOD PRODUCTS recently interviewed WMIA President George Force on a variety of topics -- ranging in scope from association business and government regulations to world-shaking events and the Ligna Woodworking Fair. Force is also president of Force Machinery Co., a Union, N.J.-based company encompassing three generations of the Force family. He began his two-year term as WMIA president last November.

WOOD & WOOD PRODUCTS: Most of the news that we hear and read about the U.S. economy lately is discouraging. How do you view the current business climate? George Force: The current business situation is a recession. The "R" word is one that by now every one has heard enough of, but unfortunately it is the one that applies.

For many woodworkers, this is their first recession -- their first down cycle. The first one is always the toughest.

As importers we are more in touch with business cycles. The countries where our machines are produced have smaller markets, and consequently more ups and downs. There is always a "slump" somewhere at any given point in time.

The encouraging thing is that every recession has an upside. Those who stay lean and make it through a downward business cycle are better positioned when the economy turns up again. And the up cycle is not a question of if, only a question of when.

In order to best position a company for long-term adaptation to business cycles, efficiency is a key requirement. I'm sure that a lot of companies that are feverishly attempting to cut costs wish they had invested in the types of equipment that would make their production operations more efficient. A past investment in equipment which could help cut costs would be most welcome now.

Still, every market that is in this recession has woodworkers who are busy and profitable! These companies cna sell and they can produce. The current recession must be accepted as a challenge to make changes for the future.

W&WP: How well do you think American woodworkers are responding to the challenge to tool up? Force: Encouraging the use of higher levels of machine technology is a theme of my presidency. American woodworkers need to learn more about and invest in higher levels of technology. They must be more resilient and adaptable as new improvements in woodworking efficiency become available. Business is getting too tough to maintain the status quo.

It is very easy for a woodworker to throw up a smoke-screen between himself and technology. I hear a lot of excuses:

* "I only do custome work."

* "I would have to keep that machine busy all day to pay for it."

* "My employees will never use it."

* "If that one machine breaks, I'm in trouble."

Manufacturing techonology that is absorbed like a sponge in the rest of the world has to be force fed in this county. Obviously this is a generalization, but it's not far off the mark.

Every importer of machines will tell you the same story. We have a war chest of stories. The innovations that we see, the highest levels of technology, wind up in Europe, the Eastern Bloc, and places like Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, etc. As an American, it hurts to see advanced technology so readily accepted on the shores of so many other countries, but not here.

An example is one of our suppliers in Germany who has an innovation that won a German state prize honoring innovative techniques and excellence. This technology option improves quality and saves labor costs significantly. It is a very expensive option for machines with a base price of $70,000 to $80,000, raising the price of them by 30 to 50 percent. Since it was created, the option has been sold with 35 percent of the machines this company sells. Yet, in the U.S. we have yet to sell our first machine with this prize-winning option. And this story goes on and on.

W&WP: Certainly there must be exceptions to this rule? Force: There are some notable exceptions, but our domestic woodworking industry needs more leaders. The American woodworking industry is not investing in efficiency-breeding technology at any where near the same rate as the rest of the world. It is painful to us as importers and as Americans when we see the most techonologically advanced equipment going to markets in the European Community, Eastern Europe and the Pacific Rim. More of it should be winding up on our shores.

This is one of the reasons why we have supported the Innovator of the Year award for industry innovations and the Educator of the Year award which honors instructors and schools. All woodworkers have a chance to read about outstanding domestic woodworkers who have made a successful investment in new technology. Winners of this award are true leaders in our industry.

As we enter 1991, the membership of the WMIA is at an all-time high. This important association is dedicated to the American woodworking industry, dedicated to making it a profitable and efficient industry. Domestic woodworkers must compete with woodworkers worldwide. Without utilizing technology that is available worldwide, they stand no chance.

WMIA members are in the best position to bring these important new machine improvements and technologies to the domestic woodworking industries.

W&WP:Aside from reading trade publication like Wood & Wood Products, how can U.S. woodworkers learn more about the technology that is available today? Force:One way for a woodworker to raise his level of awareness is to attend a European woodworking show such as the Ligna fair, which will be held in early May in Hannover, Germany. American attendance has been way down at these shows. The reason to go is not necessarily to buy, as there are virtually no major lines of quality machinery that are not being sold and serviced quite adequately by WMIA members.

The more important reason to attend is to see the vast array of equipment and to see the high level of enthusiasm and interest expressed by woodworking peers from around the world.

At the very least, woodworkers should attend the domestic shows like the international Woodworking Machinery and Furniture Supply Fair-USA held biennially in Atlanta, Ga. The IWF show held last August eclipsed the previous fair performance in both exhibit space and attendance. While many felt that attendance on the fair floor was down, they must remember that this year it had a Friday start. This spread the attendance out more evenly over the first three days and avoided the first day "crush."

The WMIA is an important partner in this show. IWF is now a world-class show attracting attendees and attention from all over the world. And this exhibition of efficiency and state-of-the-art, high-tech equipment is right here in our backyard, available for each and every American woodworker to take advantage of. And more should.

W&WP: What impact do you think the changes sweeping Europe wil have only on the U.S. woodworking industry? Force:A very often asked question is how EC-92 (the consolidation of 12 European nations into a single market of goods and services) and the crumbling of the Berlin Wall will affect us in the U.S. woodworking industry.

During the dream years for American woodworkers, the 1980s, we in the United States were the focus of much of the foreign machine manufacturers' attention. They built and designed much equipment specifically for us in the States. Sad to say we will not be their only focus anymore.

The East Bloc countries, poor and underdeveloped as they are, represent a gold mine for machinery producers. Lots of time will be spent trying to profit off these markets. There will be a spin-off benefit in that more down-sized, simpler versions of many standard technologies will become available.

WMIA members have held extensive talks with leaders of machinery industry groups in Europe to see how this will affect us in the states. One very promising ray of hope is in the area of machine safety.

The EC members will adopt one, unified set of safety standards for woodworking machinery taht will be the most comprehensive in the entire world. Machine safety is of paramount concern to all machinery builders, sellers, purchasers and users.

It would be a dream to anyone selling machines in the United States to have a set of machine safety standards. Today, none exist. Maybe it is only a dream but we would love to see very high European standards somedasy accepted in the United States. This would help us tremendously in the area of product liability. Product liablity continues to be one of the most significant issues in woodworking machinery sales. The price of the machines that are sold in the United States carry significant costly add-ons for liability insurance premiums.

W&WP: Aside from product liability reform, what is of special interest and importance on the domestic regulatory fron to WMIA members? Force:In the area of wood dust exposure regulations, the adoption of increasingly stringent wood dust rules by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration are of concern, but not of major concern to woodworking machinery importers. Dust regulations have been in effect for several years now in overseas' markets and our manufacturing partners are well experienced in dealing with these problems.