Helping the Wood Products Industry Profit From the Next 10 Years

The domestic wood products industry currently faces significant challenges.These challenges are magnified by rising foreign competition and related economic impacts on the primary and secondary sectors of the hardwood industry in the Eastern United States.

The US Forest Service, Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC) and Dovetail Partners offered a workshop in April 2006 to help the industry constructively respond to these challenges. The workshop included presentations from leading innovators in the industry with real-life and current-day examples of implementation of strategic thinking and repositioning, new leadership models, mass customization, LEAN manufacturing, and other approaches. The workshop was held at the Wood Education and Resource Center (WERC) facilities in Princeton, West Virginia on April 11th and 12th.

Information from that workshop has been used to help develop this website. This website aims to expand the delivery of information that aids the success of the wood products industry. This website is a support tool for attendees of the workshop and other interested parties. This website provides information on global and domestic trends related to the industry and potential strategies and tools for increasing competitiveness

The work upon which this program is based was funded through a grant awarded by the Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry, USDA Forest Service. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. For more information, contact: Dovetail Partners at 612-333-0430 or info@dovetailinc.org.

Presentations

Tuesday April 11th, 2006

Leading to Compete

Jeff Howe, CEO Fullerton Companies and Chair of Dovetail Partners

click here for presentation (pdf, 1.4 MB)

What World-Class Organizations Are Doing to Compete

John Brandt, CEO of MPI

presentation unavailable

Changing Cabinet Production in the Face of Intense Global Competition

Neil Lynch, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning, MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc.

click here for presentation (pdf, 6 MB)

The Role of FPS in Supporting Change
Carol Lewis, Executive Vice President, Forest Products Society