Home economics New process doubles log home production at Katahdin Forest Products

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It was nearly 30 years ago when David Gordon became the eighth employee to join Katahdin Forest Products, working as a forklift operator and log shaver in the business that his father and two friends started from the ground up.

Since then, he has studied the industry while working hand-in-hand with fellow employees at the business, thinking about and experimenting with ways to improve the cedar log home manufacturing process.

Today the 51-year-old, who now is company president, has found the answer in a new production line that has pushed the company to a new level.

Gordon is ecstatic about the new process, parts of which he and his colleagues invented. The new production line, made up of cutters, planers and drills, will allow the business to double the amount of log homes that it manufactures each day.

“With this new machine, we are going to be able to do two homes per day, whereas right now we can do just one. In manufacturing, seconds mean everything. Not only will this machine speed up the process, the homes are also going to be of a higher quality and easier to build,” Gordon recently explained, walking through the Oakfield plant.

The new production line takes logs that are either 6 by 6 inches or 6 by 8 inches. They already are planed, tongued and grooved, in 6- to 10-foot lengths. Machines cut them to lengths required for the house package being built, make corner joints, drill holes for assembly and even produce a hand-planed look if desired.

The whole line is computer-driven, programmed by two Mainers, and much of the equipment was designed by Katahdin staff and built locally.

The U-shaped production line is about 120 feet long.

Gordon’s old production line took six men a day to produce one house. The new line takes two men one day to produce two houses. Eventually Gordon will shut down the old line.

What is just as important to Gordon, however, is the fact that he won’t need to lay off any of his employees because of the streamlining, even though the new machine requires fewer workers to run it.

In fact, he said recently, he has had to hire more.

“Because the process is faster, our production has doubled,” he said. “Because of the increased business, I’ve had to hire more draftsmen and salespeople.”

Building a business

Katahdin Forest Products was founded in 1973 by Gordon’s father, Foster Gordon, and his friends Fred McCormick and Wayne Farrar. The firm now manufactures about 200 homes, condominiums and camps per year, shipping them as far away as Israel, Japan and Scotland. Over the years, the business has expanded. Across the street from the Oakfield mill is Cedar Ideas, another company-owned work site that uses the cedar left over from the manufacturing process to make window boxes, toys, planters and other items. The bits and pieces that remain after those products are made serve as firewood for the mill.

That means that the facility generates very little waste, a fact that Gordon finds gratifying.

“If you use all of the product, there is less to hurt the environment,” he said.

One of Gordon’s greatest joys is in knowing that most of the company’s materials are bought locally. They operate two sawmills and buy lumber from 21 cedar mills, 15 of which are within a 300-mile radius of the plant.

There are now more than 100 employees at the company, and the business has outgrown two offices. They will be building on to the current office this summer.

Fast and fabulous

The new production line, according to the president, is going to benefit every branch of the company. The cedar wood that is used to build the homes goes through an extensive process during production. Each of the individual logs fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, with certain corners and pieces that match. The tags on each piece are essentially like diagrams.

The logs are measured, sawed, shaved, peeled, graded and eventually tagged so that whoever is assembling the home knows how to fit it together.

Before the introduction of the new machine, a certain number of employees were needed to do each task.

During a recent interview, Gordon led the way through one of his workshops full of employees. Each worker was stationed in front of several machines and computers, their boots covered in cedar shavings. Most of the tasks, such as sawing and peeling, were being done manually.

“This way is not as precise as it is with the new machine,” he explained as a worker pulled a saw through a piece of wood. “And it is not as safe. Safety is our number one concern here.”

The new machine is housed in a separate workshop at the expansive plant. The logs are treated using a system of computer sensors and reflectors that direct the action. When an employee puts a log on the ramp at one end of the machine, for instance, the computer instantly knows that it must pull the conveyor belt forward so that more logs can be loaded.

“With the wood advanced automatically by the computer, it leads to the first step in speeding up the production process,” Gordon said. “The automatic advancement means that the next man on the [assembly] line is not waiting for wood. He always has a piece to work with.”

The computer is programmed to expertly and efficiently sculpt the logs in accordance with preset specifications. Once the worker puts a log on the machine, it is shaved, peeled, graded and tagged before it reaches the second employee.

“There are no operators at any machine except the person at the front and the person at the end,” the president said.

The process includes other means of increasing speed and conservation. In the building that houses the new machine, computers are programmed to light the shop and heat up the machinery before the workers arrive.

“That means that we are both conserving electricity and allowing our employees to come into the building and get right to work,” Gordon said.

The president explained that he and his fellow employees experimented with different machine prototypes for five years before they found perfection in the new machine.

“I knew what I thought I wanted five years ago,” he said. “I visited other log home companies and invested in the latest technology. We started accumulating our ideas a little over two years ago, and came up with the final plan about a year ago. I am positive that there is nothing like this machine in the world.”

The company recently opened its doors and debuted its new production line, inviting a group of log home dealers and financing organizations. Vince Zara, who owns American Classic Log Homes with his wife, Pat, said during the two-day tour that the new machine was “absolutely phenomenal.”

“It was unbelievable,” the Kentucky-based dealer said, adding that he has worked with Katahdin for about 15 years. “It’s going to be very important to our industry. We’ve looked at many log home companies and Katahdin has got its act together. I see what they are doing as the future of log homes. They should be proud of what they are doing.”

Mike Laughlin, who owns Lakeside Log Homes in New Jersey, agreed.

“I was surprised and impressed with what I saw,” he said. “This is my third trip here, and every time we come to Aroostook County the mill is larger and more high-tech.”

During the interview Gordon acknowledged the progress, but said he doesn’t feel it has been as fast as everyone else does.

“The dealers come once every two years and they are always so surprised at what has happened since their last visit,” he said. “But, to me, this grows slowly. I guess it’s because I’ve been watching it all of these years.”

With the faster, more efficient machine up and running, Gordon is excited about the future of his company.

“I can’t think of any type of work that I would love more or that I would have more fun doing,” he said. “I love the people here and I have a wonderful team to work with … I really am excited about what we’re doing and what the future will bring.”