Dominion Hardwoods, Inc.

DESIGN OF A HARDWOOD PLYWOOD & DOOR FACILITY

Background: In the mid 1980’s Dominion Hardwoods (DHI) was an entrepreneurial sister company to Mimex Company, a successful hardwood veneer importer and broker based in Princeton, West Virginia. The principals of Mimex decided to form a new company, DHI, which would manufacture architectural hardwood plywood and doors. Shortly after project completion and start-up, DHI was hampered by lagging product sales and resulting poor cash flow. These problems forced the private investors into dissolving the company in 1989.

Situation: When the principals of Mimex decided to start engineering on the new DHI facility, they realized that outside assistance would be necessary because (i) their time would be best spent in maintaining Mimex’s day-to-day operations and (ii) they wanted DHI to be a “World Class” facility. Thus, DHI engaged A. G. Raymond & Company to assist in (i) determining machine loading (ii) calculating building size requirements (iii) developing specifications for needed equipment and (iv) designing the facility.

The initial step in this design project was evaluating various equipment manufacturers to determine what equipment would be required to place DHI among the leaders of the hardwood plywood industry. This search determined “state-of-the-art” equipment would be needed for laminating, squaring, and sanding operations. More conventional equipment could be used elsewhere. After identifying the types of production equipment required, machine load calculations were utilized to determine quantities of required machines. Concurrent to machine load calculations, building space requirements and departmental layouts were being generated.

As the project progressed, departmental layouts evolved into preliminary facility layouts. Layout specific details were combined with process specifications during the development of equipment and building bid documents. These bid documents were sent to suppliers, vendors, and contractors for quotations. Upon receipt and analysis of the quotations, contracts were released and the facility layouts were finalized showing purchased equipment.

During building construction and equipment installation, AGRCo played a secondary role as project advisor. All project management was handled by the DHI project engineer now employed by AGRCo. Duties related to the project management included scheduling and coordination of 30 plus contractors and vendors, on-site troubleshooting, permitting, and cost-tracking. Due to the previously mentioned design, engineering, and on-site management, the DHI equipment start-up was smooth and quick.

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A. G. Raymond & Company Inc. 1033 Wade Ave. Suite 102 Raleigh, NC 27605
Phone: (919) 831-0070 Fax: (919) 831-0072 Email: info@raymondnet.com