A Message from Matt Swinnie, Vice-President of Operations
Advancing with ARAUCO 4.0: Smart Manufacturing for Better Customer Service
As the demand for wood products continues to rise across North America, ARAUCO is committed to meeting the needs of our valued customers through smart manufacturing and the adoption of the newest technology to improve safety and efficiency.
As a leading wood panel manufacturer, we ensure that customer needs are well understood and addressed from both operational and manufacturing perspectives. Our supply chain, commercial, manufacturing, and supporting teams are all synchronized to better understand and fulfill customer needs.
Our dedication to automation remains strong. This quarter, we implemented fully automated stacking and packaging on our second moulding line, with plans to extend this to additional lines. We also started our third TFL Press in Grayling, Michigan. This development significantly enhances our operational capacity, allowing for increased production of Thermally Fused Laminate (TFL) panels. These steps are part of our ARAUCO 4.0 initiative, focusing on smart manufacturing to optimize processes and improve product quality.
At ARAUCO, we continuously explore innovative approaches to meet market demands while enhancing our operational processes, ensuring the delivery of high-quality products and exceptional service.
Thank you for choosing ARAUCO.
Each Spring, the Composite Panel Association (CPA), an accredited standards developer for composite panels and decorative services industries in North America, recognizes and awards manufacturing plants, by class, for having outstanding safety records. Several ARAUCO mills received awards:
Best Long-Term Safety Record Over The Past Three Years
Class I: ARAUCO NA, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Class II: ARAUCO NA, Albany, OR
Lowest Incident Rate in 2023
Class I: ARAUCO NA, Sault Ste. Marie, ON and St. Stephen, NB
Class II: ARAUCO NA, Albany, OR and Bennettsville, SC
Safety Achievement Reward: Awarded to plants that have a Recordable Incident Rate (RIR) that is 50% or more below the industry average over the last three years.
Class I: ARAUCO NA, St. Stephen, NB
Class II: ARAUCO NA, Grayling, MI and Bennettsville, SC
Safety Improvement Recognition
Class II: ARAUCO NA, Albany, OR
Congratulations to Grayling, Albany, Sault Ste. Marie, St. Stephen, and Bennettsville on your safety achievements and thank you, to Plant Managers John Metzen (Sault St. Marie), Jon Jensen (Albany), David Moffatt (St. Stephen), David Gunnells (Bennettsville), and Bryan Hotchkiss (Grayling) for exhibiting outstanding leadership!
In continuing our support of the growth of Thermally Fused Laminate (TFL) products in North America, we are pleased to announce that our third Wemhoner Line Press at our particleboard mill in Grayling, Michigan is fully operational! The functionality of the new line press increases our operating capacity by 50%, allowing us to better serve new and existing customers through the use of sustainable, value-add products.
As the largest manufacturer of sustainable wood products in North America, we are committed to constantly finding ways to enhance and streamline our operating processes by implementing vertical integration. Our redundancy operations in Chile have made us a resilient supplier of wood products and we look forward to discovering new ways to expand our reach across North America.
We're thrilled to announce some recent improvements to our Customer Web Portal:
1. Customizable Columns in My Orders Search: You can now tailor the "My Orders" search results by choosing which columns to display. We've added new columns for "Order Total" and "Order Volume", allowing you to prioritize the information most important to you. Stay tuned as we'll be adding even more columns in the near future!
2. Automatically Created Previous Purchased Items List: We've introduced a new list that shows items you've purchased within the last year. This feature helps you easily find and check inventory for your frequently bought items.
If you already use the portal, sign in with your credentials to see these new features. Not a user? Request a login here.
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ARAUCO to Reduce Emissions by 1.5 million tons by 2030 in Accordance with Science Based Targets Initiative
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ARAUCO's commitment to limit global temperature increase to 1.5ºC was analyzed and validated by The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an organization that provides companies with the standards and tools needed to set plans/processes in place to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
ARAUCO was certified as carbon neutral in 2020, becoming the first in its field globally to achieve this status. By choosing to commit to reducing its emissions by approximately 1.5 million tons of CO2 by 2030, ARAUCO remains further committed to creating a more sustainable future.
“It isn’t “What is wrong with you?”, it is “What has happened to you?”
The Community Champion Grant (CCG) is a program designed to provide ARAUCO employees with the financial support needed to make differences in their communities to causes they are committed to.
Matt Harris, an ARAUCO Shipping Coordinator, was awarded the CCG in 2023 after demonstrating his active involvement with Trillium Family Services, a mental health care facility. He first became aware of Trillium Family Services while completing PR work for ARAUCO, and as he learned more about their organization, he made it his mission to find ways to support their cause.
“As a volunteer for Trillium, I have done many things including meeting with State, County, and City officials to educate as many as possible of the true state of our youth”, said Harris. “I even created a power point and started my own campaign to reach out to my friends, coworkers, and anyone else that would listen. Personally, I volunteer as a Foundation Board Member for one reason, to stop child suicide!”
Each day of support that Trillium provides represents an opportunity for healing, growth, and transformation. The financial support from the CCG went towards critical services and programs provided to children who receive mental healthcare at Trillium Family Services. With the help from ARAUCO, Trillium can ensure that children can receive the support they need to overcome adversity and thrive.
“¡Yo soy Arauco en la Corazón! I am PROUD to work for this company!”, Harris said. “Thank you ARAUCO for making a difference!”
Register for our July CEU
TFL Decorative Panels: Sustainable Design for Commercial and Residential Applications
Join us Wednesday, July 31st at 11AM ET/ 8AM PT for a 1-hour credit course in the category of Health, Safety and Welfare.
In this session, you will learn how TFL is made, its performance and handling characteristics, and TFL's advantages as a sustainable material. We will explore the differences between TFL and other surfacing materials and offer more insights to help you make informed choices about surfacing solutions.
After participating in this CEU, you will understand:
• The differences between TFL and other “legacy” materials
• How TFL panels – core, design and texture – are created
• Why TFL is one of the most sustainable materials for furniture and interiors
• Where, and why, TFL excels – specific surface applications, markets
NeoCon 2024 Highlights
Earlier this week, ARAUCO participated in one of our first events of the year, NeoCon!
A launch pad for innovation—NeoCon offers ideas and introductions that shape the built environment today and into the future. The industry’s major manufacturers as well as the latest emerging companies showcased thousands of new products and services in categories including Furniture, Fabrics, Flooring, Interior Building Products, Interior Finishes and Technology.
While there, Arauco was able to showcase select designs from our Prism TFL Design Collection and connect with existing and potential customers.
Join us at IWF 2024
August 6-9, 2024
C1610 I Georgia World Congress Center I Atlanta
Arauco welcomes you to visit our newly designed booth at IWF (International Woodworking Fair) Atlanta! Be ready to immerse yourself in built environments that highlight our product range.
As North America’s largest woodworking trade show and conference, IWF showcases woodworking products from the top wood manufacturers across North America. With numerous networking opportunities available on-site, IWF is an event you surely don’t want to miss!
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