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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1964-10-29, Page 5m Page 5 - Wipgha Advanee*Titnes, Thursday, Oct, 29, 1984 LIoydTruax Plant Visite d By Other Industrial Heads In the first move of its kind in Wingham, the Industrial Commission sponsored a plan to have local manufacturing plants visited by executives from Wingham industries. On Mon- day, a number of these men were shown through the Lloyd - Truax door factory to see at first hand the scope and type of operation carried on by this, the largest manufacturer of doors in Canada. The group was guided through the plant by D. C, Na smith, company executive vice-president, and Donald Lloyd, vice-president and distribution manager. The visitors learned that the company utilizes material from a score of sources, including huge amounts of red cedar from British Columbia which is consumed at the rate of one carload per day. Tremendous quantities of plywood are used, some coming from Japan, others from Quebec and in some cases the wood originates in Africa. At the company's north -end plant the lumber is stock -piled, and is a common sight to most people from the district. What is not seen by the public eye is the drying process that every board goes through in dry -kilns at the plant. The lumber is scientifically processed to bring it to a 6 per cent mois- ture content. After drying, the lumber is cut to size. The north -end factory does nothing but process the lumber up to the point of manufacturing. TO SECOND PLANT Following this operation the sized lumber is moved to either the John Street Plant, where the firm manufactures all its flush doors, or to the Walkerton plant where panel doors are constructed. The Lloyd -Truax factory contains some of the latest and Door Making Complicated Operation This series of photographs demonstrates some of the ex- tensive operations carried on at Lloyd -Truax door company's Wingham factory. In the left column, top, Vice-president D. C. Nasmith, right, is shown talking to Eric Walden of Wal- den Bros. Transport and Herbert Fuller, plant superintendent of the Berry Door Co., Ltd. , in front of one of the huge piles of red cedar lumber at the Lloyd - Truax north -end plant. One of several powerful fork -lifts is shown bringing a stack of lum- ber to one of the two dry -kilns at the door plant. Part of the interior, showing piles of dried lumber and ply- wood at the Lloyd -Truax north - end plant is shown in the next photo. Nearly a car -load of lumber is consumed at the fac- tory every day. In the lower left photo is a pile of the end - .product of the factory - -doors doors and more doors of all sizes, finishes and construction types. In the right hand column a machine operator at the north - end plant is pictured sawing lumber to size for the manufac- turing operation. A production line for flush doors is pictured in operation as girls place in- terior sections in a door frame prior to having the frameglued on both sides for attachment of the plywood sheeting. Doors are dimensioned, both along the sides and the ends in this double saw that cuts to extreme. Iy fine tolerances, Size changes can be made in less than a minute. In the lower photo a huge hydraulic press is used to lam- inate plywood sheeting to solid core doors in the department which looks after custom -trade items. As well as applying pressure to the glued core, the press has a series of' heated platens that "cook" the glue at very accurately controlled temperatures. most automated machinery in the door manufacturing indus- try. There are 150 employees at the Wingham plants, 50 at Walkerton and another 40 at various other points across Ca- nada. Mr. Nesmith stated that the company plans to eventually move all its Wingham opera- tion to a new building which will be built at the north -end property, and to close down the John Street operation, which has grown over the years, The planned new building will pro- vide straight-line production which will mean greater effi- ciency for the firm. Production is controlled by a highly modern system which entails a great deal of planning. Schedules are set up for the en- tire year and revised on a monthly basis to meet market needs. Large inventories of the finished doors are located in Wingham and in Toronto, as well as in Alberta. Mr. Nasmith said that the most pronounced change in the operation over past number of years has been the increasing number of flush doors which are being sold. Years ago nearly all doors were of the panel type and these, while still made in quantity, do not represent the major portion of the manufac- turing output. He also told the visitors that the future is bright in the industry. Statistics point to a big increase in the next few years as the "war babies" come of age and will be setting up homes. This will mean a big surge to the construction indus- try, which will in turn mean in- creased door sales. The Lloyd -Truax firm has ar extensive distribution system and has private -line teletype cornrnuaicatton with the Toron- to sales office in order to keep in constant touch with the sales force in the metro region. WILL VISIT OTHERS Donald Kennedy, chairman of the Industrial Commission, said that this tour was the first of several, which will take place. In the next few months it is hoped that every plant in Wingham w f ll be visited by the group. As a result, he said, local industrial Readers will become more aware of what is being accomplished in Wingham, and areas of business co-operation may well be found that will be beneficial to all.