Fairforest Lumber Sales - Spartanburg, South Carolina
Productivity Improvement / Plant Layout & Design

THE OVERVIEW
Fairforest Lumber Sales, Inc. manufactures pre-cut lumber in specified grades and sizes to customers throughout the southeastern United States. Although its product is used mainly for truss assembly, Fairforest Lumber also manufactures pallets on request. Average annual sales are between $4-$5 million. Thirty people are employed at the facility.

THE CHALLENGE
Although Fairforest Lumber has been in operation for several years, a classic bottleneck problem has existed from day one. After the product is graded and sorted, it is distributed to various locations on the company grounds. This method of processing requires many non-value-added steps such as multiple movements, especially in queue times where the product is waiting for further processing. "We were spending entirely too much time and money on our employees just standing around," said company President Eric Foust.

Fairforest is the sole supplier of truss assembly material to Boozer Lumber in Columbia, SC, an SCMEP client. "I saw firsthand the positive results SCMEP was able to bring to Boozer and became convinced they could help provide the solution to our problem," said Foust. SCMEP Manufacturing Specialist Larry Jolly was invited to visit the plant and offered a plan of action to address the bottleneck issue.

THE SOLUTION
In concert with Fairforest, SCMEP designed a new facility layout that eliminates as many of the non-value-added steps from its processing as possible. With engineering assistance, measurements of workspace requirement dimensions and current machine dimensions were gathered for the new layout design.

Fairforest Lumber implemented the new facility layout. SCMEP also assisted Fairforest personnel with capacity analysis and establishing basic labor standards to be used in scheduling, costs, and variance analysis. In another project, SCMEP provided training and implementation of a material requirements planning (MRP) system.

THE IMPACT
In the scope of all projects completed for Fairforest Lumber, the company says it has increased and retained sales in the amount of $1.2 million, as well as experienced cost savings of $400,000. The company also indicated it has increased utilization of technology, enhanced productivity, and implemented better business management processes.