A system for continuous process improvement in wood products manufacturing R.A. Kozak, T.C. Maness Abstract The WoodMark Quality System, a new quality assurance program for the Canadian value-added wood products sector, was launched in 1999. This represented the culmination of a five-year investigation of industry needs, standards development, and potential benefits, as they relate to implementing a third-party quality assurance system for the Canadian value-added industry. The WoodMark Quality System is an industry-specific system dedicated to improving the quality of value-added wood products, and in so doing, improving the competitive position and global customer acceptance of Canadian wood products. While many quality assurance systems, most notably the ISO 9000 series, already exist and have been widely adopted, the impetus behind creating an in- dustry-specific quality certification program came as a result of the unique attributes inherent in wood as a raw material and the subsequent production and quality challenges. To that end, a set of seven quality standards, singular to the wood industry, were developed. These standards have been implemented in two pilot projects, with positive results. Ein System zur kontinuierlichen Qualita ¨tssteigerung in der holzverarbeitenden Industrie Zusammenfassung Im Jahre 1999 wurde das ‘‘WoodMark Quality System’’ installiert. Dies ist ein Programm zur Qualita ¨tssicherung der kanadischen holzverarbeitenden Industrie. Es war der Ho ¨hepunkt einer 5-ja ¨hrigen Studie u ¨ber die Erfordernisse der Industrie, die Entwicklung von Standards und mo ¨gliche Vorteile, die durch die Einrich- tung eines Qualita ¨tssicherungssystems von dritter Seite erzielt werden ko ¨nnen. Das ‘‘WoodMark Quality System’’ (WQS) ist ein industriespezifisches System zur Qualita ¨ts- steigerung in der Holzverarbeitung, das dadurch auch die Wettbewerbsfa ¨higkeit und weltweite Akzeptanz kanadi- scher Holzprodukte fo ¨rdert. U ¨ ber die bereits bestehenden Systeme hinaus, insbesondere die Serien der ISO 9000, die weit verbreitet sind, ergab sich der Anstoß zur Schaffung eines industriespezifischen Zertifizierungsprogramms aus den speziellen Eigenheiten des Rohstoffs Holz und seiner weiteren Verarbeitung mit speziellen Herausforderungen der Qualita ¨tssicherung. Hierzu wurden sieben fu ¨r die Holzindustrie spezifische Standards entwickelt. Sie wurden in zwei Pilotprojekten mit positiven Ergebnissen eingesetzt. 1 Introduction The wood products industry is broadly comprised of three major sectors: pulp and paper, primary wood products and value-added wood products. In Canada, the first two sectors account for the majority of business and are characterized by large, diversified interests producing a narrow range of commodity products, from pulp and paper to lumber and panels. Conversely, the value-added sector is a very disaggregated sector, made up of both large and small companies. However, most value-added firms tend to be small design-oriented shops, with little access to capital and a history of low paying jobs and a poorly educated workforce. The term ‘‘value-added’’ refers to the transformation of commodity solid wood products, like lumber and panels, into other higher value wood products (Wilson et al. 1999). Simply put, this is usually achieved by some combination of manufacturing steps (resawing, surfacing, drying, assembly) that incrementally adds value to the product (in the eyes of the customer) at a rate that exceeds the cost of production. Value-added wood products generally fall into one of the following categories, in order from lowest to highest value: Canada has an abundance of high quality wood fiber and, not surprisingly, the wood products industry is one of its most important sectors, accounting for approximately 13% of the Gross Domestic Product (Statistics Canada 1996). While the value-added wood products sector accounts for less than 10% of the total Canadian wood products ship- ments, it is, nonetheless, an important and growing sector, with approximately 1,900 manufacturing establishments and 45,000 employees (Industry Canada 2001). In addition, the Canadian value-added sector has recently experienced a growth surge in the last decade, with clear upward trends seen for kitchen cabinets, wooden doors and windows, millwork and moldings and wooden household furniture. This is due in no small part to an increasingly price competitive environment, the trend towards globalization Holz als Roh- und Werkstoff 61 (2003) 95–102 Ó Springer-Verlag 2003 DOI 10.1007/s00107-003-0366-9 95 Published online: 4 March 2003 R.A. Kozak (&), T.C. Maness Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, 2424 Main Mall, V6T 1Z4 Vancouver, BC, Canada E-mail: rkozak@interchg.ubc.ca The authors would like to thank Darrell Wong and Ken Wong whose hard work and dedication made this research possible. This project was funded by Forest Renewal BC. Originalarbeiten Æ Originals