Plywood Production Case History

Columbia Forest Products

“Columbia Forest Products is a leading manufacturer of hardwood plywood,” reports Jeff Wakefield, current Vice President of HR and former Plant Manager. “Our 275,000-square-foot Old Fort, North Carolina facility is open-air, with 30-foot ceilings. We had to constantly clean our ceiling and rafters to remove any dust and debris that would accumulate, which were combustion hazards.”

“At first, we tried a large vacuum system,” says Wakefield. “But after a while, we knew we needed something more efficient. We learned about SonicAire and decided to try their industrial dust control fan system.”

“The fans drastically reduced the labor we were using for cleaning,” says Wakefield. “We no longer have to send trained workers on lifts into those areas every quarter. We don’t have to schedule weekends and overtime for workers to do all that prep work and cleaning. We don’t even have to wipe off the flat surfaces on top of the equipment anymore. The SonicAire fans have alleviated all of that.”

This reduction in workload not only saves resources, it has been a big morale boost for employees. “Our workers were very happy to no longer have to bear this cleaning burden,” Wakefield continues.

“From both a dollar standpoint and employee benefits, the SonicAire fans have been a big win,” Wakefield concludes.

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Other Posts You May Benefit from Reading

• NFPA 652 Dust Hazard Analysis Deadline Approaches: Is Your Company Compliant?
• Could Industrial Dust Control Fans Save You Millions?
• Dust Control Fans & Dust Collection Systems: Teamwork

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The Real Cost of Fugitive Dust in Hard-to-Reach Spaces

What You Can’t See Can Hurt You

To help protect your workplace, we’ve compiled the following resource, The Real Cost of Fugitive Dust in Hard-to-Reach Spaces: What You Can’t See Can Hurt You. In it, we identify seven ways fugitive dust is likely impacting your facility and its profitability.

These costs go beyond housekeeping and explain why you should be preventing dust buildup to protect the bottom line, not just to stay in compliance.