“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.
