Wood-Mizer succeeds in the Canadian Market
Innovative company shares its unique success story
Ten years ago, Don Laskowski and business partner Dan Tekulve looked at the sawmill industry and wondered: "Why haul logs all the way from the woods to the sawmill? Wouldn't it be more practical to take the sawmill to the logs?" To accomplish this, they developed their own portable bandsaw mill, founded a company called Wood-Mizer, and took their place in the sawmill industry. Today , according to Dave Mann, consumer sales manager at Wood Mizer, the portable sawmills represent 80 percent of Wood-Mizer's total sales and "if the sawmill is orange, it's probably a Wood-Mizer." Wood-Mizer has been "in a continual state of expansion." From only a few family members and friends in 1979, the company has grown to 275 U.S. employees in both Indianapolis and in a manufacturing plant at New Point, Ind. Three branch offices (Oregon, New York and Georgia) and four Canadian outlets serve North America. Dozens of international representatives sell to and service customers on nearly every continent. Wood-Mizer has developed several different industrial products. In addition to the small, portable bandsaw mills, the company manufactures industrial saws (MultiHead saw), which are used to cut lumber for pallets. Wood-Mizer has created two types of kilns to dry wood: Vacu-Kiln (a vacuum dryer) and SolarDry Kiln (a dryer using energy from the sun). A vertical metal-cutting saw, the MetalMizer, is also a Wood-Mizer innovation.
(No matter who the customer is, Mann believes quality customer service is the key to success.)
Wood-Mizer believes the best way to test its products is to use them daily. Every year, hundreds of thousands of board feet of lumber are cut and dried to assure that Wood-Mizer's products are the best they can be. Instead of Instead of letting all the cut wood go to waste, the company established its own retail wood outlet, selling 27 different molding patterns and wood products made of red oak and poplar. Profits generated are poured back into Wood-Mizer's research and development efforts. Nearly 8,000 portable sawmills, costing anywhere from $7,000 to $20,000, have been placed in every state and in 75 countries around the world. Wood-Mizer has been selling to Canada for approximately six years. Over $2 million worth of Wood-Mizer equipment (approximately 130- 150 sawmills) was purchased there last year alone. According to Mann, it was not conscious planning, but consumer demand, that "forced" Wood-Mizer to enter the Canadian market. However, the company has never regretted its decision to send sawmills up north. As the customer base continued to expand, it was clear Wood-Mizer would need a more permanent base in Canada to adequately service its products. Wood-Mizer asked Ian Campbell, a satisfied customer and native Canadian, to form Wood-Mizer Canada in Manilla, Ontario.
Not long after Campbell created Wood-Mizer Canada, it became apparent that more offices were needed to cover the entire country. Branches were opened in British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Quebec. To find qualified representatives, Wood-Mizer looked first to successful, satisfied owners of Wood-Mizer equipment—they knew the product well and understood Wood-Mizer's goal to bring customers the best equipment to process wood "From Forest to Final Form." All the Canadian Wood-Mizer branch representatives are independent businessmen. Philippe LeSulles, the representative in Quebec, assistedWood-Mizer as the company worked to translate its sales literature into French to satisfy "les Quebecois." For other overseas markets, brochures are published in Spanish, German and Portuguese all using the metric system for weights and measurement.
Given Canada's proximity to the United States and to Indiana, Wood-Mizer is able to send eight to nine fully assembled mills per truckload across the border. Sawmills enter Canada largely duty-free, thanks to the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. Duty is paid only on some of the individual parts. All prices are quoted in Canadian currency, F.O.B. Manilla, Ontario. To hold an order, Wood-Mizer requires a 10 percent deposit; the balance is then due upon pickup or delivery. Noting that spring and fall are peak buying times for sawmills, Mann estimates that Wood-Mizer attends six to 10 Canadian trade shows per year. Dealing with Canadian consumers at these trade shows has taught Wood-Mizer one thing: The Canadian customer is different than the American. Mann believes consumers in these two markets follow a discernible "80/20 Rule." In the United States, approximately 20 percent of the customers purchasing portable sawmills plan to use them to make money. Most are destined for personal use-to create homemade furniture or perhaps to build that dream house. In Canada, however, 80 percent of those buying Wood-Mizer equipment are quite serious about using the sawmills to generate a profit.
No matter who the customer is, Mann strongly believes quality customer service is the key to success. As a direct factory-to-consumer business organization, Wood-Mizer places a strong emphasis on maintaining a close working relationship with it customers. To do this, a staff of trained sales and customer service representatives stands ready in the field to support and assist all purchasers of Wood-Mizer products. Mann stresses that Wood-Mizer wants every customer to "feel like they've bought a part of our company." The many letters Wood-Mizer has received from satisfied customers indicate the company is achieving this goal.