Custom cabinetry trends

Kerfkore Co. recently gave two distributor awards based on the largest sales volume and greatest percentage increase in sales over the previous year of Kerfkore products. 
For 2011, Distributor Service Inc. won the award for the largest volume distributor of Kerfkore products. Wurth Wood Group was awarded for the greatest sales increase in 2011. Both companies growth was achieved through a mix of bendable and lightweight product sales. For more information, please go to www.kerfkore.com.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and in the competitive markets of woodworking and design, it is necessary not only to keep up with the latest trends but to stay ahead of them, forming them if need be. As the pendulum of design perpetually sways from traditional to contemporary and back again, it continues to reveal new ideas, schemes, and reinventions. Recently, the pendulum has uncovered a trend of infusing a mixture of materials into a single space. It is not uncommon to integrate six or seven different materials into a kitchen or bath design.
Stainless steel appliances are replacing paneled appliances, accent countertops in concrete or glass are supplementing granite, and metal range hoods are finding their prominent place in design, not to mention various materials for hardware, plumbing fixtures, sinks, lighting fixtures and flooring.
Being a supplier of wood products since 1979, the idea of mixing materials was and still is an opportunity and a challenge. We have learned over the years how to adapt to current design trends, but in the past we could achieve that with wood. The first challenge was one of design and innovation, how to incorporate a mixture of materials in a single component such as an island leg or corbel. After interacting with numerous customers, combing through numerous custom designs, and spending days creating sketches, the Fusion product line came into being. At the same time, we started developing corbel designs that could be manufactured from metal.
 Unlike others in our industry we find it essential to actually use different materials such as metal instead of finishing our standard wood products to achieve the look of metal. We believe that a reason for the mixture of material is not just visual but tangible as well. We also found that there are shapes which can be created out of stone and metal that cannot be achieved with wood.
After developing our designs and realizing the material should be true to what is seen, our real challenges started in trying to find reliable sources for die casting, machining, plating, etc. We quickly found that other industries, such as metal fabrication, had just as much industry-specific vocabulary as woodworking, and, coupled with a completely different manufacturing process; the learning curve was quite steep. Some designs were tabled immediately due to strength issues, manufacturing process challenges, or because the piece just did not achieve the look we wanted when in its finished material.
 Marketing began with releasing a few metal corbel designs in various materials and styles. These were released on the website and soon incorporated into the catalog and advertising campaigns. As awareness grew, we continued to release new materials for existing product, such as brushed aluminum, bronze, antique cast iron, even a composite called iron rust. The metal corbel line set a stage for what came next: the patented Fusion Line. While the Fusion legs were not the first non-wood products released, they were the quintessential product of our initial idea: a single component mixing materials. The legs were immediately received well within design communities and started gaining traction with manufacturers within six months.
 The process of releasing this product line was different than any other line because it started with an idea that did not fit into our model at first. It started with quickly realizing a design idea that we knew would gain more and more traction as time progressed. We believe in this time of stagnate growth and stale ideas, companies that continue to innovate will stay effective and influential.Christian Smedberg is director of marketing at Osborne Wood Products.

In October 2011, the Retailers and Entertainers Lacey Implementation and Enforcement Fairness Act (H.R. 3210) was introduced to reduce the burden of the Lacey Act on importers, manufacturers and retailers of wood and wood-based products.
The amendment follows the Department of Justice’s recent raids on Gibson Guitar Corp. factories in Tennessee that contained rare materials. The RELIEF Act would exempt any plants imported into, and any finished plant or plant product that was assembled or processed in the U.S. before May 22, 2008, in addition to limiting the declaration requirement to plants entered only for consumption. The RELIEF Act would add a provision necessitating a certification process for legal plants. This certification process would entail individual manufacturer, importer and retailer certification in addition to individual item certification for plant products harvested, imported or manufactured after May 22, 2008.
With regard to tree-based products, the RELIEF Act would remove the requirement to declare the scientific name, quantity, country of origin and import value for all material except solid wood and items imported only for commerce. Lacey Act violators who knowingly participate in the trafficking of illegal plant products would endure a civil penalty not exceeding $250 for the first violation. Importers, retailers and resellers who unknowingly possess an illegal plant, however, would no longer be assessed a penalty or face property confiscation. In order to facilitate public awareness of illegal plant materials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service would be required to report to Congress on the feasibility of creating a database of foreign laws regarding prohibited plant sources, according to global trade law attorneys Barnes/Richardson, www.barnesrichardson.com.

The wood and wood-based products tradeshow, Xylexpo 2012, is planned for May 8-12, at the Milan Exhibition Center in Milan, Italy. Show organizers say that despite a tough economy, Xylexpo tradeshow exhibitors are expected to cover a larger area than the previous show with the latest woodworking technologies.
“The global economic situation presents few signs of improvement and our industry can only reflect these difficulties,” said Paolo Zanibon, general manager of Xylexpo. “But, in spite of this, exhibitor registrations for the next Xylexpo are encouraging and, so far, they suggest we might achieve an area of 45 thousand square meters, i.e. 15-20 percent more space than in the previous edition.”
Zanibon said Xylexpo hopes to be a guide for visitors through the changing wood products market. According to Dario Corbetta, marketing manager for Xylexpo, the exhibition center’s halls one and three will be dedicated to panel processing technology, while halls five and seven may be opened to panel machining. Hall four will include “first operation” machines and technologies.
“For several months now, we have been working to spread the message that our exhibition will be the ideal place to meet the widest offer, to compare solutions and to understand what the global technology industry can provide,” Corbetta said. ”A strong message we are delivering to new and consolidated exhibitors first, but that we will start to spread also among visitors in a couple of weeks; visitors have always been a valuable resource for our exhibition, boasting very high rates of international attendance, around 50 percent.”
For more information on Xylexpo 2012, visit www.xylexpo.com.

The third International Scientific Conference on Hardwood Processing, ISCHP³11, will be held from Oct. 16-18, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
More than 100 wood industry members are expected to attend the conference to hear presentations on topics such as hardwood processing, hardwoods from trees and final wood products. Among more than 60 presenters that will speak at ISCHP³11 are industry expert speakers Mark Barford, president NHLA; Ed Pepke, senior timber trade analyst, European Forest Institute; Alex Finkral, senior forester, The Forest Land Group; and Maud Hinchee, chief technology officer, ArborGen Inc. These four speakers will provide a status update of the hardwood industry and hardwood markets, information on hardwood certification and an outlook on the future of the hardwood resource.
Concurrent sessions will be held in the following areas: forestry practices and hardwood quality; supply chain management; hardwood processing and optimization; markets, trade and business insights; certification and sustainability; and hardwood innovations of the future.Abstract submissions for poster presentations will be accepted until Oct. 1.
For more information, please visit www.ischp2011.org, or email Urs Buehlmann, conference chair, at ischp2011@gmail.com.

Wellborn Cabinet Inc. is partnering with HGTV for the 16th HGTV Dream Home 2012.
This marks the fifth year Wellborn will be providing cabinetry and wood products throughout the home. Wellborn designer Karen Stanley will work alongside designer Linda Woodrum and house planner Jack Thomasson to provide the cabinetry.
The 2012 Dream Home is located at River Meadows Ranch near Park City, Utah. Once completed, the nearly 4,000-square-foot home will contain four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, a game room, an outdoor living room, a master suite, a laundry room and kitchen. 

Federal agents raided the Gibson Guitar Corp. in Nashville, Tenn., on the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 24, according to a report by Nashville’s ABC News 2.
Authorities have not yet released details on why the facility was raided, though the report says the raid is believed to be related to a raid at the same facility in 2009 due to a violation of the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act is a federal environmental law that was amended in 2009 to prohibit importing endangered wood products. 
Agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service remained at the Nashville facility throughout the afternoon on Aug. 24. The Gibson Guitar facility in Memphis, Tenn., was also raided by federal authorities Wednesday morning.