Assessing the impacts of global competition on the Appalachian hardwood industry
2007
Buehlmann, U. | Bumgardner, M. | Schuler, A. | Barford, M.
The membership of the Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Inc. was surveyed in 2005 to determine the perceived impacts of globalization on large Appalachian sawmills. While much has been written regarding the impacts of globalization on secondary manufacturing, less is known about primary links in the hardwood supply chain. The results suggested that globalization issues ranked among the most important concerns of sawmill managers. More than 90 percent of respondents indicated that they were working harder to develop relationships with their customers as a result of globalization, and 75 percent indicated that they were now more aggressive in searching for new markets. Respondents indicated that export and flooring markets had picked up some of the volume loss associated with declining domestic furniture manufacturing, but these markets (particularly flooring) were perceived to be vulnerable to imports. Lumber sorting seemed to be an important area for capital investment for responding firms in the coming years. Training priorities that are suggested by these findings include communications and marketing while technology development priorities might include lumber sorting and decision-support tools.
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