The secondary and value-added wood product manufacturing sector works best in concert with a healthy primary sawmilling industry. The trouble is that’s not been the case in the British Columbia Interior recently—and as a result the sector is struggling.

Wood fibre availability challenges are a primary cause and are the result of a confluence of issues. The aftermath of B.C.’s mountain pine beetle epidemic and new restrictions imposed by the provincial government and First Nations are squeezing the forest industry’s access to the land base. A slew of additional influences including a persistent and severe labour supply crunch at home, and the diverse effects of economic crises and wars abroad, affect the macro-picture. But the elephant in the room for the timber access conundrum is the warming climate. It has become an increasingly unpredictable phenomenon with its own dangerous agenda.

For one secondary wood product manufacturing company, hard work and persistence is beginning to pay off and there’s now a glimmer of light flickering at the end of the proverbial tunnel. DH Manufacturing Inc. is a family-owned and operated finger jointing and lumber re-manufacturing plant based at Houston in west central B.C.

“Implementing improvements has been a long struggle,” concedes Dustin Hotte, vice-president and part of the company’s ownership team.

Expanding and modernizing the plant and installing an automatic finger jointing machine has long been a work in progress at DH Manufacturing. They do what they can when they can afford it, summarized Hotte.

The District of Houston itself delivers a mini case history of the forest industry’s misfortunes in the region. A reconfiguration project in 2004 boosted production capacity at Canfor’s Houston sawmill to about 600 million board feet of lumber annually. The production capability was among the largest in the world at the time. Twenty years on and Canfor’s presence in Houston has changed. The company shut down its Houston sawmill operation in 2023 and in May 2024 announced it was also scrapping plans for a $200 million replacement mill in Houston.

The management team at DH Manufacturing thoroughly investigated the automated finger jointing system landscape in Canada and abroad, and opted for the Conception RP2000 finger joint machine (above, in DH’s new building) from Quebec City-based Concept Manufacturing. A key consideration in the equipment choice was that Concept Manufacturing were willing to work closely with DH, reports Dustin Hotte, vice-president of the company.

“We have made the difficult decision to suspend our plans to build a new state-of-the-art sawmill in Houston as we are not confident that an investment of this magnitude can be successful at this time,” reported Canfor in a press release.

There’s a close connection between Canfor Houston’s past and DH Manufacturing’s present. Dennis Hotte was mill manager in Canfor’s high production days in Houston. Dennis and Denise Hotte—the original ‘DH’ in the company’s name—opened the business in January, 2007.

Dennis Hotte was not one to get caught in the hype surrounding ‘ the biggest production sawmill in the world.’  When the sawmill was officially opened in 2004, Hotte instead emphasized the premium grade and higher margin lumber the expanded operation would produce.

The same emphasis on improved product grade and quality has been transplanted into DH Manufacturing’s operational credo. Dustin Hotte, Dennis and Denise’s son, explained the parallel with the new finger jointing line at DH Manufacturing. “It’s not the operational speed that makes the difference but the efficiency and minimal defects which create high production and recovery.”

It’s a fitting legacy for Dennis Hotte, who succumbed to cancer about seven years ago.

The combination of circumstances that have dashed Canfor’s dreams for Houston have been repeated throughout the region. “It’s really sad,” declared Hotte. “Many of these small towns had their own local mills. Now they’ve closed down or curtailed production. It’s tough to see.”

It’s one of the key reasons why community groups are calling on the provincial government to reapply the appurtenancy rules that were suspended in B.C. in 2003. In essence, the rules call for harvested timber to be processed close to its point of origin. “It is crucial to re-institute the appurtenancy clause to protect communities like ours and enhance the sustainability of the local economy,” urged Amber Oevering, president of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, in a letter to the provincial government.

The provincial government has assisted DH Manufacturing’s cause with a timely grant designed to assist companies unwittingly caught in the vortex of changes.

“We cannot thank the B.C. Job Manufacturing Fund enough for helping us to complete the expansion of our new building and automated finger jointing line. The new equipment increases productivity, grade and recovery all while greatly reducing the physical demands on our employees,” said Hotte. “Completion of this project will bring stability to the company and our town that has been shaken by the challenging times of the lumber industry.”

The physical demands of the work Hotte alluded to have been a continuing concern to the company. “It’s been really difficult to find employees,” reported Hotte.

Most companies throughout the regional forest industry are well aware of the difficulties attracting and retaining suitable employees. DH Manufacturing’s labour challenges are compounded by the physical nature of much of the work in the plant. Nowadays, hard and repetitive physical work is not on the top of the desirability list for most job applicants. Plus, added Hotte, it’s impossible to compete for the limited pool of potential workers in wages, especially when compared to oil patch related work. The automated new finger jointing line will alleviate some of these issues.

DH Manufacturing launched a satellite operation in 2013 at Drayton Valley, Alberta. “It was built from the ground up and upgraded over time. It started with a simple chop line, followed by a sort line prior to stacking the product and moving it to Houston for processing,” recapped Hotte.

“It led to the installation of a finger jointing capability in 2016. But the market subsequently dropped, forcing closure of the finger joint line in Drayton Valley.” But the operation continues to produce finger joint-ready blocks and chop product blanks which are trucked to Houston for further processing. DH Manufacturing is a significant employer at both its locations with about 30 positions in Drayton Valley and 40 in Houston. The raw material for the Houston plant is sourced from Drayton Valley and West Fraser’s Pacific Inland Resources sawmilling operation in nearby Smithers, B.C.

Hotte and the rest of the management team thoroughly investigated the automated finger jointing system landscape in Canada and abroad. The manual machine being replaced proved a good basic servant but dated back to the 1970s and the finger jointing art has matured comprehensively since then. Others in the business consistently suggested the DH team investigate a company based in Quebec City. The Conception RP2000 finger joint machine staff at Concept Manufacturing were willing to work closely with them, reported Hotte. That was an important consideration.

“We will run the same lug speed as we currently run to start but the RP2000 has the capability to increase another 20 per cent which will be dictated over time and future incoming fibre,” outlined Hotte. “With everything running optimally and having enough incoming fibre, we could do more than 30 million board feet annually.” All the company’s finger joint output is sold and delivered by rail to Texas for use in the construction industry.

DH Manufacturing’s new building is about 7,000 square feet in size with a 60 x 30 foot truck shop. “Everything in the new building is tied to the Concept line with other equipment engineered and built in-house.

“The chop line side of the Houston plant’s business produces strips, dunnage and lathe material principally for markets in B.C. and Alberta.

“The majority of our sales are to sawmills and others in the lumber industry but we also deal with core boxes for mining, strips for agriculture and fences and yard projects locally.” Versatility is essential. “We can produce any custom lengths and thicknesses. We currently make or are set up to make lathe starting at 4 millimetres wide x 1.5 inches high and 33 inches long up to strips 3/4-inch-wide x 3.5-inch-high and 96 inches long. Dunnage from 1 3/4 inches to 3.5 inches wide in lengths from 24 inches to 48 inches is standard, but custom cutting is available, said Hotte. “We are currently looking at making other products such as survey stakes, pallets and rig mats.”

Wood and its uses are limited only by production costs and ingenuity. B.C.’s secondary wood product manufacturers have by necessity become adept at searching new markets out and developing them at the local, regional and international levels.