| Export success of the plank
Carter Holt Harvey’s LVL business Futurebuild last week received a prestigious American Chamber of Commerce-UPS Business Award recognising the product and market innovation of its z-Plank product.
z-Plank is an LVL scaffold plank product originally designed and manufactured for the United States construction sector.
The Exporter of the Year – Goods Award was presented to Futurebuild Manager – International Markets, Andrew Priest at an Auckland event by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and US Counsel General Siria Lopez.
“It’s an honour to win among such great competition,” said Andrew, “but those of us involved with z-Plank always knew we had a good shot.”
“When Futurebuild entered the US market in 2002 we faced a number of challenges, especially competing with no local business history against the large domestic LVL mills. We needed to be creative with our product, brand, marketing and logistics to overcome these challenges.”
For example, almost all North American LVL is made from Douglas Fir or Southern Yellow Pine – two species that are high in density and are harvested at a relatively late age. By contrast Australasian LVL is manufactured from Radiata Pine – a species that isn’t as stiff.
“Given its application as a scaffold plank, product performance is critical to ensure builder safety on construction sites. So we developed z-Plank – a completely new product – to satisfy the strict US regulatory standards, meet our potential customer’s requirements and still draw on the local fibre,” said Andrew.
The significant award also recognised Futurebuild’s innovative approach to marketing and logistics, especially following the significant appointment of a senior in-market representative in May 2003.
“This role really allowed Futurebuild's to work closer with customers, better understand the market dynamics and tailor our marketing plans,” said Andrew.
“It encouraged brand awareness and drove a direct marketing campaign that targeted scaffold companies and industry channels. We also chose to differentiate z-Plank in a physical way by custom embossing and painting it for selected customers to aid identification and theft protection.”
“As for logistics, our traditional port of entry had always been Portland. But after working with customers, today around forty percent of our product travels direct to the East Coast. In a real win-win, that saves everyone time and overland freight costs.”
Andrew said it was great for Futurebuild to be able to share the z-Plank story and have its product and market innovation recognised by people outside the company. “This is an award that Futurebuild and Carter Holt Harvey can be proud of, but also a boost for the entire forest industry – much of which is reliant on export success.” |
