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Upgrades Immediately Make Positive Impact On Maxwell Hardwood Flooring And Sister Facilities(pg 30)
By Sue Putnam
Photos By VanDee Photography
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| Maxwell Hardwood Flooring, located in Monticello, AR, has been manufacturing unfinished floors and distributing products throughout North America since 1992. |
Monticello, AR– Since 1992, Maxwell Hardwood Flooring, located here, and owned by Tommy Maxwell, has been manufacturing unfinished floors and distributing products throughout North America. Supporting sustainable forestry and the responsible stewardship of natural resources has always been a top priority for the family owned and operated facility.
This commitment to superior service and quality extends to Maxwell’s sister company, Ouachita Hardwood Flooring, located in Warren, AR. During the past six months extensive upgrades to equipment have reaped significant increases in production.
At Ouachita, which is a solid plank flooring mill that runs solid unfinished wood flooring and specialty flooring items, production is up between 10 and 15 percent since the upgrades, according to Wil Maxwell, part owner, who further explained that, “Being able to instantly improve production between 10 and 15 percent is a tremendous payback.” Currently, Ouachita employs 35 people.
To accommodate all the upgrades at Ouachita, Maxwell Hardwood Flooring has also implemented changes and upgrades. Tommy explained, “We had to extend our primary manufacturing operation to make room for our new rip system. We put in a complete Lico ripping system, and we are re-stacking and ripping all the lumber. It was quite an addition. It’s very large and tied right in with our production line. There’s no separation. It runs directly in the production line, other than the lumber we’ve stacked for later production. This increased production 12-15 percent.”
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| Maxwell Hardwood Flooring has implemented changes and upgrades. Its primary manufacturing operation has been extended to accommodate a new rip system. |
Additionally, over the past year at Monticello, Maxwell built two new lumber sheds, insulated the flooring mill and installed an air-blow system to cool the building in summer months. The company also asphalted approximately 50 percent of the facility where forklifts travel, resulting in quicker and cleaner operations. Maxwell also implemented an electrical upgrade to its Hasko side matcher, which turned the system from hydraulic to electrical.
Maxwell hopes to build on those production paybacks at another sister company in Warren, Townsend Flooring Inc. According to Tommy Maxwell, “We have not recently added any new equipment at Townsend, which is our unfinished engineered line. We’re getting ready to make another capital purchase and some improvements there in the next few months. We don’t have those plans fully finalized. But we do plan to upgrade multiple pieces of machinery to increase efficiencies and production capabilities in that plant.” Currently 20 people are employed at the Townsend facility.
Maxwell hasn’t finished all upgrades for the year. At presstime, the company was anticipating the arrival of a new Hasko pre-surfacer to connect with the side-matcher. Wil Maxwell said, “This equipment is basically an upgraded version of a 10-year-old model. So it’s going to be faster and improve quality and efficiencies. Technology in the flooring business has certainly made 50-year strides in the last 10 to 15 years.”
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| Maxwell installed a complete Lico ripping system which helps utilize all lumber that comes into the facility. |
Distribution for all items produced at both the Ouachita and Townsend operations is conducted through Maxwell Hardwood Flooring. This means multiple products of multiple grades and species from all three facilities can be conveniently transported on the same truck delivering to customers. Ouachita products are marketed under Bradley Additions and Townsend products are distributed under Townsend Additions via the Maxwell distribution network.
Maxwell Hardwood Flooring started with 33 employees and one production line when Tommy Maxwell started the business. Today, Maxwell Hardwood Flooring and its sister companies employ close to 200 people and operate three production lines.
All Maxwell Hardwood Flooring products are NOFMA certified. Both the solid and the engineered lines are offered in multiple widths. Species include Red Oak, White Oak, Walnut, Hickory, Maple and American Cherry. Long length and specialty products such as hand scraped are also available.
For more information, visit online www.maxwellhardwoodflooring.com.
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| Ouachita Hardwood Flooring, Maxwell’s sister company in Warren, AR, increased production between 10 and 15 percent after extensive upgrades to equipment. |
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| Employees at the Ouachita mill produce unfinished solid plank flooring and specialty flooring items. |
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| Pictured are the sander, end-matcher and nesting area at Townsend Flooring Inc., a separate Maxwell sister company. |
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| Twenty people are employed at Townsend Flooring Inc. The company is planning to upgrade in the near future to help increase efficiencies and production capabilities. |
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| Pictured is the automatic strapping system at Maxwell Hardwood Flooring. |
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