MUSCATINE, Iowa – What once took a single worker a full day and a half to complete, Pearl City Wood Products’ new production lines can now finish in about 30 minutes. Pearl City Wood Products has recently expanded its finishing operations and production capacity to combat supply chain challenges for finished goods manufacturers. “Since 2020 […]
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MUSCATINE, Iowa – What once took a single worker a full day and a half to complete, Pearl City Wood Products’ new production lines can now finish in about 30 minutes.
Pearl City Wood Products has recently expanded its finishing operations and production capacity to combat supply chain challenges for finished goods manufacturers.
“Since 2020 with this whole world-wide COVID pandemic, everybody has realized how fragile their supply chain became. In our business … the wood business, we still haven’t recovered,” said Jeff Sorensen, Pearl City’s owner.
“It’s a mess – we’re frequently getting calls from people that had outsourced a lot of their raw manufacturing overseas and now are looking for manufacturers in the U.S.,” he said.
Mr. Sorensen told the QCBJ he sees this as a great opportunity for small businesses like his to grow. He says the key is being able to invest in the technology and get the equipment on board to meet the needs of those larger manufacturers.
According to Mr. Sorensen, the company’s core business is in the semi-custom kitchen cabinet industry. Pearl City supplies many of the major brands but because of its previous limited capacity, it had struggled with meeting lead times for its customers.
To address the supply chain issues, the manufacturer invested in new equipment to meet the needs of its existing and new customers. In fact, it secured orders for desktops from a new South Dakota manufacturing customer that had been using off-shore suppliers.
Manufacturers like this one, with customers in the United States, he said, would purchase wood in the U.S.; have it milled and dried in the U.S.; then ship it overseas (in this case Vietnam) where it would be manufactured into desktops and finished using the same type equipment Pearl City now has on site; and then have it shipped back for sale in the U.S. market.
“How does that even make sense?” Mr. Sorensen asked, adding “Where are the issues and why can’t domestic producers be competitive in that environment?”
With its new finishing lines in place and operational, Pearl City Wood Products now is ready to start filling its first orders for that customer who previously outsourced to overseas manufacturers. Mr. Sorensen told the QCBJ that prior to his company’s expansion, the volume needed by this customer would have buried his operation. His company would not have been able to keep up, but with the expanded capacity he envisions it will be no problem.
Expanding capacity at Pearl City is built on three major components: an automated finish sanding line; a finish coating spray line and infrared curing dryer; and a new building for raw material storage. The new production equipment and building represent a capital investment of $1.4 million by the company.
For several years, Mr. Sorensen said he knew he needed to do the finishing line expansion, but was unable to find existing facilities to accommodate his needs. Instead, with land on his current site he decided to grow where he was already planted.
The new 5,000-square-foot warehouse brings the company’s total footprint to about 20,00 square feet. The business is located at 1103 Musser St. Most importantly, the new warehouse allowed the company to free up floor space for the new equipment and finishing lines.
The company functioned as its own general contractor for the new building’s construction. Wolfe Construction, of Muscatine, erected the steel building. Tom Hammond, of Pearl City Maintenance, served as electrician on the building project as well as wired the new equipment.
Mr. Sorensen told the QCBJ these new systems give his company the capacity to compete on a much bigger scale.
“There’s so much business we could get if we had the ability to turn it faster. We have the market, and now we have the capacity,” he said. “This will help us with our core business as well. It should be a win-win for us.”
With expanded capacity and new opportunities for business, Pearl City likely will need to add additional workers in the future to its 15-person staff.
Like most employers, Mr. Sorensen said his company also struggled with labor issues last summer. He said small businesses can be very flexible employers offering good hours, pay and creative work challenges. He also recalled how workforce issues were crippling in 2010, but he believes he now has his best group of employees since 2008.
“We’re looking to hire athletes … the most valuable people can learn to do just about anything in the shop,” said Mr. Sorensen. “An organization like ours needs a spectrum of talent and there’s a resurgence for good skilled workers. That’s always a good oppo
