Waipapa Pine – creating a legacy This year Waipapa Pine’s owners have every reason to celebrate their 10th anniversary as they re lect on the journey that has taken them from 22 employees to a team of 77 across two sites, and the goods and service providers who have supported the business throughout its journey. Ten years ago, directors Adrian Broughton, Grant Arnold and Shane Horan saw an opportunity to purchase a small sawmill in Waipapa that was in receivership. Rebranding as Waipapa Pine Ltd, the directors recognised the potential to build a modern sawmill in Northland and support the growing demand from the region’s timber merchants for structural framing and outdoor timber products. Investing in modern sawmilling equipment including the latest scanning suite technology, 3D log scanning, a sophisticated board edger and bin sorter, timber output was lifted by 300%. Today Waipapa Pine specialises in producing high density veri ied radiata pine framing for wholesale timber merchants and frame & truss manufacturers. “Due to the large demand for Northland’s high quality timber we’re continually investing in the sawmill to increase output,” says Shane. “Sales demand for the balance of this year is very strong and our challenge will be securing enough S30 logs to keep the mill humming. Our focus is on marketing the bulk of our timber products from Auckland to Kaitaia, exporting the balance to Korea, Cook Islands and China.” Waipapa Pine’s product range includes SG8 wet or kiln dried framing, treated outdoor products including retainer wall and landscaping pro iles and a host of common lines required to build a house. Throughout its journey, Shane says the company’s success is due to building special relationships with its goods and service providers, ensuring customers put Waipapa Pine at the top of their list as the preferred option for all their timber requirements. One of Waipapa Pine’s suppliers is Summit Forests whose supply of high quality logs from a range of Northland forests ensures Waipapa Pine maximises the recovery of good quality timber to support the thriving New Zealand housing market. “We enjoy the professional approach taken by Summit to ensure our sawmill gets a consistent supply of logs all year round, and acknowledge the hard work their team put into managing forests, the harvest crews, and the many great people who make it happen. Customers also recognise our company for prompt deliveries and this cannot be done without the support of committed transport companies who recognise the value in getting timber to our customers on time, sometimes within challenging time frames.” Investing in sta and technology to ensure the Waipapa Pine brand is built on consistent product quality, Waipapa Pine prides itself as being one of Northland’s leading framing sawmills. Over the next fewmonths the company will be recruiting additional sta to support an increase in the sawmill production. “Types of positions will range from engineering, kiln operators, hoist drivers, green mill and dry mill hands. Ideally experienced sawmill sta would suit these positions but if someone has the right attitude and a desire to be part of a successful team they should contact Carmen Groves by phone on 021 889 566 or online by email at carmeng@wpine.co.nz +64 27 2388 900 | www.wpine.co.nz | PO Box 11024 Whangarei 0148 Utilising Northland Resources to Maximise Returns to Northland
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