32 | from page 30 Rosvall Sawmill has invested inthe latest technology. Northland Forestry Awards: Rosvall Sawmill FORESTRY A real niche player Mark says a 160-kilometre radius around the mill, encompassing forests from Northland’s west coast, Pouto Peninsula, Dargaville, right up to the south of Kaitaia, and then all the way down to Woodhill on the south head of Auckland, reflects the mill’s diverse catchment area. “Our main suppliers are all the big forestry companies including Manulife, NZ Forestry, China Forestry Group of New Zealand, Northland Forest Managers in Kerikeri, Summit Forests, Cochrane & Son Logging, and PF Olsen. That’s half our magic really. We have a lot of diverse forest owners, some of the best wood in the country and we have very good relationships with all the forest owners and managers. We can chop and change our log lengths and grades at the drop of a hat. They are there for us, as we are there for them. Building and maintaining relationships with our suppliers is a huge part of this business and that has been developed over the last 20 years. We know our suppliers and customers intrinsically and personally. We pick up the phone and talk with them every week. At the end of the day, we are in the people business.” Well known as a niche sawmill in the Northland region, Rosvall Sawmill buys both pruned and unpruned logs and the ratio can change drastically, depending on markets. “We can change the sawmill accordingly to target those markets. It is a huge strength to get the forest you want, the wood you want, and the length you want and when you want it. We are the biggest pruned wood sawmill in Northland by quite a long way. “We have very good high-density wood up here which creates good structural wood and we still have pruned wood that we use for our export market. As we get close to 2030, that pruned wood will run down, so we’re using Reflecting on the success of Rosvall sawmill, Mark says it’s the people, the technology and plant that make the sawmill what it is. “We can move quick, change quick and target quick. That is why we are in so many markets all around the world doing so many products. We’ve invested a couple of million dollars over the last couple of years. Over Christmas we upgraded to a six-foot L&B Kockums high-strain headrig at the sawmill. We’re constantly upgrading our plant to be flexible, efficient, low cost with a high recovery rate.” But Mark says, regardless of the technology, it is the people who make things happen. “I grew up on my dad’s sawmill site and he taught me a lot of things. One of them was that we actually want the workers not to hate putting their boots on in the morning. We don’t mind working them hard, but we want them to want to come to work. “We do a lot to create long term careers and good work environments. Our underlining belief is that people shouldn’t hate to come to work, and so we put a lot of work into that space. I think that our culture has been huge in our success. It’s very strong here. We were one of the few sawmills that didn’t have staff shortages through the covid crisis.” Mark says Rosvall’s culture is all about managing people and the work environment. It is about caring for people and being there when people are in crisis, giving them extra time off when their wives have a baby, or still being there for them if they get in trouble with the court. If there is bullying in the workforce it’s about getting to the bottom of it quickly and dealing with the issues quickly. “It’s about promoting internally. We very seldom hire outside of the company. And it is about acknowledging success and rewarding. We have bonus systems running here — have done for 20 years. That all helps with sharing the gain and the culture of the company. We have huge numbers of very long serving people.” the high-density structural wood to build up a bigger market to service the local merchants, which has been great through this last building boom period.” Sixty percent of Rosvall’s workload is pruned log, with appearance grade products supplying North Island merchants, and exported to the USA, most states of Australia, Noumea, and some clearwood goes to European processors. The mill’s high-quality structural grade timber is a Northland story from Auckland to Kaitaia, with a lot sold within 60 kilometres of Whangarei, including Whangarei itself. The low-grade core of the log mostly goes to pallet and box plants in Auckland. “Becoming a niche sawmill really started 20 years ago when we started cutting pruned logs,” says Mark. “It was also about targeting local merchants. Three years ago, when Carter Holt ran out of wood, the Northland independent merchants also ran out of wood and many of them came to us asking for our help. So we serviced them as best we could with structural timber and we want to do even more — we want to be more a total solutions provider. Because we do both appearance and structural grade timber, we can offer a wider range than even the bigger companies can provide.” Mark says Waipapa Pines sale to Fletcher Building will present Rosvall with a wonderful opportunity, as it plays perfectly into being an independently owned sawmill supplying a broad range of products to independently owned Northland merchants, which are generally ITM stores, with some Mitre 10 and Bunnings. “That provides us with a geographic niche. We’re now even more focused on what those store’s need and we want to be the main sawmill that looks after those independent merchants.” Culham Engineering is proud of their long association with Mark and his team and continue to support Rosvalls for all their construction and maintenance needs. Fabrication, Construction, Industrial Coatings, Marine, Industrial Maintenance, Crane and Heavy Haulage. www.culham.co.nz
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