Business Ideas & Best Practices

Kim and Christian Zibulla family from the small town of Berkum in Germany run a global engineering company. The fascination with the old half-timbered architecture led them to the situation that several years ago they purchased at auction a dilapidated building listed as an architectural monument.

Many Wood-Mizer owners do unique interior projects from wood. Eric Means is one of DIY people. When a 90 cm diameter black walnut tree was cut down by the electric company, Eric Means realized the potential value and was determined to salvage the wood. “I milled it with my Wood-Mizer hydraulic LT40 and ended up with beautiful slabs,” said Eric.

Miroslav’s company is an excellent example of how a sawmill can grow steadily, investing as needed and growing production capacity without incurring too much risk all at once. Even though the company had six sawmills in operation, Miroslav eventually found that he still needed to increase productivity. So he decided to step up to a Wood-Mizer WM4000 sawmill.

Thomas Orderud, owner and operator of DesignIce, started harvesting ice from a local lake in Southeastern Norway about 15 years ago. Today Thomas can supply “everything from ice cubes to ice hotels” from his frosty 400 square meter workshop. Even in the winter he keeps the temperature at a steady -5 degrees Celcius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) so his 500-600 ton stock of ice blocks stay frozen solid.

Just outside of Edinburgh, Scotland, Sandy Crook has retired from his full time tree surgeon business to spend more time with what he really enjoys, seeing timber turned into final products. With his full complement of Wood-Mizer sawmills and new MP360 planer/moulder, he can do everything in-house.

Brampton Woodworks is an English carpentry workshop that specializes in building wooden footbridges and footpath signs. Recently, the number of orders from local authorities was increasing and they needed to purchase a new sawmill which would increase capacity and boost productivity. After thorough research they settled on the new Wood-Mizer LX450. “We found that the LX450 offered us larger capacity, we can put larger saw logs on,” says Robert Jeffrey, owner of Brampton Woodworks.

The Rocks company from the Netherlands provides extravagant ice sculptures, ice blocks, catering, and more for prestigious events, clubs, restaurants, and hotels.

In Dunfermline, a little village north of Edinburgh, Scottish Wood has grown substantially over the past 20 years. They are a social enterprise - a charity which owns a sawmill and supplies local builders with locally grown timber. “We are primarily a hardwood sawmill. We cut homegrown, Scottish grown hardwoods and also some larch and Douglas fir,” Jim Birley from Scottish Wood says.

A self-proclaimed homesteader, Nathan Brown was tired of powder-post beetles destroying the lumber he laid out to air dry, so he decided to build a solar kiln.

Specialising in the manufacture and distribution of fence posts, panels, pallets, battens and trellis throughout the UK, the team has developed a reputation for quality first and foremost, but also flexibility which Brian says sets them apart from other large mills. The latest addition to the team – a Wood-Mizer WB2000 wide band mill – is helping the company shelter itself from the volatility of the timber market while upping production at the same time.