MEETING THE DEMAND SOUTHEASTERN NATURAL ENERGIES CONTINUALLY MEETS THE DEMANDS OF ITS FIREWOOD CUSTOMERS

THE MULTITEK FIREWOOD PROCESSOR IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ALL OF THE WOOD NEEDED AT SOUTHEASTERN NATURAL ENERGIES

November 1988 – Forest Products Equipment
By: Allen Smith

“You’ll find a lot of people who will get into this business then get out,” began Wayne Seabolt, owner of Southeastern Natural Energies, Inc., in Carrollton. “I think that probably the number one contributing factor to this is that it is very labor intensive. I don’t care how mechanized you get, you will never, ever get the labor intensity out of firewood.”

Seabolt further explained that in his operation, handling is an important factor of his business success. His crew of up to 30 employees, mostly seasonal, produces bundled firewood for the retail market all over the United States.

Southeastern Natural Energies (SENE) traces its conception back to 1984 when Seabolt began splitting hardwood that his brother, a logger in Marietta, would leave in the woods. At that time, most paper companies were concentrating on pine, poplar and gum. This left valuable hardwood pulpwood in the woods as “waste” material. This split wood was delivered to the Firewood Company in downtown Atlanta which produced bundled firewood for retail accounts in the metro-Atlanta area.

Demand for the wood was so great that SENE began investigating methods of meeting its customer’s needs and expectations. After looking at various equipment on the market, Seabolt investigated the firewood market to see if the demand would justify the equipment expenditure.
During 1985 and ’86, SENE was supplying split wood not only to the Firewood Company, but also to several other dealers in the area. Toward the end of ’86, SENE bought out the Firewood Company. Now it was capable of taking timber and producing the finished bundlewood. By 1988, the complete cycle was firmly implemented and stores all over Atlanta were being supplied. With a background in marketing, Seabolt was able to greatly expand his markets.

SENE, after looking at eight or nine firewood processors, decided on a Multitek machine. The basis of this decision was a thorough cost analysis and production control study of the various machines. Seabolt reported that Multitek “by far had the most economical machine.” He also stated that even though a machine might be on the market that can produce more wood per hours per day, the economics of the Multitek machine were not out-weighed.

One of the many perplexing aspects concerning the casualties of the firewood business is the lack of dedication. Seabolt explained that some people invest in the processors but don’t go out and meet the market demands for one reason or another.

“It really baffles me that people would invest in these machines and they really don’t check to see how much is involved in the techniques of manufacturing the actual product,” Seabolt expressed.

As an example, Seabolt tells of one company that came to SENE about producing a certain wood product. Based on projections from this company, Seabolt marketed the product. But, the company had over-projected its production rate and could not produce the volume that was required.

“If someone is going to go into this business, I would really encourage them to look at every angle of it,” Seabolt cautioned.

With concerning factors including the availability of logs, market niche, market demands and production systems, “there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye.”

Southeastern Natural Energies’ bundled firewood can be found at grocery stores, convenience stores, discount retailers and the like. Its bundles are one cubic foot in size and contain a minimum number of pieces. The bundles are wrapped in plastic and also have a handle attached to ease the carrying of the wood by the customer.

When the Firewood Company was bought out, SENE drew from the existing wrapping machines and others on the market and came up with its own design. A local machine shop was employed to build the equipment. The wrapping film of choice is stretch film. This film is preferred over shrink-wrap film because of its elasticity. Shrink-wrap tends to not hold up as well as the stretch variety. This is extremely important in the handling of bundles.

The handles on the bundles have recently been changed from plastic to cloth mesh. The change was spurred by the phone call of a woman who was trying to remove the plastic handles before burning for fear of toxic residue. After investigating the toxicity of the handles, the switch was made. Also, the cloth handles are much stronger than the plastic ones.

Production by SENE is estimated to be an average of nine or ten cords of wood per day, although production has reached 15-18 cords per day with ideal logs. SENE primarily uses smaller logs and includes smaller sizes in its bundles. It also does a lot of culling of its wood so that quality is consistent. With the smaller logs and the re-splitting, production is not as quick as it could be. The Multitek machine takes tree-size timbers and cuts each piece to length, splits the wood on its six-way splitting head and then loads the split wood into a truck.

“The surprising thing to me about this machine is its durability,” Seabolt said. “If you look at what these machines do, they are subjected to a lot of abuse.”

Acquiring its logs from virtually anyone who has some to sell, SENE tries to build up an inventory of 10,000-20,000 bundles before shipping. The demand for its bundled firewood usually begins during the last week of September and the first week of October. This year, however, the demand started in early September.

Although a high income is possible in the firewood processing business, the mechanics of the business can be tricky. One tricky nature is that probably six months are spent preparing the bundles for the market. An enormous inventory is built up and sales projections are not really possible because it is mostly weather dependent.

If you process the wood, get it in the warehouse and weather conditions don’t arise to support your inventory…you’ve got a problem. However, if you under-project your sales and don’t build a big inventory, you could be in a similar problem if a hard winter moves in. Product availability is a key factor in the business of firewood production. As a result, a lot of people have fallen by the wayside.

With so much turnover in the firewood processing business, Wayne Seabolt has found he is able to meet his market demands and stay ahead of his competition. The primary reason for his success is the marketing strategies that he employs. If you know your market then you know your capability of supplying the market.

Allen Smith

Wayne Seabolt is concerned about the “enormous” volume of waste that SENE produces. He expresses his frustration with the “energy-conscious mentality” of the country. He points out that there are so many alternative energy sources available and very few are ever used.

Although the general public talks of an energy consciousness, it is hardly ever seen. Back in the early 1980’s, Joe Public had an energy-conscious mentality when he was standing in line to get gas for his car and heating oil for his home. The government spent quite a few dollars developing alternative energy sources. When the oil nations lowered the price of oil, the alternatives seemed to wither.

Seabolt, as an example of the energy “unconsciousness,” pointed to the waste in the timber industry. Loggers leave piles of limbs, tops, small trees, leaves and pine straw in the woods. This is a source of potential energy.

“It is a major concern that we (the United States) are so dependent on such an unstable market (the Middle East) for our energy purposes, Seabolt warned.

Allen Smith