Louisiana-Pacific Corporation NYSE: LPX, commonly known as "LP", is a United States building materials manufacturer. It was founded in 1973 and is currently based in Nashville, Tennessee. Key products are oriented strand board, molding and other trimming materials, and wood siding, and other engineered wood products.
As of 2005, LP has 29 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada, and one near Malalhue in Chile.
As we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, news from across North America about investment in new wood processing plants is pretty scarce. Too often the news has been about cutbacks, lay-offs and mills closing permanently.
So it’s really encouraging news when a company invests millions of dollars in a new plant that incorporates cutting-edge technologies to produce an emerging wood product that promises to create innovative design capabilities and provide economic advantages in the home construction industry.
Louisiana-Pacific decided several years ago to invest more than $140 million into its New Limerick mill near Houlton, Maine, to allow it to expand into the production of Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL). The company carried through with the project despite the economic downturn. Louisiana-Pacific is betting that when the industry recovers, the mill will be able to produce around eight million cubic feet of L-P SolidStart LSL product and supply it through its distribution system across North America.
L-P promotes SolidStart LSL for a wide variety of residential construction applications including headers and beams, wall studs, roof beams and rafters, columns, rim boards and stair stringers -pretty much anywhere traditional lumber is used.
The product’s big selling point is that because of its enhanced strength and consistency, fewer pieces of SolidStart LSL are required compared to conventional lumber. The enhanced strength lets LSL span greater distances, and carry more load. SolidStart LSL design properties also present a whole new set of opportunities for innovative engineered designs and balloon framing.
The 735 M-HD unloads the truck coming into the operation.
L-P also promotes SolidStart LSL’s conservation qualities, pointing out that trees that are generally not fit for sawn lumber can now be used to manufacture a high quality construction product.
In addition, the high consistency of the product means no culling at the job site. An added value for builders is labour savings, since time will not be directed to laminating sawn lumber to build carrying beams and headers.
New Limerick is the first Louisiana-Pacific mill to produce strand lumber, and one of only a handful of mills in North America that produce LSL.
Marc Pinette explained that as the operation’s procurement forester, he is usually on the road meeting contractors and securing deliveries of aspen and other hardwoods to the Louisiana-Pacific OSB mill at New Limerick. However, with the new mill start-up and production testing, he has been spending a lot more time at the mill.
“We started construction in late-2006, and we made our first LSL board in March 2008. Like every mill start-up, there have been a few minor glitches to smooth out, but basically the mill is performing up to our expectations,” said Pinette.
LSL is a structural engineered wood product based on wood strand technology and was developed in the 1980s. The process utilizes debarked low-grade trees such as aspen, which are flaked into strands. The flakes are dried, coated with resin and then oriented parallel in a thick mat. With the aid of injected steam, mats are pressed into large billets. The billets can then be sawn into conventional lumber dimensions.
Pinette explained that development of the LSL operation actually began in 2004, when L-P shipped several containers of aspen and hardwoods to Dieffenbacher labs in Germany. Dieffenbacher is an international company that designs and manufactures complete production systems for the wood panel industry. Dieffenbacher created a lab model LSL plant and tested different combinations of species, as well as formulating the specific recipe for an adhesive and other technical details for L-P’s operation.
The recipe for wood fibre in the L-P operation is a specific mix, 75 per cent aspen or poplar, and 25 per cent eastern hardwoods, in particular birch and maple. Pinette explained that the fibre properties provide a strong-and relatively light - finished product. To get the recipe right consistently, Louisiana-Pacific sorts the wood for the operation’s special mix in the mill yard, using a SENNEBOGEN 735 M-HD material handler.
“A higher proportion of dense hardwoods would result in a very heavy product that would be difficult to manhandle in conventional construction,” he explained. “Our LSL product also has excellent nail penetration and holding properties. If the product had a higher ratio of dense hardwoods, there would quite possibly be issues around nails being able to penetrate the product.”
The SENNEBOGEN 735 M-HD is a compact rubber-tired 36.5 ton (73,000 lbs.) machine purpose-built for pick & carry operations. The unit on-site with Louisiana-Pacific is equipped with a pulpwood log grapple. Compared to more familiar crawler-mounted log loaders, the speed and agility of the 735 M-HD are ideally suited to this sorting application. Its chassis, boom mount, counterbalance and hydraulics are configured to allow the machine to travel with the load, swing its boom and operate the grapple all at the same time. It can even lift its maximum load through 360o of rotation without requiring outriggers to brace its wheeled platform. With its unique rear mounting of the boom, the 735 M HD provides a very smooth, stable ride as it traverses the yard, with no side-view obstructions to the operator’s line of sight, allowing safer operation at comparatively high speeds. Like all SENNEBOGEN material handlers, the 735 M HD was engineered from its inception to last in rough work environments, featuring an extra strong structure and robust hydraulic components.
Once the magistrate judge dismissed the federal sexual harassment charge, Chambless was required to establish some other underlying tort in order to prevail in her state law claims for negligent training, supervision, and retention. See Univ. Fed. Credit Union v. Grayson, 878 So.2d 280, 291 (Ala.2003) (noting “that a party alleging negligent supervision and hiring must prove the underlying wrongful conduct”). Chambless argues that certain discriminatory acts that she alleged constituted assault and battery and invasion of privacy. The statute of limitations for those torts is two years. Ala.Code § 6-2-38(l ),
(1975). The alleged acts that Chambless argues constituted assault and battery and invasion of privacy occurred more than two years prior to the date she filed her complaint, rendering them untimely. Chambless thus failed to prove an underlying state or federal tort. The magistrate judge properly dismissed the state law claims.
Employee Benefits.
(a) Each Plan is in compliance in all material respects with the applicable provisions of ERISA, the Code and other Federal or State law. Each Plan which is intended to qualify under Section 401(a) of the Code has received a favorable determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service and to the best of any U.S. Loan Party’s knowledge, nothing has occurred which would cause the loss of such qualification. Each U.S. Borrower and its ERISA Affiliates have made all required contributions to any Plan subject to Section 412 of the Code, and no application for a funding waiver or an extension of any amortization period pursuant to Section 412 of the Code has been made with respect to any Plan.
(b) There are no pending, or to the best of any U.S. Loan Party’s knowledge, threatened claims, actions or lawsuits, or action by any Governmental Authority, with respect to any Plan. There has been no prohibited transaction or violation of the fiduciary responsibility rules with respect to any Plan.
(c) Except as could not be reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, (i) no ERISA Event has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur; (ii) except as set forth in Schedule 8.9, based on the latest valuation of each Pension Plan and on the actuarial methods and assumptions employed for such valuation (determined in accordance with the assumptions used for funding such Pension Plan pursuant to Section 412 of the Code), the aggregate current value of accumulated benefit liabilities of such Pension Plan under Section 4001(a)(16) of ERISA does not exceed the aggregate current value of the assets of such Pension Plan; (iii) each U.S. Loan Party, and their ERISA Affiliates, have not incurred and do not reasonably expect to incur, any liability under Title IV of ERISA with respect to any Plan (other than premiums due and not delinquent under Section 4007 of ERISA); (iv) each U.S. Loan Party, and their ERISA Affiliates, have not incurred and do not reasonably expect to incur, any liability (and no event has occurred which, with the giving of notice under Section 4219 of ERISA, would result in such liability) under Section 4201 or 4243 of ERISA with respect to a Multiemployer Plan; and (v) each U.S. Loan Party, and their ERISA Affiliates, have not engaged in a transaction that would be subject to Section 4069 or 4212(c) of ERISA.
(d) Each Canadian Pension Plan and each Canadian Benefit Plan is in compliance with its applicable terms, any funding agreements and all applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations (including any funding, investment and administration obligations), except where the failure to comply with such applicable terms, funding agreements or applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. The Canadian Pension Plans that require registration are duly registered under the Income Tax Act (Canada) and any other applicable laws. Except as could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, all employer and employee payments, contributions or premiums to be remitted, paid to or in respect of each Canadian Pension Plan or Canadian Benefit Plan or Canadian Union Plan have been paid in a timely fashion in accordance with the terms thereof, any funding agreement and all applicable laws. As of the date hereof, there are no outstanding disputes concerning the Canadian Pension Plans, the Canadian Benefit Plans or the Canadian Union Plans or the assets thereof that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(e) Except as would not individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to give rise to a Material Adverse Effect, each Loan Party and each of its Subsidiaries, to the extent applicable, has remitted all Canada Pension Plan contributions, provincial pension plan contributions, workers compensation assessments, employment insurance premiums, and employer health taxes (the “Statutory Lien Payments”) to the proper Governmental Authority within the time required under the applicable law. Except as would not individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to give rise to a Material Adverse Effect, each Loan Party and each of its Subsidiaries, to the extent applicable, has discharged all obligations (including interest and penalties, but other than current obligations for which the time for remittance has not expired) in respect of the Statutory Lien Payments which, if unpaid, might become a Lien on any of its respective assets.
As of 2005, LP has 29 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada, and one near Malalhue in Chile.
As we approach the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, news from across North America about investment in new wood processing plants is pretty scarce. Too often the news has been about cutbacks, lay-offs and mills closing permanently.
So it’s really encouraging news when a company invests millions of dollars in a new plant that incorporates cutting-edge technologies to produce an emerging wood product that promises to create innovative design capabilities and provide economic advantages in the home construction industry.
Louisiana-Pacific decided several years ago to invest more than $140 million into its New Limerick mill near Houlton, Maine, to allow it to expand into the production of Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL). The company carried through with the project despite the economic downturn. Louisiana-Pacific is betting that when the industry recovers, the mill will be able to produce around eight million cubic feet of L-P SolidStart LSL product and supply it through its distribution system across North America.
L-P promotes SolidStart LSL for a wide variety of residential construction applications including headers and beams, wall studs, roof beams and rafters, columns, rim boards and stair stringers -pretty much anywhere traditional lumber is used.
The product’s big selling point is that because of its enhanced strength and consistency, fewer pieces of SolidStart LSL are required compared to conventional lumber. The enhanced strength lets LSL span greater distances, and carry more load. SolidStart LSL design properties also present a whole new set of opportunities for innovative engineered designs and balloon framing.
The 735 M-HD unloads the truck coming into the operation.
L-P also promotes SolidStart LSL’s conservation qualities, pointing out that trees that are generally not fit for sawn lumber can now be used to manufacture a high quality construction product.
In addition, the high consistency of the product means no culling at the job site. An added value for builders is labour savings, since time will not be directed to laminating sawn lumber to build carrying beams and headers.
New Limerick is the first Louisiana-Pacific mill to produce strand lumber, and one of only a handful of mills in North America that produce LSL.
Marc Pinette explained that as the operation’s procurement forester, he is usually on the road meeting contractors and securing deliveries of aspen and other hardwoods to the Louisiana-Pacific OSB mill at New Limerick. However, with the new mill start-up and production testing, he has been spending a lot more time at the mill.
“We started construction in late-2006, and we made our first LSL board in March 2008. Like every mill start-up, there have been a few minor glitches to smooth out, but basically the mill is performing up to our expectations,” said Pinette.
LSL is a structural engineered wood product based on wood strand technology and was developed in the 1980s. The process utilizes debarked low-grade trees such as aspen, which are flaked into strands. The flakes are dried, coated with resin and then oriented parallel in a thick mat. With the aid of injected steam, mats are pressed into large billets. The billets can then be sawn into conventional lumber dimensions.
Pinette explained that development of the LSL operation actually began in 2004, when L-P shipped several containers of aspen and hardwoods to Dieffenbacher labs in Germany. Dieffenbacher is an international company that designs and manufactures complete production systems for the wood panel industry. Dieffenbacher created a lab model LSL plant and tested different combinations of species, as well as formulating the specific recipe for an adhesive and other technical details for L-P’s operation.
The recipe for wood fibre in the L-P operation is a specific mix, 75 per cent aspen or poplar, and 25 per cent eastern hardwoods, in particular birch and maple. Pinette explained that the fibre properties provide a strong-and relatively light - finished product. To get the recipe right consistently, Louisiana-Pacific sorts the wood for the operation’s special mix in the mill yard, using a SENNEBOGEN 735 M-HD material handler.
“A higher proportion of dense hardwoods would result in a very heavy product that would be difficult to manhandle in conventional construction,” he explained. “Our LSL product also has excellent nail penetration and holding properties. If the product had a higher ratio of dense hardwoods, there would quite possibly be issues around nails being able to penetrate the product.”
The SENNEBOGEN 735 M-HD is a compact rubber-tired 36.5 ton (73,000 lbs.) machine purpose-built for pick & carry operations. The unit on-site with Louisiana-Pacific is equipped with a pulpwood log grapple. Compared to more familiar crawler-mounted log loaders, the speed and agility of the 735 M-HD are ideally suited to this sorting application. Its chassis, boom mount, counterbalance and hydraulics are configured to allow the machine to travel with the load, swing its boom and operate the grapple all at the same time. It can even lift its maximum load through 360o of rotation without requiring outriggers to brace its wheeled platform. With its unique rear mounting of the boom, the 735 M HD provides a very smooth, stable ride as it traverses the yard, with no side-view obstructions to the operator’s line of sight, allowing safer operation at comparatively high speeds. Like all SENNEBOGEN material handlers, the 735 M HD was engineered from its inception to last in rough work environments, featuring an extra strong structure and robust hydraulic components.
Once the magistrate judge dismissed the federal sexual harassment charge, Chambless was required to establish some other underlying tort in order to prevail in her state law claims for negligent training, supervision, and retention. See Univ. Fed. Credit Union v. Grayson, 878 So.2d 280, 291 (Ala.2003) (noting “that a party alleging negligent supervision and hiring must prove the underlying wrongful conduct”). Chambless argues that certain discriminatory acts that she alleged constituted assault and battery and invasion of privacy. The statute of limitations for those torts is two years. Ala.Code § 6-2-38(l ),
(1975). The alleged acts that Chambless argues constituted assault and battery and invasion of privacy occurred more than two years prior to the date she filed her complaint, rendering them untimely. Chambless thus failed to prove an underlying state or federal tort. The magistrate judge properly dismissed the state law claims.Employee Benefits.
(a) Each Plan is in compliance in all material respects with the applicable provisions of ERISA, the Code and other Federal or State law. Each Plan which is intended to qualify under Section 401(a) of the Code has received a favorable determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service and to the best of any U.S. Loan Party’s knowledge, nothing has occurred which would cause the loss of such qualification. Each U.S. Borrower and its ERISA Affiliates have made all required contributions to any Plan subject to Section 412 of the Code, and no application for a funding waiver or an extension of any amortization period pursuant to Section 412 of the Code has been made with respect to any Plan.
(b) There are no pending, or to the best of any U.S. Loan Party’s knowledge, threatened claims, actions or lawsuits, or action by any Governmental Authority, with respect to any Plan. There has been no prohibited transaction or violation of the fiduciary responsibility rules with respect to any Plan.
(c) Except as could not be reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, (i) no ERISA Event has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur; (ii) except as set forth in Schedule 8.9, based on the latest valuation of each Pension Plan and on the actuarial methods and assumptions employed for such valuation (determined in accordance with the assumptions used for funding such Pension Plan pursuant to Section 412 of the Code), the aggregate current value of accumulated benefit liabilities of such Pension Plan under Section 4001(a)(16) of ERISA does not exceed the aggregate current value of the assets of such Pension Plan; (iii) each U.S. Loan Party, and their ERISA Affiliates, have not incurred and do not reasonably expect to incur, any liability under Title IV of ERISA with respect to any Plan (other than premiums due and not delinquent under Section 4007 of ERISA); (iv) each U.S. Loan Party, and their ERISA Affiliates, have not incurred and do not reasonably expect to incur, any liability (and no event has occurred which, with the giving of notice under Section 4219 of ERISA, would result in such liability) under Section 4201 or 4243 of ERISA with respect to a Multiemployer Plan; and (v) each U.S. Loan Party, and their ERISA Affiliates, have not engaged in a transaction that would be subject to Section 4069 or 4212(c) of ERISA.
(d) Each Canadian Pension Plan and each Canadian Benefit Plan is in compliance with its applicable terms, any funding agreements and all applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations (including any funding, investment and administration obligations), except where the failure to comply with such applicable terms, funding agreements or applicable statutes, orders, rules and regulations would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. The Canadian Pension Plans that require registration are duly registered under the Income Tax Act (Canada) and any other applicable laws. Except as could not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, all employer and employee payments, contributions or premiums to be remitted, paid to or in respect of each Canadian Pension Plan or Canadian Benefit Plan or Canadian Union Plan have been paid in a timely fashion in accordance with the terms thereof, any funding agreement and all applicable laws. As of the date hereof, there are no outstanding disputes concerning the Canadian Pension Plans, the Canadian Benefit Plans or the Canadian Union Plans or the assets thereof that could reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
(e) Except as would not individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to give rise to a Material Adverse Effect, each Loan Party and each of its Subsidiaries, to the extent applicable, has remitted all Canada Pension Plan contributions, provincial pension plan contributions, workers compensation assessments, employment insurance premiums, and employer health taxes (the “Statutory Lien Payments”) to the proper Governmental Authority within the time required under the applicable law. Except as would not individually or in the aggregate, reasonably be expected to give rise to a Material Adverse Effect, each Loan Party and each of its Subsidiaries, to the extent applicable, has discharged all obligations (including interest and penalties, but other than current obligations for which the time for remittance has not expired) in respect of the Statutory Lien Payments which, if unpaid, might become a Lien on any of its respective assets.