Automation and modernization at Pembroke MDF Moulding
Pembroke MDF became part of the Roseburg enterprise in 2018 and was the company’s first international operation, a point of pride for a growing company that began in Douglas County, Oregon in 1936.
Pembroke MDF, located in Renfrew County, Ontario has a 195 member team led by plant manager, Alexandre Ouellette who has spearheaded numerous operational improvements and upgrades since starting with the company in 2018.
This facility is unique, producing a wide variety of high quality MDF products as well as manufacturing MDF mouldings onsite. The two-line moulding operation is in the midst of a significant modernization project. An automated packaging line has been installed on line 1 and is resulting in huge improvements in efficiency and employee satisfaction and continues with the installation of line 2 which began this month. When complete, these automations will increase the operation’s total volume capacity by more than 50 percent.
Medite® Profile is the MDF substrate specifically engineered for moulding. “It is light weight, machinable, and paintable – perfect for this application,” shared Michel Painchaud, business manager for Pembroke MDF. He went on to share that the market feedback we are receiving is extremely positive. “The quality of the finished product with Gesso primer is exceptional.”
“The benefit of having moulding production at the same site as MDF production is that we act as our own downstream customer and have the first opportunity to quality test the substrate. We are our own in-house customer and laboratory,” says Kevin MacGillivray, operations manager. “This type of vertical integration pays dividends for all our customers as we can identify and correct issues quickly.”
While investment in operations improve quality and increase production, Kevin, who has been with the company since 2015 explained how much these automations have also improved safety performance and morale among the team. “Shifting from manual work that created risk of repetitive motion injuries, strain, and fatigue to robotic operations that operate in restricted access areas and protect employees is so beneficial to our team.” It’s what Kevin enjoys most about the work he does. “The biggest discussion topic every day for us is safety. It’s a shared commitment for the entire Roseburg team and one of our core values. When we reflect on our purpose, to MAKE LIVES BETTER FROM THE GROUND UP, we believe we’re doing that not only through the products we make, but by improving the lives of our employees in their day to day work.”