Mountain Trails Baskets

Staining Operation for Wood Basket Production

• Objective
• Background
• How ETAC Helped
• Results/Benefits

Objective
To establish a new finishing operation, increase overall productivity and introduce options for using environmentally-friendly coatings.

Background
Mountain Trails Baskets (Mt. Trails), established in 1988, manufactures fine quality heirloom wood baskets in Templeton, Pa. and employs less than 10 people. Its clients include some well-known manufacturers such as L.L. Bean, Williams-Sonoma and Ducks Unlimited. As a result of the rapid expansion of the wholesale business, the company expects a 200% increase in orders during the next two years.

To meet production operations and establish a new manufacturing facility, significant changes were needed in the plant layout, process design, material supply, equipment use and employee retention. The finishing operation used at Mt. Trails presented a bottleneck in the manufacturing process and did not allow the company to efficiently serve and supply its customers.

Mt. Trails previously made baskets by using the best-standing timber, soaking maple wood in hot water, and using hardwood to create a double-woven basket-shell. This process begins once the basket-shell is formed and is completely dried and pulled tight for durability. Once the rimmed basket is dried, the basket is finished with wood strips for reinforcement, handles and needed accoutrements.

For added variety and differentiation between the products, Mt. Trails stains some of the baskets. This process involves dipping the baskets into organic solvent stains followed by two days of drying prior to packaging.

Mt. Trails evaluated options to improve its finishing operation, increase overall manufacturing productivity and determine the feasibility of environmentally-friendly coatings. By seeking assistance from ETAC and the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP), Mt. Trails now reaps the benefits of faster turnaround time and delivery to customers, improving both marketability and its competitive edge.

How ETAC Helped
When Mt. Trails approached ETAC and explained its basket-making process, ETAC assessed the finishing and drying operations and investigated ways to improve them. Following assessment, ETAC conducted experimentation in the laboratory to define coating and drying alternatives. Investigating these alternatives established the feasibility of waterborne stains, an improved application method and the value of using dehumidified air for improved drying.

Upon completing the evaluation, ETAC provided suggestions to Mt. Trails on how to streamline the finishing operation by using a high-efficiency manufacturing design for the waterborne stains and an improved drying cycle. By using waterborne stains, Mt.Trails greatly reduced the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the plant. In addition, the high-efficiency drying dramatically decreased the drying time by using filtered, dehumidified air with a relative humidity at least 30% below ambient air. This allows the water to be quickly removed from the stained basket shell without the use of additional heat. Once the moisture of the wood reaches 6%, the basket is packaged and shipped.

Results/Benefits
By altering the process to include environmentally-friendly coatings and rapid drying, Mt. Trails benefited from reduced environmental impact, improved working conditions and increased production. This effective work-cell process enables Mt. Trails to manufacture more consistent products at a lower operating cost with significant reduction in VOC emissions and improvements in air quality. In summary, the benefits accrued include:

• Reduced VOCs and hazardous waste by converting to environmentally-friendly waterborne stains in the finishing operation and improving the drying cycle.
• Improved working conditions by eliminating the solvent-borne organic stains at the manufacturing facility that tend to emit undesirable odors.
• Reduced likelihood of both fire and health hazards by reducing the solvent use in the facility.
• Improved and increased production by employing rapid drying technology to achieve fast moisture removal.
• Reduced operating costs by a minimum of 10% to 15% due to improved manufacturing and drying processes as well as a reduction in the solvent waste.

For more information on Mt. Trails and the new finishing operation used for manufacturing wood baskets, contact us.

Note: ETAC has received approval from the company above to disclose its name and specific information about its case.