Cutler Forestry Products has been in operation for more than 30 years, and is proudly recognized as one of Ontario’s largest wholesalers and fabricators of engineered wood products.

Begun in the 1970’s by Eddie Cutler and Victor Drevnig, the company has grown extensively over the years, expanding into a major wholesaler and fabricator of wood products. The whole operation began when Cutler and Drevnig rented space in an old warehouse. Drevnig would do the day-to-day running of the business, while Cutler would drive door-to-door visiting customers, selling and delivering products from the trunk of his car. President and co-owner of the company, Jonathan Glick, relates the myth, as it were: “He would buy wood-scraps from local large manufacturers, and drive his car to deliver his products to individual customers himself.” After a bit of success and securing a facility, Cutler moved into the distribution of sheet material, became a wholesaler and eventually went into fabrication of products for resale by area retailers.

Competitive Advantage:

Today, with 180,000 square feet of warehousing facilities, a state-of-the-art woodworking shop and its own fleet of delivery trucks, Cutler stands well-equipped to fill its customers’ detailed requirements. It maintains one of the largest wood products facilities in Canada, carrying an average of 20 million square feet of board, available in a wide variety of materials in different sizes and thicknesses. Its extensive inventory allows Cutler to provide rapid order fulfillment for even the largest of orders.

The company provides extensive cut-to-size programs of pre-manufactured components for customers in the store-fixture, display, office furniture, kitchen, closet and home renovation industries. The company also sells its products exclusively back to trade and to retailers, including big names like Home Depot, Home Hardware and Lowes.

For the customer, this provides a direct benefit by reducing inventory and storage requirements, materials handling, and assembly time, Ensuring both quicker turnover and higher profits. On the customer’s end, Cutler essentially eliminating waste and quality control problems, by guaranteeing every piece it produces.

Cutler’s philosophy holds that one of the best ways for its customers achieve higher profits is by investing their time and labour in what they know best, while leaving the mass production cutting of standard components to Cutler (i.e., what it does best).

Cutler is largely distinguished by the fact that it does not sell assembled products, always preferring to do cut-to-size. The company never ships assembled units: meaning that their components are rarely sold fully assembled. Glick adds, “There is a fine line between providing a service to customers and becoming their competitor — that is why we draw the line by only selling components back to the trade, we never install, and we avoid assembly as much as possible.” Likewise, it does not stick to production of any single item, as every order is custom, and employees can be seen making different parts nearly every day.

Technology:

Cutler’s 180,000 square foot facility incorporates a highly sophisticated fabricating facility to service customers’ specialized requirements. This state-of-the-art woodworking shop provides a significant advantage in Cutler’s industry niche, as Glick explains, “few distributors of panel products have the benefit of an in-house fabrication facility.” The CNC driven workshop can cut, edge, route, drill and dowel to custom specifications.

“We’re always looking to automate as much of our process as we can, making it as advanced and efficient as possible,” says Glick. At the same time, he emphasizes, “almost every order is different and every day we are presented with a new challenge.” Cutler’s work continues to demand a high degree of skill and craftsmanship from its team, allowing it to maintain the flexibility that is among the company’s greatest assets.

To optimize production, Cutler recently contracted with 20:20 Technologies — a respected provider of kitchen and bath design software, plus electronic commerce solutions, such as EDI and site-hosting, for manufacturers, dealers and distributors (www.2020technologies.com).

Sustainability:

Cutler is a member of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), and maintains constant compliance with government regulations and updated eco-legislation. Glick explains, “I think the eye on green initiatives falls mostly on our suppliers, who are at the beginning of the process.” Once the material arrives at Cutler, there isn’t much that can be done about whether it was produced in a green fashion or within FSC standards. As the actual originators of the product materials, it falls to the suppliers to deal with most of those challenges. Glick notes, however, that many of Cutler’s larger suppliers already participate in replanting programs and the like.

Glick also points out that Cutler wholesales and manufactures many of its products using engineered wood materials, which are produced from wood fibers. Wood fibers can be collected from many different resources, such as old pallets, etc. Since the components Cutler sells are not manufactured from lumber, its process saves a fresh tree being felled, and helps prevent wasting precious forestry reserves. He adds that, “One of the biggest things we can do within the four walls of our business is to look to manufacture at non-peak times,” in order to save energy.

Moving Forward:

“The secret to our success has been to diversify,” says Glick. Therefore, Cutler will continue to explore new areas and opportunities diversification, both in terms of the markets it supplies and its array of products. Glick says the company always looks to take its business into new, different & increasingly diverse markets. It also plans to expand its sales team to be sent into different areas, and may further increase marketing efforts, although Glick says they’re already involved in a lot of advertising. As he laughingly reveals, “we spend a fortune of our money on sampling!”