FPRDI lumber dryer fuels growth of Zamboanga-based firm
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Wood Tech Builders, a big construction supplies firm based in Zamboanga del Sur, is also one of the latest adopters of FPRDI’s furnace-type lumber dryer (FTLD).
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According to company owner Alvin Ang, “The two units of the FTLD (25,000 and 40,000 board feet capacity)we acquired in 2010 and 2013, respectively,changed everything for us.”
“Ten years ago, we were simply buying and selling solid panel doors, mouldings and kiln-dried wood products from Cebu, but our adoption of the dryers allowed us to start a new business – to go into production,” Ang explained.
“Over the last four years, the FTLD has enabled Wood Tech Builders to efficiently kiln-dry various kinds of products toa moisture content of 12% or below.
Kiln-dried wood is more stable than air-dried, as it is not prone to warping. The FTLD also makes use of sawdust as fuel for the furnace, making the process so much cheaper for us.
Ninety-percent of our doors and panels are shipped to Cebu, while the rest are sold here in Zamboanga,” he continued.
A beneficiary of a soft loan from the Department of Science and Technology’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (DOST-SET-UP), WoodTech Builders has grown into a huge company with an annual gross sales of over Php 13 million. (Rizalina K. Araral and Maybell Mariella A. Amador, 13 October 2014)#
