Begin Again
Three distinct lines and three products have kept Bégin & Bégin going after 70 years.
by Martine Frigon
Recommending the complete closure of dozens of villages would seem extreme medicine even by government standards, yet that’s exactly what a Quebec government commission did back in 1965. Formed by the Lesage Liberal government of the era, the regional development commission felt that many of the communities in the Bas St. Laurent and Gaspé regions near the New Brunswick border were doomed by their isolation and an impending mass population exodus. Eager to preempt disaster, the commission suggested wrapping things up neatly, and moving on.
Not surprisingly, the communities disagreed. A protest movement was formed under the name Operation Dignity to help save the colonial-era villages, and given that most of the communities have now outlasted the Lesage government by 40 years, the operation was something of a success. The small town of Lots-Renversés in the Témiscouata region was in the thick of it all back in 1965. At the time, a small sawmill founded by Paul Bégin was celebrating over 30 years in business, and the owner had no intention of packing it in. Even back then Bégin & Bégin specialized in hardwood processing. Today, the company employs over 50 locals, and despite tough markets and new challenges, management expects to be around for a long time to come.
The mill started out very small, and was run by the second generation for many years of steady growth. Today the mill is jointly owned by Gilles Bégin, one of the founder’s sons, Daniel Fauteux, general manager, the Eastern Témiscouata Forestry Group (ETFG), and carton giant Norampac.
Private Wood
The mill gets much of its hardwood supply from private land in Quebec, New Brunswick and nearby Maine, although a portion comes from local Crown land. Over 80% of this is cherry and hard maple. The remainder is mostly beech, with a bit of ash.
“We buy about 45,000 m3/yr of a variety of species from our woodlot members,” explains Gervais Bourque, ETFG’s general manager. “We are also hired by Bégin & Bégin, along with other local sawmillers to manage their Crown harvests and maintain their road network. We harvest roughly 220,000 m3 on Crown land as part of those agreements,” he adds, making them a major player in the local wood market.
For his part, Daniel Fauteux has been general manager at Bégin & Bégin for over 20 years, and says now more than ever it’s crucial to focus on your specialty. In this case, that’s extracting value from mixed quality hardwoods, not logging.
“We have no interest in managing a forestry operation, so instead we have a turnkey contract with the forestry group that is FOB to the mill. That leaves us to focus on processing those logs for our clients in the furniture, cabinetry, and flooring markets, which is becoming challenging enough.”
All of the hardwood sawlogs from the ETFG’s operations are brought to Bégin & Bégin’s yard, although this represents just 60% of the total. “For the rest we have a full-time log procurer scouring all available sources,” Fauteux says. Logging naturally slows down as summer approaches to avoid product staining, and the mill shuts one line to balance supply. Still, this often makes early fall a bit of a nail biter as far as log supply goes, and last September the mill shut down completely for two weeks waiting for fresh wood.
Grade sawing & more
As always, logs started flowing soon enough, and operations got back to normal by October. Normal for Bégin & Bégin means running three processing lines in a 30,000 ft2 facility to capture value from hardwood logs along the entire value spectrum. One line focuses on making hardwood chips from the cull; the second makes precut pallet stock, and is itself a bit of a recovery line; and the third is dedicated to making grade lumber from the larger, quality logs, making it the most important line as far as the mill’s bottom line goes.
A large portion of the mill’s gear comes from Quebec-based Comact, a supplier better known for its highspeed softwood technology, but which obviously has much to offer the hardwood world as well. At Bégin & Bégin, this includes the drum debarker for the chip plant, landing tables, resaws, edgers, trimmers, infeeds, and more. The sawmill itself also relies on a 27-in Nicholson A6 ring debarker.
The pre-cut pallet stock line was added in 1997, and now accounts for 20% of the mill’s revenues. It includes a Comact end-dogger that was new for both supplier and mill at the time.
“That required a bit of an investment in time and money at the time,” recalls Jacques Beaulieu, who has been sawmill superintendent for almost 20 years now. “It was a first in hardwoods at the time, as that line (Comact enddogger) had been used only in softwoods until then. Even now it’s rare in hardwood operations like this.”
Good year or bad, the line pumps out 4 to 5 million bdft from lower quality small logs suited for little else.
“We saw blocks 5-in in diameter and up – small stuff – so the production is respectable enough.”
It was about the same time that the mill added its chipping line, which today churns out over 80,000 ODT. These are slated in large part for the Norampac carton plant in Cabano, less than 25 km from the mill.
The large-log grade sawing line has seen several re-incarnations over the past 15 years, and today produces up to 8 million bdft and creates half of the plant’s annual revenue. It was rebuilt A to Z in the early 90s, and then in 2003 the Comact circular saw carriage headrig was completely upgraded by adding an Inovec (USNR) StereoScan optimization system. The popular Inovec system creates a 3D image of the log on-the-fly for an accurate opening face and higher recovery.
“That was the first of its kind installed in Quebec,” Fauteux says, who adds that it has proven to be a very profitable investment over the year. “It is always difficult to evaluate the performance of a system like that, with variable log supplies and products, but even if I am very conservative I would say it has allowed us to boost recovery by 3%, which is no small matter given our production.”
Nor if you consider the value of the raw material. At the exit of the sawmill, sorting and grading is now aided by a sorting software system from Quebec supplier Exact Modus. Recently installed, it automates inventory control functions, grade and dimension tracking, production distribution into piles, order tracking, slip printing and more. Both Fauteux and Beaulieu say the real-time program greatly simplifies operations in an era when so many clients want specific, and separated, products.
Kiln drying is handled by a lone Cathild kiln that has recently been completely rebuilt and upgraded by MEC Dry Kilns, a very successful project according to Beaulieu. “Still, at 30 000 bdft, it runs full out.”
In the yard
As for markets, Fauteux admits that even if they are not directly involved in the current perfect storm battering the softwood sector, they have their own challenges.
“Our clients are for the most part wood transformation companies in Quebec, the Maritimes, and Ontario. They are in a fierce struggle against Asian imports, and that of course affects us as well.”
He adds that in an effort to streamline their own operations, clients in the wood transformation sector are asking more and more for raw material that meets their exact needs.
“More and more we have to be able to find or create the precise product the client needs for his own process. Sales begins to play a larger and larger role in keeping the mill profitable. For example, when we are about to start a run on a given species, our sales force communicates directly with that part of our client base that may profit the most from the run. It’s another way to proactively maximize our production.”
In addition to sales, Bégin & Bégin is increasing its emphasis on employee training. In the past five years the mill has focused on worker crosstraining, allowing its operators to move from station to station.
“The rotation system we have now brings many positives,” explains Beaulieu. “The operators are trained on a range of stations and tasks, and so can replace another employee at the drop of a hat if needed. Also, the operators now understand very well the importance of doing their own job well, and the effect it has on those before or after them in the production process.
In a tiny village slated for closure only 40 years ago, management at Lots-Renversé’s only sawmill clearly understand their responsibility, and plan to remain a local economic engine for some time. “Like any enterprise today, especially in wood products, each day brings a new challenge,” concludes part-owner and general manager Fauteux. “But then that’s also what keeps us going!”
Martine Frigon is a forestry writer based in the Quebec City area.
