Last year Pendu announced that it had purchased the product line and manufacturing plant of Cornell. Having been familiar with both of these companies since I started working with the pallet industry in 1977, I found this purchase seemed like a natural combination for a number of reasons.
Pendu and Cornell both manufacture saws, but their product lines and market emphases were very different. The physical plants are geographically close enough to make it possible to coordinate both. Their product lines are similar enough to allow management to relate to both, and their market and product lines are complementary. The Cornell ownership was receptive to selling, while Marlin Hurst, owner of Pendu, was looking for good expansion opportunities. It was a natural fit.
"By purchasing Cornell, Pendu has significantly increased its product line, especially in the sawmill industry. Plus, Cornell brought nearly 100 years of business and machinery expertise to the merger," said Marlin.
The acquisition gives Pendu the ability to offer complete systems for customers such as Green Pallet Co., Westminster, Md. (See article in August 2005 issue of Pallet Enterprise). With the addition of the Cornell product line, Pendu now offers both end dogging and sharp chain scragg mills. H. Parsons in Lenoir, N.C., operates a Cornell scragg mill and (2) Pendu cut up lines that produce cut stock for pallets. Pendu’s stacker product line has been enhanced with the addition of the Cornell VS-1 stacker. According to Pendu, its VS-1 board stacker is the fastest on the market and can handle up to 200 boards per minute.
In an effort to align the Cornell product line with Pendu Mfg. Inc., the company recently released a new logo. All Cornell branded equipment is manufactured by Pendu Mfg. Inc. and the entire product line is sold exclusively by Pendu. With over 150,000 sq.ft. of combined manufacturing space that is strategically located in northern and southeastern Pennsylvania and an extensive engineering department, Pendu Mfg. Inc. has a product line and resources to meet lumber cutting projects of all sizes and descriptions.
All management is now handled by the Pendu management team. Cornell’s former owners are no longer with the company. All of Cornell’s employees and engineers are now part of the Pendu team. This includes 14 people in engineering, a sizable staff to tackle complex projects.
Michael Hall, who handles sales and marketing for Pendu, says that the merging of the two companies and product line is going well and opening up new opportunities for Pendu. The new corporate identity program focuses on the Pendu name, with the Cornell name still attached to the machinery line for which it has been so well known and respected for a hundred years.
The Pendu Machinery Line
Pendu started out manufacturing forage wagons , but the company quickly transitioned to gang saws, which has been a stable product for the company ever since. Pendu board stackers are probably the most widely known and used in the pallet industry. Many pallet manufacturers use Pendu stackers to tail their cut up lines of all brands and descriptions.
Other pallet sawing support machinery pieces include Pendu cutoff saws, trim saws, pit unscramblers, tilt hoists, slab recovery saws, slitter saws, and notchers.
Pendu scragg mills have been well known for many years. In today’s tight hardwood market, availability of hardwood lumber can be a serious problem. Many pallet companies are considering the possibility of adding a scragg mill to guarantee a better supply of pallet cants.
Pendu’s Equipment,
Innovation & Expertise
I have had the privilege of visiting both the Cornell plant in Laceyville, Penn. and the Pendu plant in New Holland, Penn. several times. The New Holland manufacturing plant is equipped with a number of sophisticated CNC machining centers, probably more than at any other pallet machinery manufacturing plant that I have visited. Pendu has strategically invested in the latest equipment including robotic welding, machining centers, high-def plasma cutting machines, a water jet machine and the latest fabrication technology.
Looking to improve efficiency and reduce costs, Pendu has implemented an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system throughout the entire combined company. The ERP system uses barcodes to track jobs as they move through Pendu’s production plant. The ERP helps Pendu keep a handle on cost and stay competitive.
One of the interesting things about the pallet and lumber remanufacturing industry is the wide variety of products that can be produced out of lumber by cutting and shaping it in specific ways. Pendu has been known for its tooling
to fit Pendu gang saws. Log homes,
railroad ties, and pallet lumber are three of the products for which Pendu gang saws and related machinery are so often used. Pendu research suggests that a significant percentage of the log homes manufactured today is cut on Pendu
machinery.
While Pendu has earned a strong reputation for its circular saws, it has developed a new band saw due to market demand for the technology. Pendu’s first band saw has been sold and successfully deployed at a customer facility. Pendu hopes its reputation for speed and longevity carries over to this new market.
Using the combined resources of Pendu and Cornell, Pendu continues to focus on innovation. For example, Pendu’s new high speed stake pointer has drawn a high level of interest. This patented stake pointing machine is much less complicated and faster than any other machines on the market. Pendu’s new gang saw, which is scheduled to be released soon, incorporates the best of both the Cornell and Pendu designs.
Pendu has become an industry leader in developing custom machinery, especially when it comes to turning lumber into value-added products. In addition to log home and other custom log shaping applications, Pendu has developed a notching system that notches whole cants before sending them through a Pendu gang. This saves on labor and
reduces the chance that stresses may break a single stringer while it is
being notched.
Some of the special projects that Pendu has tackled over the years include cardboard resaws, plastic rod trimsaws, and a vinyl fence post drilling machine. Current custom projects include a high speed lumber handling system, a fully integrated material handling system with sling sorter for Rigid Ply Rafters Inc., and an automatic cut up line that processes pallet cut stock for Green
Pallet Co.
The Cornell Name, Machinery
Line & Customer Base
Pendu purchased the Cornell line of machinery and assets but not the liabilities of the former company. Like Pendu, Cornell did not begin in the forest products industry. It started in business in 1904 building barn cleaners for dairy farmers. During the 1950s, Cornell turned its custom machine shop toward the forest products industry. From its first piece of lumber manufacturing machinery, a log turner, the Cornell line of sawing machinery mushroomed.
From the early days of gang sawing, Cornell gang saws have been well respected, particularly with its double arbor gangs. Cornell always stayed with circular saws for higher production and worked to reduce the kerf when possible.
Cornell is particularly well known in the sawmill industry. Automation, edger technology, and secondary breakdowns are all products where Cornell made
its mark.
Cornell’s green chains, blowers, barn sweeps, and conveyors complement its sawmill machinery to provide needed materials handling functions.
The Cornell line of equipment is still available, as well as support for existing Cornell machinery. The future points toward more advancements down the road. For example optimized edgers, CLBs, Multi-Saw Trimmers and complete sawmill solutions are now offered by Pendu utilizing Cornell technology.
For more information on the Pendu purchase of Cornell’s line of machinery and what it means to a reader, call Pendu at 800-233-0471.
