When Millwood’s Apple Creek, Ohio, facility installed its Pacific Trail Accu-Cut crosscut package saw last July, the move reflected more than an equipment upgrade — it showcased the plant’s commitment to efficiency, precision, and steady operational evolution. Regional Operations Manager Zack Miller, who oversees both the Apple Creek and Dundee locations, said the decision stemmed from rising customer demand for cut-to-length softwood materials that did not require grading or resawing. The Pacific Trail Accu-Cut model offered the right combination of automation, accuracy and affordability.
“We needed something that could handle pine material efficiently and free up labor on the floor,” Miller explained. The saw’s automated cut system, which allows operators to program multiple lengths and walk away while the machine runs, immediately changed the plant’s workflow. “The operator can pre-stage material, mark lumber, or handle other tasks while the saw cuts. That alone has been a big win.”
Why Pacific Trail Won Out
Miller noted that the team did evaluate competing brands, but Pacific Trail stood out for its pricing, lead time, and practical feature set. The saw consistently hits the plant’s required tolerances—typically within 1/32″—and its bump-stop system helps avoid short pieces when making small trims. For Apple Creek, which cuts anything from 2x4s to 2x10s, accuracy was essential.
Miller noted, “The saw’s accuracy is well within the tolerances that we need for our customers. The Pacific Trail Accu-Cut saw does what Pacific Trail says it will do.”
Just as important, the saw significantly boosted productivity. Previously, cut-stock orders ran through a multi-trim saw, requiring three or four people to operate and hand-stack the lumber. The Pacific Trail now performs the same work with a single operator. “We’re getting the same board footage,” Miller said, “but with far less labor.”
Millwood bought a stock model with the auto feed cutting system and a scrap conveyor going underneath it to a dump hopper. This machine also has a cab with a roof on top. Pacific Trail’s Accu-Cut saw has a number of key features making it the top-of-the-line saw offered by the company. This includes infeed loading capabilities of 523 H x 523 W with choice of 16-, 20-, 24- or 26-foot length. A cut counter and amp meter helps monitor important wear items. State-of-the-art electronic inverter drives and rack & spur gear digital length measuring ensures perfect positioning for every cut. Pacific Trail’s proprietary material saw bar ensures long life between normal reconditioning at Pacific Trail’s in-house bar shop.
Pacific Trail’s service, parts availability, and transparency also impressed Miller. “Whenever they’ve upgraded components, they communicate it immediately and tell us what’s changing and why,” he said. The saw has had no significant breakdowns, and routine maintenance is minimal— primarily housekeeping and bar and chain monitoring. Pacific Trail has supported the saw well – stocking all wear items as well as offering in house bar refurbishment and saw chain sharpening.
The installation was a fairly easy process. Millwood’s maintenance staff helped the Pacific Trail team. Miller recalled, “We definitely gave them a challenge with the area where we installed the saw. It was on a sloped area, the only place where we had room for the machine. They had to work really hard to set the saw to sit level on that spot.”
A Growing Specialty Packaging Division
One of the most rapidly expanding areas at Apple Creek is specialty crating and industrial packaging. What began as a small add-on service has grown into a fully outfitted division with Safety Speed Cut 7400 model panel saws, table saws, drills, and custom fabrication tools. The building was expanded last year to support rising demand.
“We’ve really leaned into creating solutions other manufacturers might turn away,” Miller said. That often includes building directly from photographs when formal drawings don’t exist. The crating team typically runs with two to three employees.
To support the division’s growing complexity, Millwood also added sales personnel skilled in detailed drawings, cut lists, and quoting. This has been instrumental in taking on larger and more technical projects. This capability also unlocks opportunities in areas that require flexibility and custom solutions rather than high-volume automation.
Focus on Manufacturing Efficiency and Versatility
Millwood’s Apple Creek location processes lumber, manufactures pallets and builds specialty crating.
In the lumber processing operations, cants are run through a Brewer br-587 multi-trim saw to be cut to length. Then they are fed into a Brewer Gang Saw 91165P. After being cut to thickness or width, boards are stacked by a TS 300 board stacker or are turned into stringers using a double-head Hazelthorn notcher. Also, a Baker band resaw and several Whirlwind and Cantek chop saws are used to reclaim low-grade material. Both cants and cut stock are purchased to support operations.
Much of the softwood the Apple Creek facility cuts is supplied to other pallet companies, while hardwood processing remains a smaller part of the cutshop operation. This facility provides cut stock material that is not graded or stamped. Miller admitted, “So, it’s a niche market… but we’ve found customers that just want material cut to length without additional processing. We have a group of lumber buyers that work out of Ohio to manage all our direct pine mill relationships.”
Pallets are produced in a separate building that houses a Woodpecker nailer, a Woodpecker Jr. and an older nailing machine that will soon be replaced with a Titan nailer from Pallet Machinery Group. The larger Woodpecker nailer can produce 1,000 pallets per shift with two operators, even with doing the average of several changeovers a day.
The Woodpecker Junior is a custom model capable of building pallets up to eight feet wide, enabling Apple Creek to serve customers requiring oversized solutions. Across two shifts, the plant produces thousands of pallets daily, with a portion—roughly 10–15%—being specialty, hand-built designs.
One of the nice features of the Woodpecker machines is their ability to handle lower-grade material. Miller pointed out, “You can use #2 grade, or other culled out material, without having an issue. You can’t do that on many other nailing machines due to how the board feeders work.” A major selling point for the Titan is its design and use of standard parts that can be easily sourced.
Apple Creek’s leadership team is always looking for ways to drive cost out of its process. Miller stated, “We evaluate costs daily, material costs. We are focused on things within our control, such as plant expenses and trucking costs. For example, we are working hard to ensure backhaul opportunities exist to reduce overall transportation costs. Millwood doesn’t leave money on the table.”
People First: The Culture Behind the Production
The success of Apple Creek’s packaging division is tied closely to its workforce stability. Miller points to the plant’s leadership team, with tenures ranging from 10 to 39 years, as a foundational strength. The facility’s diverse workforce—English-speaking, Hispanic, and Amish employees—works cooperatively across departments.
While the Apple Creek plant has invested steadily in automation and improved processes, Miller is quick to emphasize that none of it works without the people behind the machines. The facility is known within Millwood for its steady staffing, strong morale, and unusually low turnover—something Miller attributes to its tenure-rich leadership team and Millwood’s people-centric culture.
The plant embraces a diverse workforce that includes English-speaking employees, Hispanic team members, and Amish workers. “It’s evolved a lot in the last 10 years,” Miller said. “But everybody works well together. That’s been a strength.”
Central to Millwood’s model is its robust chaplaincy program. Apple Creek has two chaplains—one English-speaking, one bilingual—who are local pastors. They support team members through life challenges, marriages, funerals, personal counseling, and weekly on-site interactions. Optional Bible studies, marriage retreats, camping trips, and other programs create a family-like atmosphere.
“When you invest in people personally, it affects how they show up to work,” Miller said. “It helps retention, it helps morale—it helps everything.”
The company also hosts a multi-month “big buck” deer-hunting competition between Apple Creek and Dundee employees, complete with entry fees, a jackpot, and a celebratory banquet. It’s a small tradition, but one that builds camaraderie and keeps morale high during hunting season.
Looking to Future Solutions
Although Apple Creek doesn’t yet have AI-enhanced systems installed, Miller sees value in future investments focused on real-time KPIs and quality control automation, similar to tools used in other Millwood locations.
Apple Creek’s success, Miller said, comes from its combination of strong leadership, diverse capabilities, and a people-first philosophy. Being centrally located in the U.S. also provides material sourcing advantages and access to a wide labor pool.
As for his personal guiding principle? Miller keeps it simple: “You can’t get anything done without people. It’s all about the people.”
From expanding capabilities to adopting smarter production tools, Apple Creek’s growth story begins—and ultimately succeeds—with the team turning raw lumber into finished products every day. And with operations continuing to evolve, the Pacific Trail saw marks just one step in a broader journey toward greater efficiency and labor savings.
