MILLERSBURG, Pennsylvania—The first thing you should know about S&L Spindles is that the company manufactures much more than spindles. The Amish-owned and operated business has also carved out a place manufacturing high-quality softwood pallet cut stock.
S&L Spindles, located in Millersburg in central Pennsylvania, about 40 miles north of Harrisburg and near the Susquehanna River, was founded in 1989 by Elam Lapp and David Smucker. They derived the company’s name (S&L) from the first letter of their last names. The company manufactured spindles that were supplied to an affiliated business that built gazebos. They sold the gazebo business in 2004. The same year, they purchased equipment from a wood product manufacturer in Tennessee, trucked it to Pennsylvania, installed it, and began running it to make products for decks in a shift in business strategy and product line. The decking product line became the backbone of the business.
Fast forward to 2021. The company was approached by a customer – a lumber vendor – and asked to supply pallet cut stock. The current owners entered the market and have made investments in additional equipment to produce pallet parts.
S&L Spindles is now a partnership of six individuals that was formed in 2019; all are actively involved and work in the business.
Raymond Petersheim, one of the partners, is the company’s office manager; he oversees bookkeeping, accounts payable and receivable, systems, information technology, and payroll tasks. Benuel Kauffman is also partner and is the company’s operations manager and responsible for lumber purchasing. They talked to Pallet Enterprise about the company’s operations.
All six partners work in the business, noted Raymond. The company is not owned by “investors who sit at home.”
S&L Spindles occupies slightly more than 11 acres and consists of approximately a dozen buildings, including some additions. The business employs 35 people. The two main product lines are specialty products for decks – spindles, rails, balusters, posts, stair stringers, and so on – and pallet cut stock. Decking products account for about 70% of production, and pallet stock, about 25%. (The other 5% is pine shavings.) That translates to about 1,400 truckloads of lumber products annually, including about 400 of pallet cut stock.
Most decking production is sold to lumber treating businesses that, after pressure treating, supply them to big box home improvement stores and other customers.
The business has gone through several ownership changes over the years. The company also has made various improvements and machinery upgrades; one of the most notable was a Woodeye computerized grading system in 2018 that enables production of up to 250 balusters per minute.
Automation with Pendu and Max Board Feet Equipment
S&L manufactures both deck boards and stringers, including notched stringers, supplying pallet manufacturers along the East Coast. As it geared up for making pallet cut stock and enjoyed success, the company added equipment from Pendu and Pallet Machinery Group. The work area largely devoted to pallet cut stock can produce about 60,000 board feet per day.
The company’s raw material – for pallet components as well as decking products – is 100% kiln-dried Southern Yellow Pine purchased from mills in the South. The company buys 2x material from 2×4 through 2×12, various lengths, and some 4×4 material.
Manufacturing cut stock begins with cutting the lumber to length on either a Pendu 7-head multi-trim saw or a Newman Machine KM-16 7-head multi-trim. The lumber, now cut to length, is fed to one of three Weinig moulders that slightly resurface the boards and split 2×8 and 2×12 pieces into 2×6 and 2×4. Then the material is conveyed to a machine that imprints a heat-treating stamp on both sides.
After being stamped, the lumber goes to a Max Board Feet ABSAM (Advanced Board Singulation and Metering System) and then into a Pendu board splitter that rips it into two or three pieces. The lumber drops to an unscrambler that feeds a Max Board Feet TS300 stacker, and stacks exit onto a 16-foot Pendu rollcase. The packs are banded manually. The Max Board Feet equipment sold to S&L was provided by Pallet Machinery Group.
“We are very impressed with the Max Board Feet equipment and the service provided by Pallet Machinery Group,” said Benuel Kauffman. “We will definitely be adding more of their machinery in the future. They are leading innovators in the pallet industry.”
For notched stringers, material is fed into a Bob Hanna BH91-N double-head notcher and stacked by hand as it comes out. The company also manufactures a small volume of chamfered deck boards.
The company has four Vecoplan grinders, both hopper-fed and horizontal-fed, for processing trim ends and other scrap. The material is mixed with the shavings from the moulders and sawdust for its wood shavings product.
For the first 25 years, the company took its waste material – a mix of shavings, grindings, and sawdust – and bagged it by hand to sell for animal bedding; most of the material was still sold in bulk form. After enduring eight years of problems with mechanical bagging equipment, the company invested in a Rethceif bagging system in 2023 that produces four to five bales of shavings per minute, and a stacker was added last year. It is sold under the Heritage Pine Shavings label to farm supply stores and horse owners in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
New Management Approach and a Focus on Lean Manufacturing
S&L has a weekly management meeting on Monday mornings. It is attended by the six owners along with crew leaders and foremen, 12 people in all. “Each person is asked: do they have something for the meeting?” said Raymond. The group discusses the week’s work schedule, equipment issues, any employee problems, and other matters. “About 95% of the time we walk away with a clear next step,” said Raymond, such as delegating a task to someone, making a decision to do more research, etc. The meetings may last up to two hours.
“I feel like that has been tremendous,” said Raymond. “It’s a clear way for employees to bring an issue to the table and have the next step in place. The structure of the meetings ensures matters get heard and dealt with by the management team as opposed to an employee who tries to get some office time with one of the owners.
Another thing that has helped the company is a biannual employee review program. Every worker is evaluated twice a year, and his pay is adjusted accordingly based on his attitude and performance. S&L also has a bonus program that has been in place for about 20 years; it is based on production of over 400 board feet per man-hour. “It works really well,” said Raymond.
About 8-10 years ago the company hired a consultant to train everyone in ‘lean’ business principles. The company continues to use and follow the 6S principles: sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. The goal of the approach is to create a safe, organized, and efficient work environment to improve productivity, minimize waste, and enhance employee well-being.
Implementing the principles led to another initiative. The company devotes about 45-60 minutes every Wednesday afternoon to housekeeping tasks: clearing machinery and work areas, returning tools or other items where they belong, and ensuring labels and markings are clear and visible. The housekeeping extends to auditing a different work area, and the audits are recorded and shared at the biweekly employee meetings.
“When employees are engaged” with good housekeeping practices, “it’s so much more pleasant,” noted Raymond. “We’re giving the tools to employees.” It’s an approach that differs from a manager or supervisor telling employees they need to clean up or straighten up their work area. “Over time it’s been built into our culture.”
The company suffered a fire in the summer of 2023. About 10% of the plant space was destroyed along with one manufacturing area. The company received an outpouring of support from employees and their families, key vendors, and the local community. Machinery was rebuilt or replaced, and the work area was back in production after nine months.
“We produce high-quality pallet stock,” said Benuel, and that’s the feedback they get from customers. “Our quality is outstanding. We hear that a lot.”
If there is a problem with an order, the company rectifies it. “When we do business, we make things right if there is a problem,” said Raymond.
S&L Spindles has a dip tank and can treat wood pallet lumber with a moldicide to prevent mold growth. Due to its extensive sawing operations, S&L Spindles can supply both standard and custom sizes.
To inquire about pallet cut stock, call (717) 692-2159, extension 1, email elapp@slspindles.com or visit www.slspindles.com.
