Fifteen Years Forward: Strengthening Quality, Training, and Inclusion at NHLA

On the 26th of this month, I will have served 15 years as Chief Inspector of the NHLA. It has been a very challenging and rewarding career and has afforded me opportunities that most can only dream of. International travel and working with industry professionals are the most gratifying parts of my job.

Each month, I have written articles to educate and hopefully inspire the industry to keep moving forward and to help all to understand the Rules and other aspects of our industry. This is why we continue to grow our programs and help in any way that we can.

One of our newer programs that is showing a lot of success is the Yield Analysis for sawmills. This program is part of a much larger Quality Control initiative that we offer, but it is still underutilized in many sawmills. To encourage participation, we are currently offering Yield Analysis at a 75% discount — making this an excellent time to take advantage of the program.

I do realize that when the average person in production hears the acronym “QC,” the first thought is that it is not necessary; we focus on production. Well, production of unsellable or inferior quality is not really production; it is a waste of time and money. Our QC program is designed to ensure that every machine and operator is performing at their best. This approach helps achieve higher yields of sellable material and, therefore, truly increases production.

Another issue that has been growing in the industry is the shortage of lumber inspectors. The interest in working in our industry is waning for many reasons that will take years to overcome. As a result, we have worked hard to create new techniques and grow our team to teach and inspire future industry professionals.
Inclusive Training for a Bilingual Workforce

Our Instructor Training School (ITS) is evolving to meet the needs of today’s workforce. Our instructor, Roman Matyushchenko, has learned to teach in Spanish over the last couple of years so we can better serve the many Spanish-speaking and bilingual professionals in our industry. We now offer in-house classes to train your teams in lumber inspection and other skills, ensuring everyone has equitable access to learning and professional development.

We want to help in any way we can through both challenging and prosperous times, as I personally feel that this is the best industry in the world!

If you have any questions or are interested in a Yield Analysis or the Inspector Training School, please reach out to me at [email protected].

By DANA SPESSERT, Chief Inspector