top of page
$1.4 million savings opportunity at a mill running 42% overtime

$1.4 million savings opportunity at a mill running 42% overtime

Canfor

Manufacturing

$1.387M

savings opportunity identified at this site

42%

overtime before

2.5 hrs

less work per person (goal)

The problem

Canfor is investing over $130 million to expand its Urbana sawmill and planer by 115 million board feet. The mill was averaging 42% overtime (44% in production, 58% in the log yard), often into weekends. The single-shift crew was fatigued, absenteeism was high, retention was low, and the expansion meant considering a move from one shift to two.

What we did

  • Interviewed employees and supervisors across the log yard, sawmill, planer, kilns, and maintenance
  • Developed schedule options aimed at cutting hours worked by 2.5 hours per person, including 12-hour/48 and 10-hour/50 options for crews that wanted some overtime
  • Calculated staffing for the expansion and recommended new hiring positions
  • Supported a phased rollout, starting with the employees who preferred the change, with onboarding tools for managers and employees

The results

  • $1,387,000 savings opportunity identified at this site
  • Strong employee commitment to Canfor shown in the survey
  • Ongoing tracking of productivity, overtime, absenteeism, and turnover
  • 2 more sites hired CCG for change management support
(The Coleman team) spent a tremendous amount of time interviewing employees and supervisors, ensuring that the schedule options would work with our employee population. They set the expectations and the timeline and stuck with it. They followed up and followed through.

Wade Summerville, Plant Manager, Canfor Urbana

Is overtime burning out your crews? Get a 30-minute workforce diagnostic.

bottom of page