Copeland Furniture Recently Debuted The Lisse Collection
The family-owned and sustainable enterprise, Copeland Furniture, located in Bradford, VT, planned to debut the Lisse Dining Collection during the recent Spring High Point Market. Every design in the new collection features the company’s signature style of minimalism and integrated functionality which results in a clean visual presentation. The new additions include an extension table, a buffet, and a crafted chair, the company stated.
Copeland Furniture manufactures its products exclusively from U.S. grown Hardwoods from the American Northern Forest. Their manufacturing is all done in the U.S. Copeland offers furniture in Cherry, Walnut, Maple and Oak.
Since 1970, Copeland Furniture has endeavored to produce furniture for discerning consumers who appreciate exceptional design and quality, according to a company press release. With sustainability as a guiding force, the Lisse Collection showcases Copeland’s attention to detail in the curves and lines of each piece.
With its molded and sculptural lines, Lisse is a study in subtle complexity.
The Lisse Buffet offers generous storage space.
For more information, go to www.copelandfurniture.com.
Century Component Acquires Dutch Valley Woodworking
Century Components of Sugarcreek, OH announced recently that it has acquired Dutch Valley Woodworking, also of Sugarcreek. Century plans to expand production and incorporate more local craftsmen from the community, according to a company press release. This acquisition, along with the construction of their new 55,000 square foot facility, will provide Century Components with more than 100,000 square feet of production and warehousing by the end of 2022.
Century Components uses solid U.S. Hardwoods (specifically Hard and Soft Maple) in its manufacturing, which is carried out only in the U.S.
Century Components began producing wood kitchen accessories in 2007. Located in Holmes County, OH, the world’s largest Amish community, Century Components crafts its bench made products to quality standards instilled by generations of woodworkers, a company press release stated. With over 40 craftsmen and support personnel, its products are installed by thousands of small and large cabinet manufacturers across the United States and in Canada. To learn more, go to www.centurymade.com.
Roll & Hill Establishes Lighting Production Facility In Michigan
Roll & Hill, a manufacturer of high-end lighting and furniture, is establishing a new lighting production facility in Wyoming, MI with support from the Michigan Strategic Fund. In its manufacturing of lighting and furniture, Roll & Hill uses solid U.S. Hardwoods and produces only in the U.S. Lumber species purchased include Black Walnut, White Oak and Maple.
The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $1.5 million and create up to 50 manufacturing and corporate services jobs with the support of a $300,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant from the Michigan Strategic Fund. Michigan was chosen for the project over the company’s existing location in Brooklyn, NY. West Michigan was chosen for the project because of its proximity to the supplier base and its history as a furniture making center, according to a state press release.
Roll & Hill began as a lighting manufacturer in Brooklyn, NY and expanded into furniture in 2017. Roll & Hill is design-minded and collaborates with independent designers to create a collection of high-end furnishings, with a focus on on-demand production. The company manufactures its furniture at a separate facility in Wyoming, where it currently employs 22 people.
For more information, go to www.rollandhill.com.
MSU Researchers Use AI To Better Evaluate Lumber
A $500,000 federal grant will help Mississippi State University (MSU) researchers, based in Starkville, MS, use artificial intelligence to increase the accuracy of lumber evaluation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture award funds an innovative research project in MSU’s Department of Sustainable Bioproducts that aims to improve lumber grading systems with a machine-learning model. The research will identify characteristics that human graders and current auto-grading technologies might otherwise miss—especially characteristics which, relative to their nature and extent, impact the value of each piece of lumber.
Assistant Research Professor Dercilio Junior Lopes explained the goal is to create another tool to complement current grading practices and technologies.
“Visual graders have high accuracy, around 95 percent, but worker fatigue decreases that accuracy. Additionally, auto-grading equipment can struggle with certain wood species, especially Hardwoods like Black Walnut, in which the wood’s dark hue can make it hard to discern knots. This work offers checks and balances for the weary worker and these problematic wood species,” Lopes explained. “We won’t replace lumber grading experts or auto-grading equipment. We’ll simply provide another tool for rapid decision making in the fast-paced production environment.”
The MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center team will create an image dataset of common wood strength reducing characteristics, curate and annotate these images, and then process them into deep learning-based image segmentation models. From there, they will integrate the machine-learned algorithm into user-friendly software in partnership with MSU’s National Strategic Planning and Analysis Research Center, or NSPARC. To learn more, go to www.msstate.edu.
