In the mid-2000s, with plywood production declining in the Southeastern US, furniture frame manufacturers were anxious to find a frame substrate that was as sturdy as plywood but more readily available. Silvaris knew that OSB was a product that was specifically designed to meet those needs. We partnered with the Franklin Institute at Mississippi State University and Langboard to develop an OSB product that could replace the use of plywood in furniture frames. Through various modular tests of rupture and elasticity as well as staple and screw holding capabilities the team was able to introduce a product that not only could be used when plywood was unavailable but could totally replace it for much lower cost. OSB is now used in almost every upholstered furniture frame plant in the industry.

For many years, Owens Corning managed their B Grade shingles locally at each plant. With such a huge operation focused on their primary channel sales, they had lost sight of the enormous quantity of secondary products that were taking up valuable space in their many locations. By the time Silvaris took over the B Grade distribution, there were nearly 1,000 truckloads of product that Owens Corning did not want to sell to their typical customer base, and it needed to go.

Silvaris moved the entire backlog of loads within just a few months. One of the issues of paramount concern was keeping the B Grade products out of Owens Corning’s primary channels. To address this issue, Silvaris developed programs with local warehouses to take in the branded product and remove the branding, replacing it with a different wrap. And now, those products are flying off the shelves!

Today, Silvaris maintains daily contact with every single one of Owens Corning’s plants, both via phone and via our state-of-the-art inventory integration process that feeds available B Grade loads to our system automatically. As soon as loads are ready, we are there within 2 days to pick them up. Problem solved.

As a new small company, our customer was having a hard time finding affordable lumber for his products. Lumber mills were not willing to sell directly to him and he didn’t have the resources to take advantage of the best deals.  

Silvaris is all about small companies – we are a small company ourselves. We have relationships with over 500 lumber mills in North America and one of our biggest industry sectors that we serve is the pallet and packaging industry. Our sales group is incentivized to work together on deals, no matter the size. The lumber sourcing team was easily able to find local mills whose downfall products were perfect for our customer’s growing business. The team created a small program shipping deal with the customer, and today the pallet maker has doubled in size and continues to grow. 

This customer has 12 stores located throughout the Southeastern U.S., catering to local DIY, farmers, homeowners, and small business owners. Competing with multi-national retailers is not easy, and they needed a solution for unique, affordable building materials that could span the entire region.

Silvaris has been selling products to this customer for many years. Although we started as a lumber and panels distributor, we have continually added more products to our base and always present our newest offerings to our valued customers. Our salespeople use the latest technology to identify “needle in the haystack” type finds in building materials – large lots of products that are perfect for DIY or industrial applications but not available to the public. We capitalize on such finds and turn them into opportunities for customers like this one.

Today, we have standing regular program deals with this customer on items like siding, shingles, and flooring, all of which we have exclusive access to through our supply partnerships. Our customer keeps their customers consistently happy and builds profit and market share as well.

The Newby-McMahon is the smallest skyscraper to this day, measuring to about 40 feet tall. In 1919, J.D. McMahon was able to raise about £200,000 so he would be able to build a 40ft tall building in a small town called Wichita Falls in Texas. J.D was able to do this because he never stated how tall the building was going to be. On the blueprints, he wrote 480” – meaning 480 inches, not feet. Sneaky, right? The investors never noticed it or questioned J.D. – they just assumed that they were going to get a beautiful 480ft skyscraper.