Published: December 07, 2015

By Emily Votaw
Staff Writer, The Holmes County Bargain Hunter

Mel Yoder of Yoder Lumber was recently recognized by the Woodworking Network (a leading publication on the woodworking industry) as a Wood Industry Market Leader, recognition that he only partly takes credit for.

“We feel that a lot of our success has to do with our employees,” said Yoder, the CEO of the company as well as a second-generation owner. “We have good employees and they usually stay with us long term. We teach them what Yoder Lumber stands for, and the primary thing that comes from that to treat the customer the way that we would like to be treated as a customer.”

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Published: November 03, 2015

Yoder Lumber manufactures and supplies top-quality Appalachian hardwood products. Their two state-of-the-art sawmills in Buckhorn and Charm, Ohio produce green and kiln-dried lumber, S4S and dimension lumber for internal consumption in their millwork and moulding facilities in Buckhorn and Berlin, Ohio, as well for regional distribution and domestic and export wholesale. Yoder Lumber has used Epicor LumberTrack software since 2000 to keep track of the wide variety of hardwood products they sell, and to manage their inventory control at each location and through each stage of production. In addition, Yoder Lumber experiences better customer service as a result of real-time sales, customer, and inventory information. …

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Published: September 18, 2015

Another GLTAAC client just completed the TAAF program. Yoder Lumber Company is a major sawmill and lumber reseller located in northeast Ohio. They used their $75,000 of program co-funding over three years (firms in the program have up to 5 years to use the funding). Here is a brief summary of their experiences and success with the program.

About Yoder and its TAAF Plan

Founded in 1944, Yoder Lumber grew steadily, leading it to begin construction of a new and significantly modernized mill in the fall of 2008, just before the Great Recession hit. In early 2012, the company found itself struggling to serve a stagnant market, positioned in an equally struggling industry.…

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Published: August 28, 2015

Yoder Lumber was credited in Wood 100 Strategies for Success:

Yoder Lumber, Millersburg, OH
Lean manufacturing and skilled employees are credited with spurring the family-owned component maker’s 34.4% sales growth. “Yoder introduced many company-wide lean projects to help reduce unnecessary tasks, standardize process, and sustain us for future growth,” says Dennis Hange, marketing manager. “We constantly are cross training our employees and continuing to develop their skill sets as they move into new roles.” Yoder also installed a WoodEye and Talon optimization line “to increase our yield and automate our efficiency,” upgraded its kilns and added a 6-head Kentwood moulder at its Lumber & Millwork Division.…

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Published: July 30, 2015

By: Bill Esler 

Conference Program Director at Woodworking Network

The rise of mobile phones means woodworking companies, like all businesses, must relaunch their websites. Yoder Lumber has done so with an unusual degree of detail and quality, that conveys much about how the company runs other aspects of its business.

Yoder commissioned extensive, high quality photography - and sometimes, let's be frank, making the grizzled personnel operating woodworking machinery look great is not easy. But Yoder Lumber has really done that with great photos. Yoder Lumber really did the job in its overall website relaunch, a process that often turns into a catalyst for a business to go through what can be a deep self-examination. Website designers demand all kinds of things: history, mission statement, and a full complement of content about each aspect of a company's product offerings, key personnel, and history.…

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