Silva Panel™ Company Profile

Silva Panel™ Canada Ltd, Company Profile

Silva Panel™ Canada Ltd was formed by a group of lumbermen who were looking to address another use for surplus short-length Western Red Cedar lumber. Every industry has its "orphans". That is, developing items that do not conform to normal customer needs but have a value just the same because they have been through the total manufacturing process. In the lumber business these so-called "orphans" are usually discounted in price and sold into low value products such as fencing and pallet stock. The challenge: To come up with a new, relatively high-value finished product that would have customer appeal and utilize those hard-to-sell, low value short lengths.

Silva Panel™ Canada's first foray into making panels was in Mexico. This was done because there was no one facility in Canada or the U.S. Pacific Northwest that could manufacture such products. After some further investigation with industry types, a collaborative effort was achieved by bringing together the strengths of three facilities in British Columbia with each one adding its expertise to come up with a final product. Producing Silva Panels in British Columbia where the timber originates was imperative from logistical, quality assurance and a sound business model reasons.

Although the people at Silva Panel™ Canada were convinced they had an excellent product, it was now the task to find customers that would share that opinion. By attending wood trade shows in Canada, the U.S., Ireland, England and France and talking to wood product buyers, it became apparent that it was possible to re-invent the wheel. Everyone that saw the Silva Panels were excited about the possible uses in such things as furniture, exterior cladding, paneling and so on. Silva Panel™ products have taken Western Red Cedar (the wood), which was already known for its decorative and stable qualities, into a whole new realm of product possibilities where it was not used before. All agreed Silva Panel™ Canada Ltd had a winner!