The logo says Lotz Wood, a moniker that is very descriptive of what you discover soon after arriving at the plant. The company operates out of a modern 100,000 square foot facility in Boyd, a rural, northern Wisconsin town with a population of about 680. “Boyd is right next to Chippawa Falls and Eau Claire,” said Mark Schlichter, company president, “home to Cray Research, Johnson Matthey, and Hutchinson Technology. It’s the ÔSilicon Valley’ of the Midwest.” Schlichter, who has an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, and who managed the sales department of a large national construction supplier, Materials Service Corporation, joined his childhood friend, and now partner, Mark Barton in 1991 to purchase the August Lotz Company, a relatively small wooden parts and, (would you believe) beehive component manufacturer. “My background was in the architectural woodworking industry,” said Barton, who is company Vice President and Production Manager. “Wood is a wonderful medium to work with,” says Barton, “and we know wood.”

The evidence for this claim is thoroughly conclusive, and I therefore submit it for your approval. Barton said we would start our tour of the plant at the beginning of the manufacturing process. This would, he said help me “understand the process and the commitment” the partners have made to their company and the futon industry in particular. I assumed we would walk to a receiving dock where the dimensioned wood was delivered (I’ve been to a few factories and felt I knew the routine). Instead we walked past the dock and out to a large open yard behind the plant. Still, never having been told the facts, I expected to see a yard full of stacked lumber. Well, lumber I saw, but my inquisitive eye moved even further back in the yard to the logs. “Oh!,” I said, “What are the logs for?” Barton and Schlichter looked at each other, smiled, and then looked back at me and said, “That’s where we begin. We cut them (the logs) into boards at our saw mill over there.” They pointed to a large shed next to the rail siding. Then I smiled, because I always love a good story.

Not only do they cut and grade their own lumber but they kiln dry it on site too. “This gives us total control over every aspect of the process from forest to finished goods,” Schlichter added. I told them I was glad I was there, (so the rest of the world would have this info) and asked them why they hadn’t ever told anyone about this very unique aspect of their company. The answer was repeated several times during my interview weekend. “We are a manufacturing company by nature, and this is how we do our business. We are focused on building the very best futon furniture we can at the highest level of efficiency as well,” said Schlichter. “And this is just the most cost effective way to do it,” added Barton. When they can’t get logs, or when buying green lumber is a better alternative, they go that route. But all the wood used in their furniture is dried, dimensioned, and milled on site. More about this later.

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