Woodharbor works with kitchen and bath dealers as well as lumber yards, home centers, builder markets and distributors. It markets products nationwide.

Woodharbor Doors & Cabinetry Inc. got its start in 1993 when brothers Curtis, Dennis and Jon Lewerke decided to combine their previous experience in custom homebuilding with a vision for a new product niche.

The brothers had founded a custom homebuilding company in 1970s, but eventually found themselves unsatisfied with the quality of cabinetry available. They started a cabinetry company, Fieldstone, in 1978 and gained nationwide credibility in the kitchen and bath cabinet industry.

Fieldstone was acquired by Masco Corp. in 1985 and the Lewerkes continued to be involved there until founding Woodharbor. According to President Curtis Lewerke, non-compete issues led the company to start out with a series of interior stile and rail passage doors, which it still manufactures.

In 1996, Woodharbor began the research and development work on kitchen and bath cabinets and introduced its first line in 1997.

"We now manufacture both product lines," Lewerke says. "The unique thing about that development, even though they are from two different industries, they go into the same projects.

"So now, much of our business incorporates the total Woodharbor Home Package," he continues. "We provide products to take care of all unfinished or finished wood interior components of a project, whether it's residential or commercial."

Lewerke says this program is an important way for the company to differentiate itself from the competition. "The two lines are both very strong on their own, but the total package enables us and our dealers to put more revenue dollars into one project," he says. "We can supply interior millwork as well as kitchen and bath cabinetry."

Woodharbor works with kitchen and bath dealers as well as lumber yards, home centers, builder markets and distributors. It markets products nationwide.

The company operates out of two manufacturing facilities. Its 180,000-square-foot plant in Mason City, Iowa, produces kitchen and bath cabinetry. The other is 25 miles north in Northwood, Iowa. It is also 180,000 square feet and manufactures interior passage doors.

The company employees 470 people and reported $50 million in revenues for 2005.

Increased Flexibility
Lewerke says a big industry trend is to offer more flexibility for customers. "End-users are demanding more options to choose from," he notes. "They are also asking for more simplicity. We create some of that by manufacturing both product lines. Customers don't have to search as far for what they want.

"Competition is always a complex trend," he continues. "We do everything possible to help our people work smarter and not harder. We offer more to the detail-oriented end-user without creating more complexities."

Woodharbor's latest major product introduction was the PrairieLake line of passage doors. It is manufactured in the same facility as its upscale Woodharbor line. "PrairieLake is a more economical alternative," Lewerke says.

The company offers three cabinetry lines: Woodharbor is the upscale line, Castpointe is in the middle and Rockglen is the lower-cost option and the fastest-growing line. There is approximately a 20 percent price difference between each line.

Aggressive Expansion
The company recently completed a 30-month, aggressive expansion program that included the addition of a second plant and highly automated machinery and equipment. The new equipment is designed to act as one overall unit, which has created a very efficient operation on the passage door side of the operation, Lewerke explains.

"That move allowed us not to have a single price increase on passage doors for 15 months," he emphasizes.

"We just sent a notice to dealers telling them there is still no increase and, in fact, a reduction in price. That's pretty unheard of in these times."

The two-year process also involved new software that went live mid-2005 as well as the adoption of lean manufacturing principles.

Overall, Lewerke says, the expansion has positioned the company on an entirely new platform, and the company should not have to worry about new facilities or equipment issues for at least five years.

At this point, he says, the company is at 50 percent of what it should be able to handle with these upgrades.

Innovator of the Year
In November 2005, Lewerke accepted the Woodworking Machinery Industry Association's (WMIA) 2005 Innovator of the Year Award at the WMIA's 18th annual awards dinner honoring woodworking industry leaders at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, Ga.

Giordano Checchi, WMIA president and CEO of SCM Group USA, announced Woodharbor as winner of the 2005 Innovator of the Year Award, saying, "The winner, a custom door and kitchen and bath cabinetry manufacturer, introduced an automated door line system designed to deliver just-in-time manufacturing with no machine tool changeover required between the manufacture of each door component."

For more than 30 years, WMIA says, it has provided the North American wood products industry with "the most technologically avanced woodworking systems available in the global market."