“Each yard has mainly the same set of equipment,” Hipp said. “We
are running Newman 282 or 382 planers with a material handling
system.”
The moulding operations in Austin, Grand Prairie and Little Rock
are all equipped with primarily Weinig moulders. The Ruston
operation has eight Weinig moulders and a custom moulding tool
room with more than 8,000 profiles in stock.
The company’s product list is also long and distinguished. Hogan
Hardwoods & Moulding handles every Hardwood species, Hardwood
plywood, mouldings, doors, windows, etc.
“We buy everything from southern yellow pine for the retail
operation in Ruston, to laminated and solid Hardwood flooring
for our Hardwood side,” Hogan said. “We buy nearly every product
manufactured from Hardwood whether it’s stair parts or carvings,
just about anything.”
In addition, the company is a big player in imported species,
carrying one of the largest inventories of Mahogany in the
country. Like the Hardwood species, Hogan handles nearly every
imported species, with a strong emphasis on Mahogany and Sapele.
The company officials all agree that one of the keys to its success is vendor relations.
“We definitely pride ourselves in our relationships with our vendors,” Hipp said. “Also our commitment and loyalty that we have with our vendors is almost to a fault sometimes. We will stick with them when the market is up or down—we are with them for the long haul.”
Hogan’s procurement comes from all over North America, in fact, all over the world. Every location shares the $35 million inventory. To keep track of the inventory and to move it from one location to another, the company utilizes the hub and spoke system of distribution with the Ruston facility being the hub.
Hogan runs a truck to every yard, every week and also operates a server where all the locations can check inventory.
“For example, we had 16/4 Ash at our location in Austin and
had an order in Arkansas for 100 board feet,” Hipp said. “We sent the order to Arkansas in the same week.”
The firm has four dry kilns at the Ruston location.
Hardwood lumber awaits processing into mouldings at Hogan’s central manufacturing facility.
Hogan has a fleet of 102 over-the-road delivery trucks.
That system really helped the company grow in the beginning because it allowed for better use of its working capital and to not duplicate inventory.
“It gives us an advantage to our customers because we have the availability there for our customers,” Hogan said.
