BOISE, Idaho, Aug. 14, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Boise Engineered Wood Products announced today its selection as one of only nine national winners of the annual Partners of Choice Award from David Weekley Homes. The prestigious award is given to winning suppliers, or "trading partners," that have been chosen by David Weekley Homes as their best performing suppliers of the past twelve months. Only Boise and eight other companies out of approximately 150 trading partners doing business with David Weekley Homes were chosen for the prestigious "A,A" Award in 2006.
The awards are based on the David Weekley Homes National Trading Partners Survey, a running quarterly review of about 150 suppliers. The ratings are provided by nearly 1,000 team members of David Weekley Homes, from all levels within the company. Suppliers are rated on quality and service on a 1-10 scale. The scores for each company are averaged, then ranked with all others that participate. Alpha rankings are then assigned in 20% increments, from A to F. Receiving an A for quality and an A for service in the same year is rare, with the "A,A" Partners of Choice Award being the highest ranking that any trading partner of David Weekley Homes can receive. "It's very hard for a supplier to achieve an 'A' rating in both quality and service, and then maintain it for the entire year," said Bill Justus, Vice President of Supply Chain Services for David Weekley Homes. "Those that did, such as Boise, have proven through their actions that they are among the best of the best in companies to deal with."
David Weekley Homes began their Partners of Choice program approximately two and a half years ago as a way of cultivating the best possible working relationships with their trading partners. The comprehensive program was designed to provide feedback to trading partners, open lines of communication, improve performance in quality and service, build stronger working relationships, and head off problems before they occur. The ultimate goal for David Weekley Homes is to create the best possible home buying experience for its customers. "We feel this survey is an excellent tool identifying those partners who are serious in their pursuit of world class excellence," said Justus.
Believing that it takes more than great products to be a great supplier partner, Boise several years ago began introducing value-added services for its customers. Boise value-added services now include the Build-Rite(tm) Process, which helps volume builders improve their plans, eliminate waste, reduce costs, and shorten cycle time. Another Boise value-added service is BC FRAMER(r) integrated framing design software, which can output precise squaring diagrams to assure homes are built to exact dimensions, and color-coded framing placement plans to show placement of framing components. BC FRAMER can also output precise material and cut lists, and download those to Boise Saw-Tek(tm) automated cutting systems. Saw-Tek systems can process the cut list to 1/8" accuracy to deliver framing materials to the jobsite ready-to-install, if desired. It can also pre-cut HVAC, plumbing and electrical holes to speed installation of utility lines, and inkjet-mark each piece with identifying and placement information. These and other Boise value-added services are designed to solve supply-chain problems and help Boise and its channel partners run more successful businesses. "We want to continue to be in the forefront of doing more for our customers," said Denny Huston, Boise Engineered Wood Products sales and marketing manager. "We want to be leading the charge in helping our supply-chain partners make their businesses run even more smoothly. And we are very proud to be working with David Weekley Homes on many of these important service initiatives," he added.
About Boise Cascade
Boise, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, manufactures engineered wood products, plywood, lumber, and particleboard and distributes a broad line of building materials, including wood products manufactured by the company. Boise also manufactures a wide range of specialty and premium products, including imaging papers for the office and home and papers for pressure sensitive applications, as well as printing and converting papers, containerboard and corrugated boxes, newsprint, and market pulp. Visit Boise's website at www.bc.com.