To help us understand what wood veneer purchaser Mark Schild does, he offered to tell us about a recent Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a call on my cell. I was at the wood plant and a guy I work with told me he\u2019d just gotten some great logs that I might be interested in. Whatever else I had planned didn\u2019t matter. I jumped in my truck, drove downtown to look at them and bought them on the spot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mark is the one person at Steelcase responsible for buying wood for the largest maker of office furniture in the world. He is ready to hop in his truck or jump on a plane to get the wood that will delight customers and meet Steelcase quality and sustainability standards<\/a>. He\u2019s responsible for knowing what kind of wood designers and customers will want even before they order it. And, if there\u2019s a need for a custom fit, he knows how to find exactly the right look for the right office. Mark hand selects 80-85% of the millions of square feet of wood veneer that will be used this year.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a big job. For Mark, it\u2019s a family job. He\u2019s one of five family members who works at the Steelcase wood plant in Kentwood, Michigan.<\/p>\n \u201cI love wood. You\u2019re never going to find any logs that are the same. It is alive, part of nature,\u201d he says. \u201cIt feels warmer. You can give it the tap test \u2014 just tap it with your fingernail and you can tell if it\u2019s real wood.\u201d<\/p>\n