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General Development of the Business.
Universal Forest Products, Inc. (the “Company”) was organized as a Michigan corporation in 1955 and is a holding company that provides capital, management and administrative resources to subsidiaries that design, manufacture and market wood and wood-alternative products for retail building home centers and other retailers, structural lumber and other products for the manufactured housing industry, engineered wood components for the residential construction market, and specialty wood packaging and components and packing materials for various industries. The Company’s subsidiaries also provide framing services for the residential market and forming products for concrete construction. The Company's consumer products operations offers a large portfolio of outdoor living products, including wood composite decking, decorative balusters, post caps and plastic lattice. Its lawn and garden group offers an array of products, such as trellises and arches, to retailers nationwide. The Company is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and its subsidiaries operate facilities throughout North America. For more about Universal Forest Products, Inc. go to www.ufpi.com.
Information relating to current developments in our business is incorporated by reference from our Annual Report to Shareholders for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011 ("2011 Annual Report") under the caption "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations." Selected portions of the 2011 Annual Report are filed as Exhibit 13 with this Form 10-K Report.
Financial Information About Segments.
ASC 280, Segment Reporting (“ASC 280”) defines operating segments as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available that is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing performance. In the fourth quarter of 2011, we undertook a realignment to separately manage our Site-Built business, which was formerly included in the Atlantic division operating segment. This realignment improves management oversight to more effectively evaluate growth opportunities and other operational decisions. The remaining component of the former Atlantic division represented core operations and was realigned under Eastern division operating segment management.
Our operating segments consist of the Eastern, Western, Site-Built, Consumer Products and Distribution divisions. In accordance with ASC 280, due to the similar economic characteristics, nature of products, distribution methods, and customers, we have aggregated our Eastern and Western operating segments into one reportable segment. The Site-Built division is considered a separate reportable segment. Our other divisions do not collectively form a reportable segment because their respective operations are dissimilar and they do not meet the applicable quantitative requirements. These operations have been included in “All Other”. The Corporate column includes unallocated administrative costs. Separate financial information about industry segments is incorporated by reference from Note O of the Consolidated Financial Statements presented under Item 8 herein.
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Narrative Description of Business.
We design, manufacture and market wood and wood-alternative products for national home centers and other retailers, structural lumber and other products for the manufactured housing industry, engineered wood components for the residential and commercial construction, and specialty wood packaging, components and packing materials for various industries. Each of our markets is discussed in the paragraphs which follow.
Retail Building Materials Market. The customers comprising this market are primarily national home center retailers, retail-oriented regional lumberyards and contractor-oriented lumberyards. Generally, terms of sale are established for annual periods, and orders are placed with our regional facilities in accordance with established terms. One customer, The Home Depot, accounted for approximately 23% of our total sales in fiscal 2011, 28% in 2010 and 32% in 2009.
From time to time we enter into certain sales contracts with The Home Depot. The contracts are limited to the establishment of general sales terms and conditions, such as delivery, invoicing, warranties and other standard, commercial matters. Sales are made by the release of purchase orders to us for particular quantities of certain products. We also enter into marketing agreements and rebate agreements with The Home Depot. The marketing agreements provide a certain percentage of our sales revenue or a minimum dollar amount will be committed to generate sales for us and The Home Depot.
We currently supply customers in this market from many of our locations. These regional facilities are able to supply mixed truckloads of products which can be delivered to customers with rapid turnaround from receipt of an order. Freight costs are a factor in the ability to competitively service this market, especially with treated wood products because of their heavier weight. The close proximity of our regional facilities to the various outlets of these customers is a significant advantage when negotiating annual sales programs.
The products offered to customers in this market include dimensional lumber (both preserved and unpreserved) and various "value-added products," some of which are sold under our trademarks. In addition to our conventional lumber products, we offer composite wood and plastic products. We also sell engineered wood products to this market, which include roof trusses, wall panels and engineered floor systems (see "Residential & Commercial Construction Markets" below).
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We are not aware of any competitor that currently manufactures, treats and distributes a full line of both value-added and commodity products on a national basis. We face competition on individual products from several different producers, but the majority of these competitors tend to be regional in their efforts and/or do not offer a full line of outdoor lumber products. We believe the breadth of our product offering, geographic dispersion, customer relationships, close proximity of our plants to core customers, purchasing and manufacturing expertise and service capabilities provide significant competitive advantages in this market.
Residential & Commercial Construction Markets. We entered these markets through strategic business acquisitions. The residential housing customers comprising the residential construction market are primarily large-volume, multi-tract builders and smaller volume custom builders. We also supply builders engaged in multi-family and commercial construction. Generally, terms of sale and pricing are determined based on quotes for each order. In addition, We supply wood forms and related products to set or form concrete for various structures including garages, stadiums and bridges.
We currently supply customers in these markets from manufacturing facilities located in many different states. These facilities manufacture various engineered wood components used to frame residential or commercial projects, including roof and floor trusses, wall panels, Open Joist 2000®, I-joists and lumber packages. Freight costs are a factor in the ability to competitively service this market due to the space requirements of these products on each truckload.
We also provide framing services for customers in certain regional markets, in which we erect the wood structure. We believe that providing a comprehensive framing package, including installation, provides a competitive advantage. Terms of sale are based on a construction contract.
Competition in this market is primarily fragmented, but we do compete with a small number of national and regional retail contractor yards who also manufacture components and provide framing services, as well as regional manufacturers of components. Our long-term objective is to continue to increase our manufacturing capacity and framing capabilities for this market in certain regions we do not currently serve in order to expand our national presence. We believe our primary competitive advantages relate to the engineering and design capabilities of our regional staff, customer relationships, purchasing and manufacturing expertise, product quality and timeliness of delivery.
Manufactured Housing Market. The customers comprising the manufactured housing market are producers of mobile, modular and prefabricated homes and recreational vehicles. Products sold to customers in this market consist primarily of roof trusses, lumber cut and shaped to the customer's specification, plywood, particle board and dimensional lumber, all intended for use in the construction of manufactured housing. Sales are made by personnel located at each regional facility based on customer orders. We entered the distribution business through strategic business acquisitions and distribute certain products such as siding, electrical and plumbing to manufactured housing and RV customers.
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Our principal competitive advantages include our customer relationships, product knowledge, the strength of our engineering support services, the close proximity of our regional facilities to our customers, our purchasing and manufacturing expertise and our ability to provide national sales programs to certain customers. These factors have enabled us to accumulate significant market share in the products we supply.
Industrial Market. We define our industrial market as industrial manufacturers and agricultural customers who use pallets, specialty crates and wooden boxes for packaging, shipping and material handling purposes. Many of the products sold to this market may be produced from the by-product of other manufactured products, thereby allowing us to increase our raw material yields while expanding our business. Competition is fragmented and includes virtually every supplier of lumber convenient to the customer. We service this market with our dedicated local sales teams and national sales support efforts, combined with our competitive advantages in manufacturing, purchasing, and material utilization.
Suppliers. We are one of the largest domestic buyers of solid sawn softwood lumber from primary producers (lumber mills). We use primarily southern yellow pine in our pressure-treating operations and site-built component plants in the Southeastern United States, which we obtain from mills located throughout the states comprising the Sunbelt. Other species we use include "spruce-pine-fir" from various provinces in Canada; hemlock, Douglas fir and cedar from the Pacific Northwest; inland species of pine, plantation grown radiata and southern yellow pines from South America; and European spruce. There are numerous primary producers for all varieties we use, and we are not dependent on any particular source of supply. Our financial resources and size, in combination with our strong sales network and ability to remanufacture lumber, enable us to purchase a large percentage of a primary producer's output, (as opposed to only those dimensions or grades in immediate need), thereby lowering our average cost of raw materials and allowing us to obtain programs such as consigned inventory. We believe this represents a competitive advantage.
Intellectual Property. We own several patents and have several patents pending on technologies related to our business. In addition, we own numerous registered trademarks and claim common law trademark rights to several others. As we develop proprietary brands, we may pursue registration or other formal protection. While we believe our patent and trademark rights are valuable, the loss of a patent or any trademark would not be likely to have a material adverse impact on our competitive position.