| Northeast Mill Services, Inc. | ||
| 1985 to 1998 | Scott Piper establishes Northeast Mill Services, Inc. The company builds relationships with customers and vendors and solidifies itself as a leader in machinery representation and sawmill design, primarily in New England EWP but also into the hardwood areas of New York, Pennsylvania, and down to Kentucky. | |
| 1998 to 2008 | The company grows with the addition of Michael G. Baker. Originally from "The County" in Maine and a graduate of Northeastern University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, he brought AutoCAD experience to the group. With Pinkham Lumber sawdust in his blood from his father's employment there, Michael jumped right in and helped the company grow.
Those ten years saw significant growth of the company with sales of PHL grade/trim/sort/stack lines and edger optimizer systems, Precision chippers and screens, Webster vibrating conveyors, Lewis ReadyScan log optimization scanning, Corley carriages, and many others. Tough times were to follow. | |
| 2008 to 2012 | The economy experienced a major financial crisis, largely due to the collapse of the housing market and subsequent failures of major financial institutions. This triggered the "Great Recession" with a significant decline in overall economic activity, a doubling of the unemployment rate, and the loss of millions of US jobs.
To keep things moving forward Scott was forced to lay off his employees and operate on his own with some part time help as needed. He worked mainly as a consultant for his customers, keeping the company relevant by helping them weather the storm. | |
| 2012 to 2019 | It was more of the same with ups and downs for the industry as a "new normal" was achieved. As consolidation continued in lumber manufacturing, continuing development with controls and automation indicated some major developments in the near future. | |
| 2019 to 2021 | The dichotomy of a global pandemic against a revolution in lumber grading with the advancement of AI saw a big change for the company. Scott knew he needed help to take advantage of the "next thing" in the industry... AI driven automated lumber grading. | |
| Northeast Mill Services LLC | ||
| Apr-Dec 2021 | Northeast Mill Services LLC was established in 2021 as an asset purchase of Northeast Mill Services, Inc. to continue sawmill and related machinery sales, consulting, design, and engineering for the lumber manufacturing industry. Michael came back as majority owner to work with Scott to help grow the company once again by matching the right customer with the right vendor.
Michael sat down at the computer in early April of 2021, felt like he never left, then hit the ground running. While Michael learned how to run a business and split his time between the office and sales calls, Scott continued running the roads, reestablishing relationships, building a vibrant customer base, and filling everyone in on the new company structure. The "Expert" systems from Comact proved to be the "next thing" for the industry and for NMS LLC that Scott foresaw. By the time Michael and Scott reached their partnership agreement, NMS Inc. had already seen the delivery and start up of two TrimExpert systems. One was for an Eastern White Pine sawmill and the other was the first AI system for hardwood in the United States. They sold one more TrimExpert before the end of the year. The company started to expand into more construction management for machinery installation and construction projects, utilizing other experienced consultants and engineering firms to supplement their own growing capabilities. Due to the pandemic and travel restrictions, NMS LLC was asked to assist in closing on a project for a new vendor. That increased the network of the "right vendors" with which NMS LLC would work. | |
| Jan-Dec 2022 | Things continued to go well for the company. Five more "Expert" system deliveries and four more "Expert" start ups kept NMS LLC riding the wave. The interest in automated AI machine grading was spreading throughout the industry and Scott had positioned the company well for the upcoming rush. Learning more about the Comact "Expert" systems, continued monitoring of ongoing projects, and constant prospecting for new business became the norm. | |
| Jan-Dec 2023 | The busiest year for the company saw nine more "Expert" deliveries and ten "Expert" startups. The footprint that NMS LLC covers also increased to the west and south as the need for automated AI grading in hardwood swept across the industry. Labor savings, lack of qualified labor, and consistency in quality is what the systems offered, and nearly everyone knew they needed to take advantage of the opportunity to remain relevant and competitive.
Observation and guidance of ongoing projects with some management aspects increased the value that NMS LLC could provide to their customers. As the industry grew the need for better machinery and controls and automation kept everyone busy on all fronts. No one was really sure how long things would stay as "up" as they were, but the company was positioned to be busy with ongoing work for some time when the inevitable downturn came. | |
| Jan-Dec 2024 | The "Expert" systems continued to move with eight more deliveries and seven more start ups in 2024. The increased tensions in the political climate and things being so good for so long saw the beginning of the contraction of the economy and the industry. | |
| Jan-June 2025 | The first six months of the year have been volatile. One more "Expert" system delivered and two "Expert" start ups nearly complete the backlog of systems sold by NMS LLC. | |
31 Route 25 - Unit #4
Plymouth, NH 03264
info@nmsvc.com
Tel: (603) 536-5730
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