The Buck Stopped Here

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Hitting the road

Buck broke ground on its new factory in June 2004--more than a year later than CJ originally wanted. The long delay came at a steep price: $1.5 million in additional construction expenses, thanks to concrete and steel prices which had been driven up by the war in Iraq and the region's construction boom. Nonetheless, the new, 128,000-square-foot building was a gem. Located in an industrial park along the I-90 corridor, it was designed from the ground up to implement lean manufacturing in which workers operate in "cells," with emphasis on quality and flexibility.

As the skeleton of steel girders rose up from the Idaho steppes, Duckett had to solve an intricate puzzle: how to transfer production from El Cajon to Post Falls with as little downtime as possible. The first order of business was to build up three months of inventory to provide breathing space during relocation. He decided to move the machinery in two stages. First, he would transport the equipment that fabricated the parts, such as blades, handles, and so on. While this was happening, the assembly of those parts would continue at El Cajon. When fabrication was in place at Post Falls, assembly would move up to join it.

The move began the day after Thanksgiving 2004. Workers crated up an endless procession of lasers, stampers, presses, dies, drills, mandrels, grinders, and lathes, while a parade of 18-wheelers idled at the loading dock. Buck anticipated that each truck's trip would take five days: one day to load, three on the road, one to unload. It didn't always work that way. Two of the drivers, a father and son, quarreled on the way to Idaho and got into a fist fight. State troopers showed up and arrested the father at a weigh station on the Interstate, stranding his truck--along with a million dollars' worth of grinding equipment. "We had no idea where it was for about a week," Duckett says.

Buck Knives shut down the old plant on December 23 and shipped out the rest of the machinery. The workers packed up their tools and took their final paychecks. Walking through the cavernous building for the last time, his footsteps echoing off the bare walls, Chuck Buck blinked away the tears. "I thought we'd be there the rest of our lives," he says. "It was emotional to think about all the thousands of people who had worked in that plant making knives all those years. Almost overwhelming."

Meanwhile, CJ was busy organizing the work force for the Idaho plant. More than 3,000 candidates applied for 200 positions. Idaho's labor department helped Buck winnow this down to 400 applicants based on criteria such as manual dexterity, computer literacy, and proficiency in English.

The move to Post Falls meant big changes for Buck's labor setup. About 70 percent of the workers at the El Cajon plant belonged to an employees association--essentially, a union without affiliation or dues. The association's contract stipulated mandatory pay raises for its members based on seniority. In Idaho, Buck's executive group decided to eliminate the association. "From the office to the factory floor, now we have the same rules," says CJ.

CJ also had to manage his own family's transition, which turned out to be more complicated than he expected. Of his five children, three joined him and his wife in Idaho while the other two stayed in California to finish school. He traded his three-acre spread in the San Diego suburb of Lakeside for two houses in Idaho--a primary residence in the woods with its own trout pond, and a summer retreat on Lake Coeur d'Alene, with a private motorboat launch. "It's definitely a step up in the coolness factor," says his daughter, Sarah, who manages the company's retail division. "It's been an adventure."

The new factory's first blade rolled off the floor in February 2005. It was a Folding Hunter--the knife that made the company famous. The new knives arrived without a moment to spare. Buck originally reckoned that three months of inventory would be enough to meet demand while it worked out the kinks at the new factory. In the fall of 2004, however, Schrade, a major competitor, went out of business. Demand for Buck knives surged, burning through nearly all of the company's inventory.

It also took some time for Buck to stabilize its Idaho work force. When the company first explored the idea of moving to Post Falls, unemployment in Kootenai County stood at 8 percent. By the time the first knives were rolling off the line, it had dropped to 4 percent. "We were seeing 30 percent turnover," says Duckett. To hold on to its workers, Buck hiked starting wages from $6.50 an hour to $8.50. By the fall of 2005, as employees settled into the job, efficiency figures at the new factory passed the mark set in El Cajon by most measures.

Despite the hiccups, CJ is ecstatic, almost evangelical, about the move. "It's delivered everything we hoped," he says. Electric bills are roughly 30 percent what they would have been if Buck had stayed in California; workers' comp 10 percent; and labor costs 75 percent. The move reduced overhead and freed up capital for investment and product development. "It has reinvigorated this company, from the engineers to the factory floor," he says. "I could not be happier to be here. We're excited. We're kicking butt. It's reanimated a sense of pride in the company."

In honor of its new home, Buck stamped a tiny map of Idaho on every knife made in Post Falls in 2005. Above the factory, the state flag ripples in the stiff breeze, proclaiming the motto Esto perpetua--"Let it endure forever." And guarding the entrance is a hunk of rock inlaid with the brass plaque honoring CJ's grandfather. It was engraved in El Cajon--but the rock is proud Idaho basalt.

Chris Lydgate is a freelance writer in Portland, Oregon.

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