Brewer, ME -- Since 1977, Nyle Systems LLC has been providing and consistently improving dry kilns for the lumber industry. Located here, Nyle strives to provide excellent after market service, which coincides with the performance of their kilns.
Though they are most famous for building and patenting the first dehumidification systems that allowed kilns to operate at comparable temperatures to that of conventional kilns, Nyle offers gas fired and conventional kilns as well, ranging from 1,000 to 300,000 or more board feet of holding capacity. The company can be a solution for small and large-scale Softwood operations as well as hardwood sawmills. Nyle can provide service to mills producing all species and sizes. They have systems in place that are drying timbers up to 12-inch to quoting kilns for lengths up to 90 feet.
When purchasing a Nyle kiln, the process starts by collecting as much information as possible to help serve the client in the most efficient way. “Itʼs all about gathering information from the client on the front end and it all comes down to the calculated water removal and the rate at which it is going to come out,” said Jeremy Howard, sales manager for the companyʼs lumber kiln drying division.
From there, they figure out the kiln sizes that best accommodate the clients needs, then look at their local energy costs. “Almost everything here starts with energy savings in mind,” Howard said. Because Nyle can provide kilns with different methods of drying, the customer can evaluate which type of kiln will be the most effective and cost efficient for their operation.
When deciding which type of kiln to install, Nyleʼs sales team advises based on what species are being dried and what the client already has in place. “The typical kiln we put up is 65-80,000 board feet, and itʼs about a 50/50 split between indirect gas-fired and dehumidification systems,” said Howard. He added that if a customer is fixated on a specific size, they do custom build. They offer both aluminum track and package kilns.
Incorporating a Nyle kiln into a companyʼs operation doesnʼt end at the date of purchase. They pride themselves on their support. “Itʼs great to make a sale, but it is also great to make a relationship. Weʼd prefer to have those relationships because overall that is where your sales come from,” said Howard.
In the past, the companyʼs focus was heavily on the dehumidification kilns, but has developed into a one-stop shop for all kiln-drying needs. Over the last five to six years, they have been focusing on board chambers and complete solution packages. In addition to 24/7 customer support, all of Nyleʼs kilns are mobile compatible and can be monitored from anywhere. This service also extends to past kilns they manufactured and installed, as well as to kilns from other vendors because their kiln controls can be added to existing structures. Howard describes Nyleʼs controls as a high-end system, but simplified for maximum functionality. “We needed to provide a solution that would allow us to build something that was standard but would allow the customer to customize it as needed,so we build features that you would typically see in a very elaborate, expensive system such as mobile access, scheduling and recording data, then simplify it,” he said.
Nyle also recently launched a parts store. Most parts and supplies needed to repair any kiln can be found and purchased easily on their new site. The store is run by Nyleʼs service team, meaning that even if a kiln did not come from Nyle, their staff can be a help going forward.
At its founding, the company had two partners, Sam Nyers and Don Lewis. The merger of their ideas and last names created Nyle. Now, under the ownership of Ton Mathissen, the company is made up of over 40 employees, which includes sales, engineering, production, installation and service. Nyle is completely turnkey, from fabrication of equipment to their own installation crew that can travel anywhere in the country and pop up a kiln in 21 days or less.
The sales team consists of Lewis, co-founder and chief technology officer, Howard, who has been with the company for 12 years, Stan Krahn, who started in building small dry kiln systems and small dehumidification systems then worked his way to sales, and Craig Delano, service manager.
Nyle Systems also manufactures and sells water heating, food dehydration and energy recovery systems, though lumber drying systems still make up the majority of their business.
For more information on Nyle Systems, visit www.nyle.com. To access the kiln store, visit /lumber-drying-systems/kiln-store/