[2] They represent engineered wood manufacturers and mandate things such as quality testing, product research, and market development.

A regional quality testing laboratory is located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Based in Tacoma, Washington, the Association is composed of and represents manufacturers of structural plywood, oriented strand board (OSB), cross-laminated timber, glued laminated (glulam) timber, wood I-joists, laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and other structural composite lumber (SCL) products.

Adhesive and technology improvements eventually led to the manufacture of structural plywood from Southern pine and other species, and in 1964 the Association changed its name to American Plywood Association (APA) to reflect the national scope of its growing membership.

[3] The Association's membership expanded again in the early 1980s with the introduction of oriented strand board (OSB), a product the Association helped bring to market through development of new panel performance standards.