Cross-lamination provides dimensional stability to plywood panels.

Plywood panels consist of an odd number of layers such as three, five, or seven. Each layer consists of one
or more plies. A ply is a single veneer sheet. The layers of a plywood panel are cross-laminated, a process
in which each layer is placed with its grain at a 90° angle to the adjacent layer. Cross-lamination provides
greater strength and stiffness in both directions while minimizing shrinkage and swelling in each direction.
The outer layers of the panel are the face veneer and back veneer. The grain direction of the outer layer
is always along the longest dimension of a plywood panel. Beneath the outer layers are the crossbands
and the core (center layer).