Recent Client Success

Recent sawmill successes:

We took some time to reflect on the accomplishments of the past four months and celebrate the significant changes that have occurred. Those changes include:

  • Consumption (recovery) improvement of over 9% (5.53 to 4.95), which equates to a benefit to Tembec of at least $1 million annually, as a result of the following improvements:
    • Better even-ending at slashers, resulting in fewer good chunks to the chipper.
    • Fewer logs from the scanner belts going to the chipper by utilizing the bypass kicker and improving the operation of step feeders and kickers.
    • Much improved sawing patters for both primary breakdown machines.
    • Significant improvement in quality for the compact. No sniped ends.
    • More consistent lumber sizes in the mill due to better quality control.
    • Fewer pieces thrown away at the planer.
  • Productivity improvement of over 10% (154k to 172k per shift), resulting in an annual benefit to Tembec of at least $500,000.
  • Morale improvement of the crew, resulting in better cooperation in all areas as a result of listening to their ideas and using them to improve operations.
  • Management team members have a clearer understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
  • Better control of log mix, allowing for more effective operation of both saw lines.
  • Improvements in lumber stacking efficiency. For example, we used to stack a unit of 1" in approximately 20 minutes; we can now stack a unit in 6 minutes.
  • Improvement in lumber drying and kiln operations, resulting in improvements in grade out at the planer.
  • Improved inventory control through the elimination of the pile of unsorted rough lumber and better control of peeled log inventory. A typical lumber inventory adjustment at month end was around 200,000 board feet, whereas the adjustment for September was approximately 8,000 board feet.
  • The ability to quickly change products at the compact from a 2x4 and a 1x4 to two 2x3's.