Product and process design drive 80% of the total costs, but most continuous improvement effort is spent trying to reduce the remaining 20% in current production. Taiichi Ohno, the father of Toyota’s production system, created the “Seven Wastes,” a nice list of ways to categorize wastes in production. The wastes he identified in his book are overproduction, waiting, transportation, over-processing, …

Scion has developed a new biobased treatment technology that can give softwood radiata pine durable properties. The treatment increases the performance of radiata pine timber in outdoor uses including decking, cladding, outdoor furniture and exterior joinery. Unlike conventional preservative treatments, which generally contain heavy metals, their new stability treatment technology is eco-friendly, using renewables obtained from processing agricultural wastes. Wood …

Timber Queensland has acknowledged the Palaszczuk Government’s announcement this week as an important first step toward recognising the need for resource security and the long-term future of the many workers and timber companies directly involved in the South-East Queensland native hardwood industry. Timber Queensland’s CEO Mick Stephens said the announcement of a number of measures by the State Government was …

The strong scent of pine you get as you pass by logging depots at our major ports is one of the more obvious signs of our booming export industry for radiata pine logs from New Zealand. Around seven per cent of our land area is covered in forest logging plantations, which produced exports in the form of raw logs and …

Hundegger Australasia are pleased to announce the appointment of Benedikt (Ben) Buerschgens to the position Regional Manager – New Zealand. The expansion of Hundegger machinery in Australia and New Zealand over the past 18 months, including the frame and truss segment, prefabrication, glulam and other mass timber applications has led Hundegger to make this strategic decision to support their valued …

Norske Skog this week announced the sale of the Albury assets to Australian papermaker Visy who plan to undertake feasibility studies into the potential future uses of those assets on the site. The sale is part of a broad Strategic Asset Review of the Australasian operations by Norske Skog’s owner Oceanwood. The review confirmed the need to reduce newsprint capacity …

Engineered wood and building development giant Katerra’s new cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam plant is now open in Washington. Katerra says the 270,000 square foot facility is the largest of its kind in North America. Citing “off the charts” demand for its CLT, the US$150 million manufacturing plant will produce up to 13 million board feet of timber per year. …

Warehouses and distribution centres are increasingly looking to integrate digitalisation, automated guided vehicle systems (AGV) and other mobile platforms to optimise their operations. Flexibility, reliability, availability, and productivity are the major contributing factors in the efficient use of these vehicles. This is why it is so essential to detect potential faults as early as possible and respond to them appropriately …

As part of the WoodTECH 2019 series run by the Forest Industry Engineering Association, sawmillers throughout New Zealand and Australia were treated to some hands-on practical troubleshooting and mill maintenance sessions. One of these was given by the well-known sawmilling guru, Joe Shields from USNR. The presentation was titled “Primary Breakdown Machine Alignment and Maintenance Techniques to Improve Reliability”. During …

How did you decide your career path? Did you want to follow in your parent’s footsteps, or set your own career path? For OneFortyOne’s Sam Von Duve, it was a mixture of both that inspired him to launch his career as an apprentice at Mount Gambier’s Jubilee Sawmill. Sam is currently completing his apprenticeship in mechanical engineering, working at the …

Exciting news out of Tasmania is that a brand new, purpose-built hardwood CLT plant will be constructed in the state’s north-west industrial centre of Wynyard. Stirling Machinery has been selected by CLTP Tasmania to supply state-of-the-art machines for stage 1 of the project, due to be completed before the end of 2019. Both a domestic and international game changer, this …

Sawmill profit margins have fallen substantially in North America over the past 12 months with BC sawmills margins in the 2Q/19 being close to their lowest levels in 15 years, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. Costs for sawlogs declined in most major regions around the world in the first half of 2019. However, lumber prices have fallen faster in key …

While this article is not so wood related, it is a great example of how warehouses and distribution centres in other sectors are automating their systems. The BMW Dynamics Center in Dingolfing is welcoming the launch of a pilot project that will allow incoming spare parts to be transported safely from the incoming goods station to the picking warehouse with the help …

Hyne love to share their passion for timber, but their Australian mills at Tumbarumba NSW and Tuan near Maryborough QLD are just a little out of the way. That’s why they’ve created a new digital mill tour. The website says “turn your headphones up to “chainsaw” and sit back while our expert team take you through the amazing timber production …

Seven years ago, Brisbane based sustainable timber specialist Kennedy’s Timbers had stagnated, were facing issues on all fronts, in a tough competitive market and at a risk of closure. However, a commitment to creating a positive workplace environment has proven successful for Brisbane-based Kennedy’s Timbers in turning the business around and culminating in being named Queensland’s Small Employer of the …

With environmental impact, cost savings, and industry-leading innovation in mind, Delco Forest Products in New Brunswick has signed on to become the first sawmill in North America to install a Mühlböck continuous dry kiln. The kiln is part of a multi-year US$9-million modernization investment undertaken by the West Branch, N.B.-based sawmill. Read the full article at the Canadian Forest Industries. …

Global competition for forestry companies is very high today. All companies aim to improve their production times, as well as the price and quality of products. Increased production levels over the years represents a major gain for the industry. To this end, companies aim to maximize their production capacity while limiting losses. This requires tracking productivity indicators in order to …

It’s become a situation that all too many mills are familiar with. Filers are getting older and starting to make retirement plans. Apprentices take time to train and gain experience and there is a shortage of youth entering the trade. At the same time, tighter margins within the forest industry means efficiency is more important than it has ever been. …

Long established Tasmanian timber processing business, Britton Timbers is acquiring the Specialty Veneers (incorporating Corinna Timbers) veneer and panel processing facility at Somerset in North West Tasmania. Britton Timbers General Manager Shawn Britton says the acquisition aligns perfectly with the company’s ongoing strategies to produce quality decorative timber and timber products for the furniture and joinery industries, including meeting the …

The board of N.Z. Future Forest Products Ltd (“NZFFP”) announced yesterday (29 July) that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire 100% of Claymark Group Holdings Ltd (“Claymark”) from its controlling shareholder. Claymark is a global leader in manufacturing high quality New Zealand radiata pine wood products. It has approximately 600 employees, operates six manufacturing sites …

The Northland Regional Council is facing a loss of NZ$800k after investing in a timber mill at Marsden Point. The council lent the money to Resource Enterprises Limited, or REL, in 2014, from its investment funds. REL ceased trading in 2017 and has not paid its last two quarterly interest payments. Council chief executive Malcolm Nicholson said the council had …

Tasmanian timber is featuring heavily across national media this week. The national Tasmanian Timber campaign is seeing increased awareness of Tasmanian timber across Australia as the locally produced species are featuring increasingly in high-end design. On Wednesday, Tasmanian timber, including Tasmanian Oak, Tasmanian Blackwood and Hydrowood, is the centrepiece of a stunning Tasmanian house that featured on Grand Designs Australia. …

Mills collect millions of pieces of data each day on density, moisture content, defects and grade of their timber, but how do they use it? Seventeen representatives of the Australian softwood timber industry came together in Mount Gambier to hone their skills in Statistical Process Control to tackle that mountain of data to maximize recovery, verify compliance and remain competitive. …