The current timber supply shortages in Victoria, Australia, brought about by vexatious legal action against VicForests is causing anguish among the people of Orbost, where 37% of its workforce faces the axe. Already thrown into an atmosphere of uncertainty with the announcement in 2019 that the Andrews Government would inexplicably shut down native timber harvesting by 2030, Orbost is the …
HewSaw Delivers Efficiency and Productivity in a New Sawline
This new sawmill in Germany is an excellent example of how to design and build an integrated facility while sending the right log to the right mill or line. Sawmillers in Australia and New Zealand face many challenges, one of which is the huge range in log diameters they contend with on a daily basis. In many cases, a “one …
Using drones to track warehouse inventory
Way back in August of last year, the launch of Corvus Robotics in the Actuator newsletter was highlighted. The Boston-based firm is one of a handful of start-ups looking to leverage indoor drones to help warehouses keep track of inventory. It’s a clever solution that’s been thus far difficult to achieve solely with wheeled robots, which have quite a bit …
Balancing lubricant flow in saw guides
From the BC Saw Filers Conference that has just run in Kamloops, Precision Machinery’s Josh Bergen explains how their Precision Flow Management system uses internal valves in each saw guide that balance the flow of lubricant throughout the guide stack.
New Ultimate Renewable™ campaign launched
The next evolution of The Ultimate Renewable™ has been unveiled. The brand’s latest consumer advertising campaign has been launched, headed up by a new brand ambassador. As part of the first consumer-related marketing activity for the brand since the pandemic, FWPA has launched a new television advertisement. Through the ad, which will run nationally, Australian viewers will meet the new …
Southern pine mill fly-through
Below is a new mill being commissioned, Kyekenkee Lumber Co in Alabama, sawing Southern Pine with a local company, A&E supplying much of the new gear. Currently production is at about 80% with full production expected by the end of the year. Equipment includes; – A&E Merchandizer & Scanning – Twin Resaw & Scanning– Optimised Gang– Two Optimized Lineal Edgers– …
Looking inside a mass timber manufacturing operation
This video discusses mass timber manufacturing and shows an advanced mass timber factory in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada (Element5). Building components are modelled using 3D modelling software and then translated into drawings for the factory. Factory components are built on advanced assembly lines and robotically machined to precision. Take a “walk” through the new factory and learn about the cross-laminated …
Timberlink announces new CLT & GLT brand
Timberlink Australia has unveiled the new brand for their forthcoming engineered wood products building solutions range – NeXTimber® by Timberlink NeXTimber by Timberlink will manufacture Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) and Glue Laminated Timber (GLT) products. Backed by a AU$63 million capital investment, the NeXTimber range will be manufactured on Australia’s first combined world-scale softwoods CLT and GLT manufacturing line, within …
Intelligent City opens its first urban housing factory
After developing and commissioning robotic technology to provide turn-key homes, Intelligent City has begun building urban housing projects in the company’s new factory on River Road in North Delta, British Columbia. This marks the completion of an extensive testing agenda to verify the performance of the company’s Platforms for Life (P4L) building system in accordance with the Encapsulated Mass Timber …
ProDetec Quick Fire Suppression System
Higher Safety with Quick Response Time When protecting critical machinery or high-risk areas from fires, the response time of a fire protection system is essential. The quicker a fire can be detected and extinguished, the less damage it will cause, production losses can be kept to a minimum and employee safety will be greatly enhanced. By using an appropriate fire …
Ladenburger optimise their Wood Procurement with Trimble Forestry
One of Germany’s largest sawmills, Ladenburger digitalize their workflow with CFBusiness. Ladenburger was looking for a paper-free, staffless receiving department and an automated and digital display of log and wood waste management, logistics, and invoicing. Source and Image Credit: Trimble Forestry
New timber building tops out in Brisbane
The latest five storey mass engineered timber building to be constructed in Queensland, topped out last week as the final, prefabricated Glue Laminated Timber Beams and Cross Laminated Timber panels are craned into position. The NIOA facility extension in the Brisbane Airport precinct is the first mass timber structure of its kind for builder, Besix Watpac and Site Manager, Ben …
Augmented Reality Headset for Service & Training
Van Dyk Vision-AR is a voice-activated computer that you wear as a headset. It includes a camera, headphones, microphones, and a 1-inch computer that displays to the eye as a 7-inch tablet. It uses camera streaming and “augmented reality” (AR) to simulate an in-person service visit or training session. It allows you to communicate with our service desk more clearly …
Measurement of saw temperatures in real-time
Part of a series of Tech Tips brought to you by Josh Bergen of Precision Machinery. The company is well known to wood processing companies in this part of the world with Josh having presented at recent sawmilling and wood manufacturing tech events organised by the Forest Industry Engineering Association.
The selection and use of micrometers in the mill
Part of a series of Tech Tips brought to you by Josh Bergen of Precision Machinery. The company is well known to wood processing companies in this part of the world with Josh having presented at recent sawmilling and wood manufacturing tech events organised by the Forest Industry Engineering Association.
How to measure saw guides
Part of a series of Tech Tips brought to you by Josh Bergen of Precision Machinery. The company is well known to wood processing companies in this part of the world with Josh having presented at recent sawmilling and wood manufacturing tech events organised by the Forest Industry Engineering Association.
A new process for preserving lumber
Pressure treating – which involves putting lumber inside a pressurized watertight tank and forcing chemicals into the boards – has been used for more than a century to help stave off the fungus that causes wood rot in wet environments. Now Georgia Tech researchers have developed a new method that could one day replace conventional pressure treating as a way …
World first robotic graded timber stacking
Tumbarumba is home to a world first. Rod Murray, Hyne Timber Automation Project Manager, says the Hyne sawmill robotics project is “a world first for graded timber stacking.” “Our team has created a fully-automated timber sorting and packing production unit.” Rod said. “Product is already being packed by the system and our operators are now assisting the contractor with testing.” …
The Automated Warehouse of the Future
They call it “the hive,” or “the grid.” Or sometimes just: “the machine.” It’s a huge structure that fills a warehouse on the outskirts of Andover, a small and quiet town in southeast England. It’s impossible to take in at a single glance, but standing on a maintenance walkway near the building’s rafters, you look over what seems to be …
Real time saw monitoring systems profiled
Real time saw monitoring systems profiled As part of the upcoming WoodTECH 2019 series running in September for local sawmilling companies, new systems for non-contact real time saw performance monitoring will be profiled. As part of the practical programme set up, Josh Bergen from Precision Machinery, Canada and Justin Williams, Williams & White, Canada will be outlining their systems, both …
Trimble Unveils Next-gen Mixed-reality Device with Microsoft HoloLens 2
Trimble has announced a new wearable hard hat compatible device that enables workers in safety-controlled environments to access holographic information on the worksite—the Trimble® XR10 with HoloLens 2. In addition, an expanded set of Trimble software and services will be available to provide field-oriented workflows that leverage constructible 3D models and mixed reality to solve daily work tasks. The announcement …
Sawmilling simulation training tool available
Like the harvesting simulator that is being used throughout Australasia for training and encouraging younger students to look at forestry as a future career option, a French company, Mimbus, has developed a sawmilling simulation tool. It appears training simulation tools can be offered for the headrig and canter machine centres. As detailed on their website, being a sawmill operator requires …
Inside the new Red Stag sawing line
The worlds most advanced sawmill and the first ‘super-mill’ in the Southern Hemisphere, Red Stag Timber, was opened in Rotorua on 23 March last year. A new sawmilling line and upgrade programme, valued in excess of NZ$100 million was celebrated. I’m not sure if you’ve seen this yet. This video of a log going through the new log line at …