At the beginning of 2006, Mike Manojlovic Sr., President of L&M Lumber Ltd. and Nechako Lumber Co., rounded up his team to take necessary steps for the installation of an automated grading system that required no human intervention. Instinctively, all eyes turned to a system equivalent to the one in operation at their sawmills. But Mr. Manojlovic knew that Comact had developed its new system with vision, the GradExpert. He asked his team to perform tests to compare the latest technologies, since he already knew Comact’s reputation as a leading equipment supplier. With these results, the adventure began.
The Sinclair Group (L&M and Nechako) has acquired 9 transverse systems with vision: 5 GradExpert™, 3 EdgExpert and 1 SortExpert. The project proceeded in five phases, from mid-March 2007 until October 2008. According to Francois-Yves Levesque, Comact’s project manager, the major goal of these projects was to increase the proportion of production exported to Japan with a raw material of decreasing quality, due to the pine beetle epidemic in Western Canada.
The first phase in March 2007 consisted in installing a precision trimmer with 2 saws which could process up to 220 pieces/minute while ensuring a precision within 0.5 mm.
In April 2007, the most important phase of the project began. It consisted in installing an inclined GradExpert™, a Paddle Fence with defect saw having a precision within 0.25”, as well as a 13-bins board sorter. The manufacturing and installation of this equipment had to be perfect in order not to damage the wood intended for export, and was to operate at 220 pieces/minute.
The third phase, in May 2007, was the installation of a flat GradExpert™ on the stud line. This GradExpert™ operates at 220 boards/minute without interruption, in order to feed a Gilbert planer. This line processes more than 50% of the mill production at Nechako.
The fourth phase followed in June 2007 with the installation of one EdgExpert at the sawmill. It’s to be noted that the EdgExpert optimized the edger to the sawmill. The original intention of this installation was to process the side boards coming from the logs affected by the pine beetle. In fact, the solutions provided by this scanner took into account the geometry as well as the orientation of the splits caused by trees drying in the forest.
The last phase started in November 2007 and included the installation of a third GradExpert™ in order to replace the existing DTEC scanner. This line processes all the pieces needing a trim from 1’ to 3’ long. The installation, start-up and performance tests of this line were held in less than a month –quite an accomplishment.
Comact’s GradExpert guarantees an output of 98% and more in value, as well as a rate of 5% or less of under quality in the bundles. The installation of these three GradExpert™ systems made it possible to double the proportion of exportable volume towards Japan without having to change anything at the sawmill. Grading is ensured exclusively by the GradExpert™, without any human intervention being necessary. The main defects detected are all geometrical defects, rot, knots, splits, stains, worm holes, appearance defects and paint marks. What’s more, the GradExpert™ is in constant evolution and the list of the detected defects lengthens on a regular basis.
The Comact team wishes to thank Mr. Manojlovic Sr. and the Sinclair Group for its confidence in Comact throughout this project and for their contribution to the success and improvement of this technology.
