Continuous Sawmill Studies: Protocols, Practices, and Profits
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
United States Department of Continuous Sawmill Studies: Agriculture Forest Service Protocols, Practices, and Profi ts Northeastern Research Station General Technical Report NE-334 Robert Mayer Jan Wiedenbeck Abstract Ideally, the sawmill manager knows what he/she should pay for each sawlog and what profit to expect from each log of a given species, diameter, length, grade, and quality. In reality, hardwood sawmill managers seldom base sawlog prices on the log’s profit potential. Rather, they tend to base raw material price on what they must pay to compete with those seeking the same material. In many cases, logs are processed at severe losses. The conventional sawmill study typically has been conducted on a substantially similar “batch” of logs to gain insight into gross (volume) yield, grade yield, and profitability for those logs. Traditional mill studies capture data over an abbreviated time span of only a day or two. Instead, mill study data should be collected continuously so that the results reflect potential profitability for a broad range of operating conditions. Alternate study approaches and specific mill study jobs are described and tools are provided for conducting sawmill studies. In today’s global economy, the opportunity cost associated with suboptimal utilization of raw material and mill resources is substantial. As a result, understanding the profit potential associated with different types of logs is critically important for sawmill survival. The Authors ROBERT MAYER is a consulting forester and sawmill specialist in Indiana. He formerly was vice president of operations for a major hardwood sawmill. JAN WIEDENBECK is a Project Leader and research scientist with the USDA Forest Service’s Northeastern Research Station at Princeton, West Virginia. Acknowledgments Funding for this study was received from the Wood Education Resource Center (WERC), Princeton, West Virginia. WERC is a unit of the USDA Forest Service’s Northeastern Area, State and Private Forestry. We especially thank Al Steele of WERC for his interest and involvement in this project. The following reviewers provided excellent feedback and additional content suggestions that enhanced this publication: Paul Frederick, Vermont Department for Forests, Parks & Recreation; Jim Whipple, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; Patrick Rappold, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Chris Jennings, Colorado State Forest Service; and Dave Nicholls, Pacific Northwest Research Station. We also acknowledge valuable contributions from Steve Peskar, David Cannon, and Greg Gambrel, Georgia Pacific and Allegheny Wood Products, Inc. Manuscript received for publication 8 March 2005 Published by: For additional copies: USDA FOREST SERVICE USDA Forest Service 11 CAMPUS BLVD SUITE 200 Publications Distribution NEWTOWN SQUARE PA 19073-3294 359 Main Road Delaware, OH 43015-8640 September 2005 Fax: (740)368-0152 Visit our homepage at: http://www.fs.fed.us/ne Contents Mill Studies: An Overview ............................................................................................................1 Continuous Sawmill Study ............................................................................................................2 Know Your Operating Cost .......................................................................................................2 Specifi c Benefi ts ........................................................................................................................3 Protocol and Practices ...............................................................................................................4 Commitment .........................................................................................................................4 Select a Point Person ..............................................................................................................4 Technology Transfer and Employee Acceptance ......................................................................4 Sawmill Study Basics ..............................................................................................................5 Measuring Downtime ............................................................................................................6 When Do You Have Enough Data? ........................................................................................7 Other Considerations .............................................................................................................7 Continuous Mill Study Do’s and Don’ts ........................................................................................9 Case Study 1 .............................................................................................................................9 Case Study 2 ...........................................................................................................................10 Case Study 3 ...........................................................................................................................11 Where Do You Go From Here? ...................................................................................................12 Literature Cited ...........................................................................................................................13 Appendix A: Requirements for Continuous Mill Study ...............................................................14 Tools and Materials .................................................................................................................14 Personnel and Positions ...........................................................................................................14 Other Types of CMS ...............................................................................................................20 Appendix B: SOLVE 2003 Log and Lumber Data Tables ............................................................23 Appendix C: Sawmill Business Cost Survey .................................................................................24 Aditional Mill Study Cost Information ...................................................................................26 Log Procurement Cost Information .........................................................................................27 Appendix D: Requirements and Expectations for a Successful Noncontinuous Sawmill Study ......30 Benefi ts of a Sawmill Study .....................................................................................................30 Key Information Generated in Study .......................................................................................30 Focus Areas for Meeting Specifi c Needs ...................................................................................30 What to Expect During the Study ...........................................................................................30 What is Required of You to Ensure a Successful Study .............................................................31 Post-Study Followup ...............................................................................................................32 Using the Study Results ...........................................................................................................32 Mill Studies: An Overview that has been diminished by losses incurred in sawing Sawmillers wish everyday was a good day. But winter nonprofi table and less profi table logs. Profi t is further means frozen logs and air lines, sluggish hydraulics, and eroded by the opportunity cost associated with processing potential machinery breakdowns. Spring can bring mud, no- or low-profi t logs when more profi table logs could be dirty or half frozen logs, or even a log shortage. Summer occupying mill resources. and autumn bring their limitations: lumber stain, reduced employee productivity, and absenteeism. Sawmill We know that a mill cannot buy only the “ideal” and managers recognize the wide variation in productivity “good” logs for their mill and their unique lumber and profi tability levels between good days and bad days. market demands. But, if you knew that certain types Good days witness high machine utilization, increased of logs always processed at a loss and that the loss level lumber production, optimal lumber grade retrieval, was defi ned, would it not be advantageous to resell and profi tability. Bad days usually entail considerable (merchandise) those logs at a loss so long as the loss was downtime and associated decreases in production, lumber less than the loss incurred if the logs were processed in grade, and profi ts. The sawmill manager takes the good your mill? During this era of extreme log cost, rising with the bad, presses on, and hopes the composite net production costs, and stagnant lumber prices, knowing result is acceptable production and associated profi tability. the most profi table log mix and the optimal operating schedule is the key to a hardwood sawmill remaining An optimally performing sawmill has mostly good days, profi table. and profi t on these days is enhanced by the processing of “good logs.” Even on the best of days, a perceptive A sawmill study means different things to different manager recognizes that certain “ideal” logs yield higher people. The conventional “batch study” typically was profi ts than “lesser” logs. The increased profi tability from conducted to gain insight into gross (volume) yield, these ideal logs may be associated with low purchase cost, grade