Stop Leaving Money on the Mill Floor

With the new technology available in the hardwood industry today, there are numerous opportunities for growth in the skilled trades through machine calibration and adjustments. I like to use the phrase, “Is it optimized or automated?” because a machine can be automated without being optimized—it can repeatedly perform the wrong task efficiently.

The most common issue we observe during our Yield Studies and Quality Control programs is that companies are often operating equipment that hasn’t been calibrated recently—or was never set up correctly in the first place. This leads to significant waste and profit loss in most cases.

This is where an opportunity exists in the industry. A well-trained hardwood lumber inspector who understands the grades can identify areas within the mill that are not operating at optimal levels. Miscuts, over/under edging, over/under trimming, inconsistent thicknesses, very few narrow boards, cross ties with FAS faces, and other wasted dollars are all areas where a sawmill can create a profit from assuring that the lumber is being sawn correctly.

The NHLA is offering Quality Control, along with Yield Analysis, to help identify these types of issues. These issues can sometimes only be found through consistent and objective measurements. The QC measuring and data collection process has already been created and is currently being used by many NHLA members, who have capitalized on the benefits of this program.

We’ve helped companies recover millions of dollars each year by identifying issues that often go unnoticed. It’s easy for these problems to be overlooked when managers are focused on simply keeping the mill staffed and running—checking whether it’s operating at peak performance is rarely top of mind.

The NHLA would like to help train your best inspectors to become your eyes and ears of the sawmill and dry kilns through our QC program. We want you to have the people on your team who can perform tests to optimize your operation’s performance and maintain it at its peak.

We can help your company identify the savings to fund a full-time quality manager—and still come out ahead.
Stop leaving money on the mill floor. NHLA National Inspectors can help you boost quality, efficiency, and profitability.

Learn more at nhla.com/services/national-inspectors.

By DANA SPESSERT, Chief Inspector