Mill upgrade ups higher value lumber （机升级ups更高价值的木材）.pdfVIP

Mill upgrade ups higher value lumber production A $31 million upgrade at the Fort St. James, B.C. operation of Conifex is delivering more higher valued lumber products—and resulting in a smoother, more efficient product flow. By Jim Stirling Conifex Inc has taken another major step forward. Recent improvements at the company’s Fort St. James operation are resulting in the manufacture of more higher valued lumber products. Upgrading the lumber handling and finishing phases at the mill complex has also translated into a smoother, more efficient product flow. Conifex invested about $31 million in the projects at the mill, located in north central British Columbia. The projects have contributed to a significant two to three per cent drop in trim loss and a 12 to 15 per cent increase in the manufacture of prime J and Select grade lumber products. The phased projects began in the planer during the spring of 2010.The reason for the planer upgrade was to match or exceed the sawmill’s production while reducing trim loss and improving grade out turns, summarizes Roy Helmkay, Co- nifex’s vice president of operations, who is based in Fort St. James. Prior to the upgrade, Conifex had to make use of an auxiliary planer to keep pace with sawmill production. Now the planer and the sawmill both operate on a two shift daily basis, allowing the second planer to be decommissioned. Upgrades to the planning process are dominated by Comact equipment and were installed by DelTech, of Prince George, B.C. Highlighting the package is a Comact GradExpert automatic lumber grading system, which Helmkay credits with doing a very consistent job. “Much of the work we did in the planer was done to increase productivity and also create a smoother flow,” explains Helmkay. The process includes eradicating flow bottlenecks that can cause congestion and slowdowns. A new transfer deck and drop-out for culls was installed on the infeed to the planer. The addition of Mitsubishi