Take a look at the £1.5m technology upgrade that’s taking our sawmill to the next level
To the untrained eye, sawmilling hasn’t changed much in the last 150 years. Timber, blades, sawdust and residues – that’s all still true of the process. But look closer at our EWD Main Saw-Line today, and you’ll soon realise there’s a world of difference between traditional sawmilling and the technologies driving efficient production.
This year has seen a full control and scanning overhaul, including new Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) systems, PROFINET communication throughout the line, and a brand-new operator control station with updated PCs and software. Effectively, the saw-line has a new brain, running smoother and more efficiently than ever.
But the real highlight of the story is what’s happening above the line itself.
We’ve installed MiCROTEC’s latest LOGEYE 301 scanning system, giving us an even sharper three-dimensional picture of both the log and the canted log as it moves through the mill. It means we can match each log more accurately to the right product for its natural shape, with more precision than ever.
Alongside it sits LOGEYE STEREO, a stereoscopic camera system mounted on gantries that bridge the saw-line. As each log passes beneath, the cameras capture its full circumference and give it what MiCROTEC calls a “fingerprint”, a 3D shape signature that’s unique to that log.
From there, it gets really clever
As the log moves through our handling system and changes orientation, the stereoscopic cameras keep recognising that same fingerprint and feed the information back to the infeed conveyor. Spiked rollers then rotate the log to its optimum angle, accurate to within one degree, and hold it there right through the chipper canters and bandsaws. It’s a fully automatic, closed-loop rotation system, leaving our operators free to keep a watchful eye on the process rather than manually adjusting the logs by hand.
Why do these technologies matter?
Every log has an ideal position for cutting. Get the positioning right and you get more usable timber out of it, and less turned into wood chip. Multiply that across the volume of logs we process, and the improved yields add up. Early indications point to a yield increase approaching 1%, though we’re still putting the system through its paces after commissioning, so we’ll share more detail once we’ve had longer to measure it properly.
The principle hasn’t changed since 1876. We have always read a log’s shape and grain, to understand the product it can become. What’s changed is our ability to act on that judgement instantly and consistently – on every single log that comes through the mill.
New tools, same trade. And 150 years of sawmilling, now supported by some of the sharpest technology in the industry.
Want to know more about how we produce our timber? Get in touch with the Ransfords team on 01588 638331.