USNR News September 2007 on the web www.usnr.com

Tolleson Lumber Optimizes For Profit

The Tolleson Lumber mill in Perry, GA is a unique facility in many ways, from its process lines to its management’s operating philosophy. By all accounts their strategy is paying off.

The mill runs three primary breakdown lines comprised of two carriages and a sharp chain. Southern mills often have a carriage and a sharp chain, but having two carriages and a sharp chain is rare. According to Bradford Price, Operations Engineer Manager, this configuration came about more so by luck than by design.

The mill had always run two carriages at full production, processing hardwood at night and pine during the day. But the operation was still limited by log count, so in 1999 Tolleson Lumber added the sharp chain. The new layout didn’t require anything to be removed, so the mill ended up with a higher speed primary breakdown line, and was also able to keep both carriages.

In the fourth quarter of 2006, Tolleson Lumber made some significant improvements to the carriages in the Perry sawmill. One was completely revamped with USNR 3D front and back side LASAR scanning and optimization on a new carriage, 6’ band mill, and slabber head. The mill’s other carriage also received USNR's 3D front and back side LASAR scanning and optimization system.

Bradford said, “We researched everything in the market and found this optimizer system to be very advanced. It’s the only system that can do what it does.”

Tolleson Lumber operates with an aggressive optimization and pricing strategy, and the Perry mill takes advantage of many features in USNR's MillExpert system. “We’re seeing more recovery, yes, but a big reason we chose this system is because we can enter real prices into our optimizer and cut what’s the most valuable,” said Mill Manager, John Lusk. “We didn’t have that ability before.”

The sharp chain and just one carriage can keep the mill’s curve sawing gang busy, so the other carriage is usually grade sawing. “At any point during the day, at least one of those guys is line sawing,” said Bradford, “which isn’t a bad idea since a lot of big logs are routed that way, and the carriage system offers great flexibility when cutting grade products.”

USNR’s “whole log modeling” approach provides Tolleson Lumber with an edge in this tough market. Bradford explained, “with this optimization our value uplift is more than the board footage recovery uplift, which is substantial in itself.”

“We went from look-up tables to the sky's the limit capability," Bradford added. “It was a pretty big learning curve, but we’re reaping the benefits with really good solutions."

John (Mill Manager) commented that many mills these days have optimizers, but how they choose to use the system is key. "We want to make sure we’re actually getting what it predicts, and using the system’s capabilities to the fullest.”

Tolleson Lumber has indeed been able to put the dense 3D LASAR data to good use in its solutions. In one example, a log was loaded that had a deep notch cut out about two feet from the butt end, possibly made by a feller buncher.

The USNR MillExpert optimizer saw the notch cut out of the log, and modeled lumber right up to that defect. The software didn't filter it away.

Tolleson Lumber Company is a family owned business that dates back to 1919 and spans three generations. The Perry sawmill produces approximately 150 million board feet of southern yellow pine lumber per year. With sawmills in Perry, GA and Preston, GA that have a combined capacity to produce in excess of 370 million board feet annually, Tolleson is one of the largest independent lumber manufacturers in the south.