In the B700 project and the investments in technology it involves we have laid the foundation for the next generation of sawmills. A considerably more digital sawmill in which no element of the manufacturing process needs to be left to chance according to Johan Olofsson, technology and operations development manager at SCA Wood and director of the B700 project. Source: Timberbiz
Where once the sawmill relied on a visual inspection of the exterior properties and shape of a log, Bollsta is now one of the few sawmills in the world with the capability of creating added value by sawing logs based on images of their interiors.
“The logs we saw have often been growing in the forest for between 70 and 100 years and the fact that we can now see straight through them using advanced imaging technology is a real game-changer. It means that, before we saw the log, we can decide which product it is best suited to and no longer leave any aspect of our manufacturing process to chance. In combination with the increased production capacity of the grading mill, this gives us a genuine competitive advantage,” Mr Olofsson said.
The CT scanner and its fingerprinting technology also enables SCA to follow the log’s journey through the sawmill, from sorting to finished product in the warehouse. In other words, by giving every log a unique ID, you can follow all pieces back to the exact log from which they were sawn, a technical development that allows control and follow up the finished product at a completely new level.
“With the new grading mill in place in Bollsta and all of the new technology operating in other parts of the sawmill, put simply, we now have a unique opportunity to create a fully digital representation of our entire workflow. We can now run a virtual copy of production in parallel with the real one, and work with optimisation in an entirely new way,” Mr Olofsson said.
As a result of the interconnectedness of the components of the new mill, and thanks to the fingerprint technology, an enormous amount of new data is being generated. Staff can use this data themselves and, eventually, with the help of computer use it to develop the organisation much more quickly and efficiently.
Using the data that has been registered and stored, among other things you can follow up any problems that might have arisen, as well as analysing any patterns and use machine learning to identify potential problems before they happen.
“A computer that has seen an operator take the same measure to fix a given problem often enough will be able to issue a warning before anything happens, or propose solutions much more quickly and, eventually, fix the problem itself when it does arise,” Mr Olofsson explained.
“Just as in other areas of society, we see enormous potential in being able to further digitise our processes. At Bollsta Sawmill, we are now taking advantage of all the technical aids currently available, while at the same time preparing for what we believe will be possible tomorrow. Anything to create even more value from the forests we harvest.”
