A procedure for determining the benefits of sorting lumber by grade prior to rough mill processing

Rough mill simulation software determined yield, processing time, and machine utilization differences between sorted and unsorted lumber. Both crosscut-first and rip-first rough mill systems were simulated. For the crosscut-first rough mill, a yield increase of about 1 percent was obtained for lumber sorted by grade prior to processing. For the crosscut-first rough mill, total processing time was not influenced by sorting lumber prior to processing. The actual machine utilization for the crosscut-first-rough mill was increased by 9.4 percent for the crosscut saw and decreased by 16.7 percent for the salvage crosscut saw when sorted lumber was processed. Sorting lumber prior to processing for the rip-first rough mill also increased yield by 0.3 percent. Total processing time was decreased by 2.0 percent for the rip-first rough mill when processing sorted lumber. The actual machine utilization for the rip-first rough mill was increased by 25 percent for the crosscut saws, decreased by 1.8 percent for the sorting operation, and increased by 13.5 percent for the salvage straight-line ripsaws when processing sorted lumber.

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