Can Lumber Compete?

Lumber prices advanced 218 percent from 1940 to 1950. All commodities increased only 109 percent in the same period. To maintain a competitive position, change must be made to improve yield, reduce labor cost per board foot of product, and improve product quality. If not, lumber will be priced out of the market by 1975. Yield may be improved by use of linear programming to optimize procedures to convert trees to logs and bolts, and logs or bolts to lumber. Yield may also be improved by producing chips from log residues for pulp and planer shavings for particleboard. Decreasing kerf losses will also improve yield. Man-hour requirements to produce lumber may be lowered by use of sound engineering principles in design and layout of mills and the use of new mechanical equipment now available. Quality of lumber is expressed in grades and dimensions. Grades should be based on current market requirements to the extent they are compatible with quality of currently available log sizes. Grading rules should be simplified and combined with similar rules to reduce the present number. Specifications for miscut hardwood lumber has regressed since 1945. Present day manufacturing equipment is capable of producing accurately cut lumber, as analysis of within board variation of many mills has shown. Production to closer specifications would also improve yield as well as quality.

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