Quality Control in the Production of Laminated Timbers

Quality control in the laminated beam industry exists because of a need to maintain and increase the quality of products to control problems caused by increased production, and to insure fabricated members meet or exceed the performance of competitive products. Quality control is not merely an inspection and testing program. The success of a quality control program lies in defect prevention. It must gather information which can be used to detect and correct poor quality. This information is fed back into production as soon as possible to stop or prevent faulty production. The quality control department acts for management, and it is usual for quality control to report to an individual not responsible for meeting production quotas. Quality control personnel should have no authority or responsibility in production. Production must still be responsible for correct and proper work. The quality control department supplements these production efforts. Quality control functions in the following seven catagories of laminated timber production: 1) surveillance of quality in all phases of fabrication – from receipt of raw materials to shipment of the finished product, 2) sampling of the completed product for testing and acceptance or rejection, 3) establishment of proper production procedures and product specifications, 4) training of production personnel in quality practices, 5) liaison between production and engineering design and drafting, 6) analysis of service reports, and 7) action as a trouble-shooting service. Nine separate areas exist under (1) (2) above for observation in the fabrication process: a) receipt and storage of raw material, b) pattern construction, c) layout of laminations: d) preparation of laminations by edge-and end-gluing and pre-surfacing, e) glue preparation, f) assembly and gluing, g) storage after gluing, h) finishing, and i) loading for transport.

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