In British Columbia expansion of value-added production has been brought to a standstill. Depressed economic conditions in Asia; oversupply in the US resulting in low prices; and the US/Canada Softwood Quota Agreement, which limits access of new production, have all put a damper on investment in new plants.
It was newsworthy therefore, when a value added centre was opened recently in Cranbrook, by Tembec Forest Products. It was of particular interest given the size of the plant and the unique nature of the process of adding value to wood products. The new plant, built on the site of a recently closed Tembec sawmill, is targeted to produce 106,000m³ of structural grade from 153,000m³ of low grade dimension lumber, purchased from mills in the region.
About 25% of the low grade lumber comes from two neighbouring company sawmills and the balance is purchased on the open market from as far away as Alberta. Only dry and surfaced No 3 common dimension (net thickness 1.5in) is used. It is supplied in widths from 4-12in and lengths from 8-16ft. Species are SPF (spruce-pine-fir) and fir/larch.
No 3 common (ILMA grade rules) is typified by one or more of the following – large knots or knotholes, excessive wane, large pitch pockets, and severe warp or twist. Simply stated, the new plant cuts out the solid wood from the low grade dimension by either sawing with the grain creating full length pieces, or cross-cutting into short pieces, which are then finger-jointed. Product output consists of stud and No 1 and 2 structural grades in three widths – 3, 4 and 6in in specified lengths up to 16ft. All waste is processed as chips for the company sawmill.
The process is not only an example of better use of the basic wood, but produces a premium product. It has been found that finger-jointed studs and structural lumber are more stable in conditions of high humidity and heat, resisting the tendency of solid wood dimension to warp and twist. Virtually all production is being shipped south to Texas where heat and humidity are common, according to plant manager Barry Laidlaw.
So far, Tembec has found ready acceptance in the market for the plants’ products. Studs have been receiving a C$10-15 premium. In addition, it has been found that the margin between purchase price of No 3 common and the market price is relatively constant, unlike a sawmill, which pays a relatively flat price for logs and then faces a widely fluctuating market price. This contributes to profitability.
Strategic location
The new plant is located at Cranbrook, a well- established town of 18,000, which lies in south-western BC near the US border in the western shadow of the Rocky Mountains. The city has a strategic location situated, as it is, at the western end of the Crows Nest Pass, one of only three railway passes through the Rocky Mountains in BC. The city has prospered as the hub for the railway and is the commercial centre for the region.
Tembec is a large Canadian integrated forest products company with its head office in Québec. The company took over Crestbrook Forest Industries in Cranbrook in 1999 which included a pulp mill nearby in Skookumchuck, two sawmills in neighbouring communities and a sawmill and planer mill in Cranbrook. This is typical of the acquisition trend in North America today. Acquisition of Crestbrook gave Tembec a foothold in BC to go along with operations in eastern Canada and France.
The idea of a value-added centre started with Crestbrook. Barry Laidlaw noted that it had become clear that there was simply not enough fibre to operate the three sawmills and a decision was taken to close the Cranbrook mill. Fibre shortage is a new phenomenon in BC as the Provincial government continues to reserve more and more timber from commercial use which results in reductions in the allowable annual cut.
Closing the sawmill raised several issues for the company. First was the employee layoffs which deeply affect a small community such as Cranbrook. Then there was the loss of chip supply for the Skookumchuck pulp mill and loss of revenue to the company.
A study team was appointed to analyse the situation and produce alternatives to consider. One of these was the value-added idea, said Mr Laidlaw. While the study was started under Crestbrook management, Tembec agreed to continue the study and, in August 1999, the decision was made to start construction of the new plant on the site of the closed sawmill.
Tembec specified that the new building would be constructed with engineered wood products instead of steel, which is the usual mode for wood product plants. The engineers at Tembec worked with the Canadian Wood Council to design the building and ensure that roof and wall systems would work together.
As the process is new to BC, designing the production flow and equipment meant breaking new ground for Tembec engineers and technicians. Much of the equipment from the sawmill was adapted for use in the new plant. This was done so well that applications have been made for three patents. Worthy of note is the edger from the sawmill, which was converted to a curve-sawing ripsaw with a bank of three chopsaws.
Every effort was made to employ the services available in Cranbrook and of the C$10.75m capital cost of the project, about half was spent locally.
While the production process looks simple, it is anything but. To be economic the process must be fast and automated to provide a high output. Production begins with a forklift loading parcels of No 3 common onto a breakdown tilt table. Individual pieces are then fed into a scanner, which analyses each piece and then directs it to the curve sawing ripsaw and/or the chopsaws to recover the solid, on-grade wood. Output from the ripsaw is conveyed to a manual sort line where pieces are grade stamped and then packaged by grade, width and length.
The short pieces from the chopsaws are tracked automatically by the scanner to sorting bins, by size and species. When a bin is full, pieces are fed into a 5/8in finger-joint machine. The resulting continuous piece is then planed lightly with an eased edge and precision cut into desired lengths. An automatic stacker forms packages which are then put into temporary storage for 24 hours to permit the glue to cure.
Scanning technology
The key to the process is a scanner built by Lucidyne. It is a highly complex, computerised machine which must analyse each piece of No 3 common and decide how it can be sawn to optimise recovery, in just seconds. As is often the case with new, first-of-a-kind, complex equipment, the scanner has been a bit of a stumbling block to achieving planned production of three shifts per five day week with 41 people. According to Mr Laidlaw, good progress is being made and production is increasing steadily. He gives much of the credit for progress to the experienced workforce, who were formerly employed at the sawmill.
Two types of glue are used. For studs, where strength is required in compression, a white carpenter’s glue with catalyst is used. For structural grades, a stronger polyurethane glue is used. The strength of glued lumber conforms to ILMA grade standards. Quality control is vital. One piece every hour is tested and if there is a failure, the test is repeated and if that fails, the entire batch is reprocessed.
The value-added centre is still in a learning curve but has already met various objectives in supporting community employment and producing a well received product. According to Mr Laidlaw, the company is already looking ahead with new product development and examining opportunities in Japan and Europe.
