Scaling back log scaling costs
Interfor's Acorn sawmill in Delta, B.C. recently started operating the first government certified legal-for-trade log scanner in North America
The company is reducing scaling costs while providing more accurate log measurements.
The Microtec Logeye scanner system at Acorn is officially the first scanner in North America to be approved to automatically measure log volume for trade. In September 2015 the scanner has been tested in the lab and certified by Measurement Canada to meet the recently released Terms and Conditions for the Approval of Timber Dimension Measuring Devices.
Previously, the Acorn sawmill was required to manually scale every single log off site at a drylands sort facility. Now the system, is significantly reducing manpower, reducing scaling costs while providing more accurate log measurements. Interfor's Acorn sawmill has had a Microtec six-head true shape scanner for six years. "The big difference now, is that the system is now government certified," says Bruce Moran, timber value supervisor for Interfor's Campbell River operation who oversaw the pilot project at the Acorn mill. The potential savings from implementing this type of technology has already grabbed the attention of other coastal mills, as well as mills in Quebec and the B.C. Interior.
The Logeye Multi-Sensor Quality Scanner at Acorn has 12 cameras that are synchronized to the microsecond while they are taking digital images of each log up to 600 times a second to be able to make a proper reconstruction of the log while it passes through the debarker. Illustrating the high tech nature of the system, Norvin Laudon, Chief Technology Officer at Springer Microtec North America, says: "The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) has done a very thorough job and it is the most thorough certification we have so far. I know having the Canadian certification is opening doors in other countries, as well."
