About The 2021 Conference
Co-located with the Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Exposition (EXPO 2021) in Atlanta, Ga., Productivity & Efficiency: A Conference By Timber Processing, Sponsored By The Southern Forest Products Assn. will be a single day featuring 12 dynamic, topical presentations for the lumber industry. A mix of equipment suppliers, consultants and mill personnel, the August 12th conference presentations will cover project implementation, lumber recovery and an in-depth look at continuous dry kilns.
Full agenda is available here.
A CONFERENCE BY
SPONSORED BY
Concurrent Sessions
AUGUST 12, 2021
ROOM A311
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Turnkey sawmill construction and startup projects have taken the industry by storm, but not to be forgotten are the piecemeal equipment and technology installations that serve as periodic transfusions, not only in older mills but also in those turnkey mills once the shine has worn off. Four speakers will address the most efficient approaches to an effective installation and startup of an area of your mill.
9:30-9:35 a.m. – Moderator Remarks and Introductions – Dan Shell, Senior Editor, Timber Processing
9:40-10:05 a.m. – “Capital Project Planning: How Our Vision Grew,” Parker Dempsey, President, Dempsey Wood Products
10:10-10:35 a.m. – “Visual Scope In Developing And Maintaining Your Project Function And Cost Expectations,” Bernie Pahlke, President, BEP Engineering
10:40-11:05 a.m. – “Evaluating Opportunities Of Prospective Projects In The Sawmill,” Kerry Wilson, President, Greg F Smith Co.
ROOM A311
LUMBER RECOVERY AND OTHER MILL ENHANCEMENTS
Numerous factors drive lumber recovery performance, beginning with the size of logs feeding into the saw lines, and including technologies in the mill from optimization of process parameters to thin-kerf sawing, and a supportive and encompassing lumber recovery data review and input program. Four speakers will address these and numerous other factors that should come into play.
1:30-1:35 p.m. – Moderator Remarks and Introductions – Dan Shell, Senior Editor, Timber Processing
1:40-2:05 p.m. – “Using Benchmarking Data To Improve Your Bottom Line,” Huey Long, Senior Principal, Mountain Creek Group
2:10-2:35 p.m. – “Maximizing Lumber Recovery In Modern Sawmill Operations,” Mike Steele, President, OSORNO
2:40-3:05 p.m. – “Easy Money: Upgrading Outdated Sawmill Scanning Equipment,” Joey Nelson, President, JoeScan
2:40-3:05 p.m. – “What Are Your Saws Trying To Tell You — A Self-Directed Assessment Of Your Filing Room,” Dave Purinton, Vice President Marketing, The Wood Fiber Group
ROOM A312
CONTINUOUS DRY KILN WARS!
Maybe it’s not a war, but more and more equipment companies, domestic and international, have entered the continuous dry kilns market. From a distance these kilns may all look alike, but each CDK supplier brings a different approach supported by crucial if not patented input from lumber producers. Morning sessions will each feature four speakers who address ongoing developments with continuous dry kilns and what makes each of them unique and efficient.
9:30-9:35 a.m. – Moderator Remarks and Introductions – Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief, Timber Processing
9:40-10:05 a.m. – “Everything You Want To Know About Dual Path Continuous Dry Kilns, But Are Too Afraid To Ask (Part I),” Furman Brodie, Vice President, Charles Ingram Lumber
10:10-10:35 a.m. – “Everything You Want To Know About Dual Path Continuous Dry Kilns, But Are Too Afraid To Ask (Part II),” Doug Tinsley, Owner/Principal, Tinsley Consulting
10:40-11:05 a.m. – “Linear Flow Continuous Kilns & Their Advantages,” Ingo Wallocha, Managing Director, Valutec Wood Dryers
11:10-11:35 a.m. – “Operations of the Single Pass Kiln,” Floyd Vocque, Sales Engineer, American Wood Dryers
2021 Speakers
Everything You Want To Know About Dual Path Continuous Dry Kilns, But Are Too Afraid To Ask
Furman Brodie, Vice President, Charles Ingram Lumber & Doug Tinsley, Owner/Principal, Tinsley Consulting
Furman Brodie and Doug Tinsley will cover the essential reasons for using a dual path continuous dry kiln and the advancements made to improve their efficiency and safety. This isn’t rocket science but it is real interesting and a lot of fun. As these kilns have evolved we have increased their capabilities by taking advantage of changes in their design and operation. Discussion will also explain how we evolved from the basic dual path dry kiln to today’s Norev dual path dry kiln and its advantages.
Capital Project Planning: How Our Vision Grew
Parker Dempsey, President, Dempsey Wood Products
As for many sawmills in the past couple of years, capital project planning has been an extensive part of the Dempsey Wood Products operation in Orangeburg, SC. The Dempseys did not build a “greenfield” mill, nor were any of the projects “turnkey.” However, they did completely transform a 30-year old sawmill, originally set up for hardwood and pine pulpwood, to a full blown pine sawmill operation within a timeframe of five years with very little downtime and production loss. One project led to another, or as Parker Dempsey good-naturedly says, one bottleneck led to another, but he believes it all worked out in the order and timeframe it was supposed to. This presentation will cover how the process progressed into the Dempseys’ vision for how their business fits with the growing operation.
Using Benchmarking Data To Improve Your Bottom Line
Huey Long, Senior Principal, Mountain Creek Group
Huey Long will discuss how top performing sawmills are twice as profitable as average mills. Detailed comparisons with your industry peers help to identify the greatest areas of opportunity for improvement and help your team to focus on improving profitability.
Easy Money: Upgrading Outdated Sawmill Scanning Equipment
Joey Nelson, President, JoeScan
JoeScan president Joey Nelson will discuss some of the obvious and not-so-obvious ways that new 3D scanners can improve sawmill profitability and make your life easier. You’ll walk away with better tools for evaluating the ROI of a system upgrade and the confidence to finally pull the trigger on that project you’ve been putting off.
Visual Scope In Developing And Maintaining Your Project Function And Cost Expectations
Bernie Pahlke, President, BEP Engineering
Bernie Pahlke will present how an unbiased company not selling sawmill equipment can gain access to all equipment drawings for all the components required from different suppliers, and tie them together to support, cleanup under and house them in an effective building, or tie to existing equipment and buildings efficiently with minimum downtime.
What Are Your Saws Trying To Tell You—A Self-Directed Assessment Of Your Filing Room
Dave Purinton, Vice President Marketing, The Wood Fiber Group
This presentation discusses tools you can use to take a fresh look at your saw maintenance operation and suggestions for continuous improvement.
Maximizing Lumber Recovery In Modern Sawmill Operations
Mike Steele, President, OSORNO
In this discussion, Mike Steele will review the critical role lumber recovery has as a driver of financial performance in sawmill operations, and the opportunities to dramatically improve results that, all too often, go unaddressed. He will cover the role that each department (sawmill, kilns, planer) play in maximizing recovery, reviewing the key levers that mills should focus on, and discuss common weaknesses that persist across the industry. Finally, he will highlight new opportunities available in the big-data-landscape of the modern mill, and discuss the levels of performance that you should expect from your operation.
Operations of the Single Pass Kiln
Floyd Vocque, Sales Engineer, American Wood Dryers
In Floyd Vocque’s presentation, mill operational challenges with kilns will be addressed, as well as the key items in regards to their operational benefits—like squeezing the most out of your heating chamber, minimizing the operational cost, footprint and project cost.
Linear Flow Continuous Kilns & Their Advantages
Ingo Wallocha, Managing Director, Valutec Wood Dryers
In Ingo Wallocha’s presentation, Valutec will explain why their kilns are linear/parallel flow, as opposed to the counterflow kiln design offered by others on the market, and what the advantages are to the design.
Evaluating Opportunities Of Prospective Projects In The Sawmill
Kerry Wilson, President, Greg F Smith Co.
Kerry Wilson’s presentation will focus on looking at project selection and implementation inside the sawmill with a financial impact perspective. Many projects have the “we need to do it” factor, but adding a “financial realization” component through a simple ROI summary may help prioritize projects that need competing for a piece of your limited investment budget by considering the resulting cash realization of the project at completion, creating visibility of which projects will help fund the next.