Computer Integrated Hardwood Processing

Abstract: The planning of how hardwood logs can be sawn to improve recovery of high-value lumber has always been hampered by the limited information provided by external defects, and whatever internal defects are eventually revealed on the cut log faces by the sawing pattern. With expanded markets, lower-quality logs, increased competition from non-wood products, social pressures to manage public lands for nontimber resources, and the reduced profit margin between log costs and lumber prices, the hardwood products industry has been exploring alternative means of improving value yield. The goal of this project is to provide science and technology-based methods and information that will benefit the hardwood products industry and related fields. Summary: Hardwood timber is a substantial economic staple in the Eastern United States. Primary hardwood processors there produce more than 10 billion board feet of sawn hardwoods annually. Most of their facilities are relatively small (< 10 MMBF/year) and are located in rural areas. To survive in a highly competitive marketplace and meet current and future consumer needs for hardwood products, sawmill operators must: (1) produce high quality and consistent products from current stocks of increasingly lower-grade timber, and (2) increase the value of each board sold. To manufacture the highest value products possible from hardwood logs, decisions made during the first