Sawmill Case Study

Perforex arrived at this new sawmill in Oregon armed with their philosophy that manufacturing companies can do better with the resources they already have. Both Perforex and the management team knew that getting the most out of a sawmill wasn’t just a matter of installing new equipment and hiring the best operators to run it. They knew it was also a matter of understanding the operation well enough to assess the plant’s absolute potential, and then applying the right kind of management to realize that potential. Backed by the commitment of senior management along with a proven track record of delivering results, Perforex’s consultants were ready to roll up their sleeves and go to work to help this sawmill exceed its goals.

“There’s a difference between the technical business process and the management side,” says Perforex Director of Operations Robert Landau. “Our overall objective is to help management and employees get the information they need to make the right decisions, by focusing on getting the most out of the existing equipment. Perforex works with the employees and managers to design a better way to manage the operation and then we implement it with them until it becomes second nature. We don’t just come in with a formula. Our approach to management has to fit the particular operation and have everyone’s buy-in.”

Robert and the Perforex team found opportunities for improvement at many different machine centers as they worked their way through the ExGAP Analysis™ process. The sawmill already had the optimum equipment. What was lacking were the tools to get the right information about production, value, quality and recovery into the hands of operators and supervisors along with the training on how to use the information effectively. “It’s the right information, to the right people, at the right time,” says Perforex partner Bob Chown. “It‘s really about getting the fundamentals of management happening all day, every day. In this case, production, value, quality and recovery are the keys to success.

The organization now has operators and supervisors who have done the analysis to set targets in each of these areas. Furthermore, they are now being fed with timely information to help identify problems and develop formal actions for improvement. This allows them to stop fire fighting and really start managing every machine center for maximum profitability.”

The method works, and the results are startling. Since the start of the Project, production has increased more than 70%. Also, through better product mix and quality, they are getting more value out of each log while their recovery improved by 10%.

The results have been enthusiastically received. “We know we have a sawmill that is state-of-the-art employee management,” says the General Manager. “Employees are our single largest resource beyond the equipment. And if we don’t have good people, the equipment won’t do any good.”