Another BCMC is a wrap and it is clear that pent-up demand remains in the component industry for new automated saws. Longer than one-year machinery lead times are still with us, so what can be done in the meantime to mitigate the long lead times? Take a look at your existing automated saws and determine how to feed one or all of them with an Enventek Lumber PickLine!
Using a PickLine to feed an automated saw, versus inefficient forklift lumber picking, will recover/reclaim saw idle time resulting in more cut pieces, and allow better collating of cut pieces to speed up truss production at the truss build tables. A thousand board feet of collated truss lumber is a lot more productive than a thousand board feet of un-collated truss lumber at the truss build tables. In other words, what produces more trusses? A thousand board feet of collated truss lumber or a thousand board feet of un-collated truss lumber? Many truss plants have developed their own “cutting schemes” over the years based on their unique saw arsenal and material handling capabilities. A Lumber PickLine will improve any plant’s existing sawing output and boost truss production with even better collated lumber. When the new saw finally arrives, it will be hitting the ground running.
An Enventek Lumber PickLine can feed any automated saw. Multiple unique saws can also be fed from the same bunks of lumber, further accelerating the ROI with economies of scale from the significant savings of forklift operating costs. This produces a proven operating costs savings from the get-go. Single PickLines and Double PickLines are quite common now. Triple PickLines take some doing, especially if we are talking about an existing truss plant, but when a Triple PickLine is implemented, the savings are more profound. In fact, one customer reported, “We went from 25 forklifts down to 6 forklifts with a Triple PickLine and SpeedCatch Carts.”
In the foreground of this picture, the green Monet DeRobo double stacking Power Deck is fed from PickLine3. In the background is RetroC1 fed from PickLine2 and in the far background is RetroC2 fed from PickLine1. [For all photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
The next two photos show how the PickLine3 seamlessly feeds the DeRobo by dispatching boards down the lumber waterfall skate wheel arms.
The combination of the DeRobo’s 20 ft double stacking autofeed Power Deck and the PickLine’s SmartConveyor, completely eliminates saw idle time which significantly boosts saw output.
To Feed the Beasts, each automated saw has a PickLine and SmartConveyor. Left to right: Trough1 feeds the DeRobo linear saw, Trough2 feeds a RetroC component saw, and Trough 3 feeds another RetroC. Feeding three (3) automated saws from the same bunks of lumber results in an accelerated ROI just from economies of scale.
The video of how this linear saw is fed continuously by the PickLine is posted at https://bit.ly/picklinederobo.
When you’re ready to Feed Your Beast and see these efficient and effective systems for yourself, let us know! Inside and out, LimTek Process Organization Technology will help you squeeze out more truss production and deliver quality trusses with shorter lead times to better service your customers by organizing your truss fabrication processes to maximize your investment in automation. https://limteksolutions.com/#solutions