This winter season has been marked by severe weather conditions, including bitterly persistent cold and heavy snowfall. Thankfully, we’ve continued to install outdoor Lumber PickLines, which is a testament to the robustness and operational effectiveness of Enventek’s forklift lumber-picking replacement solution. Interestingly, there are only three Lumber PickLines completely under roof (along with lumber storage). These are large facilities. Of the more than forty outdoor PickLines, only five are under light Tee Sheds covering just the “lumber trough” and picker’s sidewalk on either side. Shown in the photo is a wider Tee Shed covering not just the “lumber trough” but also the bunks of picking lumber on either side. [For all photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
The majority of our PickLines are fully exposed to the elements and so are the lumber pickers. Working in winter weather is a lot like hitting the slopes snowboarding and skiing or enjoying the outdoors snowmobiling or ice fishing. To enjoy winter sports, you need the right gear, mindset, and preparation to stay warm, safe, and comfortable. Providing High-Viz insulated winter gear for your lumber pickers including winter boots, gloves, and hats will ensure that everyone can stay comfortable, protected, and productive in freezing conditions. The cost of providing winter work gear (and cleaning) is way more cost effective than a new building addition!
Shown next is an overview of an outdoor 300 ft long Triple Lumber PickLine that’s just been upgraded from a Double PickLine with the addition of a RetroC saw fed from 60 ft live decks. To cover this PickLine and the nearby dense lumber storage would require a 100,000 sqft building addition, excluding the rail spur. This is already a huge 150,000 sqft component plant producing roof trusses, floor trusses, wall panels, and laminated columns, so they needed to upgrade without changing the size of the building.
Truss setup is now faster than ever with lumber spread out and organized for this 60 ft truss! All thanks to our warm lumber picker, keeping the RetroC fed with the SpeedCatch Cart System.
We can’t avoid winter – if we live in a seasonal climate, experiencing winter every year is guaranteed. What we can do is prepare for the elements to ensure that our production doesn’t suffer and neither do our employees!
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