At each BCMC, we’re able to see the evolution of our industry in real time. Right now, we’re seeing how to integrate machines that used to operate independently. These machines, the saws and the tables, have had sixty years of improvements, and a billion dollars of CM investments. Saws, for example, have been systematically upgraded from manual to powered to automated operation. But only lately has there been much investment, beyond software, to integrate the cutting (or the assembly) with the flow of material into and out of it. [For images, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
Although many manual systems were developed to move material, the lumber train and carousel were among the first powered systems capable of moving full bunks of lumber to the saw. The carousel was a more compact solution, but both were limited to 5 or 6 sku’s. These systems have become less practical as cutting has become less repetitious.
One of the first physical connections between saws and tables came with Jim Urmson’s TCT Feeder System. This was first deployed at BMC West in Boise, ID in 2005, then Forest Products in Sarasota, FL, and finally at Manning Lumber in Ocala, FL. Manning currently has TCT XL Saws feeding conveyors on both sides of their plant. Tim Bennett, GM at Manning, attests to the superiority of this system over lumber carts, especially when cutting truss-by-truss.
The first integration of a lumber feed system and saw came in 2005 with Jerry Koskovich’s Miser and Steve Aylsworth’s Bunk & Magazine System. The Bunk Feeder was a mechanical marvel, with the ability to strip individual boards from the bottom of a bunk of lumber. The Magazine Feeder added the availability of 5 or 6 additional sku’s to the system but had to be loaded manually. In 2015, Steve Aylsworth took this concept to a whole new level, patenting what came to be known as the Ranger RSTM System. This system simplified the mechanics, ramped up the speed, and made available 11 or more full units of material, supplemented by a magazine cart.
In 2017, MiTek introduced the Component Delivery System (CDS), which was displayed at this year’s BCMC as part of the Direct Drive System. For the first time, this system integrated the picking of lumber via the Ranger RSTM with the MatchPoint BLADETM and delivered cut parts via the CDS directly to a queue at the tables. All this was software-driven with unattended operation.
Look for many more developments in material handling in the coming BCMCs, especially in automatically feeding lumber onto the table, and, perhaps, even in creating truck-bed-ready bundles of trusses.