Hyne Timber embracing robotics

Hyne Timber’s world-class operations at its Tumbarumba sawmill, in southwest NSW, are being driven by innovation and cutting-edge robotics. During a recent AFPA visit to the state-of-the-art sawmill, Hyne’s impressive, fully-automated timber sorting and packing production unit – using sawmill robotics – was showcased.

As part of an industry world first, the sorting and stacking process of graded timber is done by optical recognition and robotics of on-the-fly grading markings, featured on individual pieces of timber.

As explained during the AFPA tour by Hyne’s Tumbarumba site lead Kristina Kaminski, the main objective of this ground-breaking project was “safety-first” and to eliminate injuries to human staff from manual handling, sorting and stacking timber.

“We want to put our people’s safety first and this was a wonderful way of achieving this,” Ms Kaminski said.

In 2001, Hyne purchased the mill on the western side of the Snowy Mountains, which marked the company’s single biggest investment, and a key decision to move into the southern markets. Following a number of upgrades in recent years, the high-tech mill processes more than 500,000 cubic metres of log a year, or the equivalent of about 16,600 timber-framed homes.

Similar to Hyne’s Tuan Mill in Queensland, there is no log waste at its Tumbarumba mill. With a circular economy focus, all by-products generated are either used as biofuel to heat the mill’s heat plant, and sold to local customers, such as Visy’s operation in nearby Tumut.

Following a series of devastating bushfires, in 2024 Hyne opened a new 4700 square metre storage facility at the site to protect timber from extreme weather.

The facility was supported with funding by the Australian and NSW Governments, as part of a commitment to building stronger, more resilient regional economies. The large-scale storage facility can store up to 4000 cubic metres of timber, known as ‘Rough Sawn, Kiln Dried’ (RSKD) material.

Hyne also has a strong commitment to supporting local communities. The company established the Hyne Community Trust, which is unique to the Tumbarumba region and to date, has contributed almost one million dollars. The trust supports community projects, individually valued at over $10,000 and has provided local infrastructure upgrades, as well as life-saving equipment to the local SES and fire services.

AFPA sincerely thanks Hyne for hosting our group tour earlier this year, which provided invaluable insights into the company’s operations, investments and innovations.

Source: APFA
Image credit: Hyne Timber