WoodTECH Update – Issue 28

Welcome to the latest issue of WoodTECH.News.

First off, we’re delighted with the turnout this year for the WoodTECH 2020 event. The on-line six-part webinar series finished just a couple of weeks ago. Over 250 of you registered for the wood manufacturing and dry-mill series.

Considering the number of mills across Australia and New Zealand, and the webinars being run (timing was scheduled to ensure New Zealand, Australian and North American mills could all participate) in the middle of a production day, it’s really a great response. Thanks for your support. Thanks also to the support of key technology and equipment providers along with some of our local mills who all pitched in to make this revamped series such a success.

The focus over the last couple of weeks has been on showcasing a raft of new technologies that will make a significant difference to how manufacturing, including wood processing, is being undertaken. Automation, robotics (including the first major installations of robotic production lines into Australian and New Zealand mills), virtual and augmented reality, the use of wearables in a mill environment and the use of in-mill dashboards to make better use of collected machine data inside the mill were all covered.

An extended 90-minute troubleshooting session from USNR on timber planing and machining operations along with a look into just how an Australian timber business turned their Queensland operation around by changing the business culture all featured over the two weeks. Details on the speaker presentations, presenter contact details and recordings of all six webinars that can be used by local mills for their own in-house training were sent out last week.

This month’s issue features a number of recent developments out of Australia, including problems by mills in regions affected by the summer bushfires in securing longer-term log supplies and protests by local contractors outside Bunnings in response to their decision to stop stocking timber sourced from Victoria’s sustainably managed native forests (and produced by local timber mills).

There is also the set up of a new industry grouping in Victoria, the Victorian Hardwood Sawmillers Association, and news that C3, one of Australia’s largest forest products logistics providers, has just secured a multi-million-dollar deal to provide log marshalling services in Portland, Victoria.

That’s it for this month. Remember to send through any contributions, stories or links that we can pass onto the wider wood processing and manufacturing community.

Check out all the articles below and enjoy this month’s issue.