LOADRITE at the Sawmill
At a sawmill operation based at the southern tip of the South Island of New Zealand, LOADRITE is a truly integrated part of the milling operation. LOADRITE Pros are installed on the log loaders, which communicate to LOADRITE MMS in the office, so management know exactly what is being delivered from the forestry and what’s going into the mill.
The sawmill’s main operations include sawing, drying, and planting radiata pine to transform it from logs into lumber for the United States and Asian markets. Logs are brought to the sawmill on trucks and the drivers are paid per tonne. Lumber exits the sawmill by way of the green chain where the boards are graded according to Western Wood Product Association's standards and sorted for the dry kilns. It is then loaded onto trucks again for dispatch overseas.
Before LOADRITE
LOADRITE was purchased to assist in three different applications. A LOADRITE Pro and LOADRITE Material Management System (MMS) were installed on the log loaders so now management know exactly what is being delivered from the forestry and what's going into the mill. This means contractors are paid for the exact weight they deliver. A copy of the printout is used for the billing process and a second copy is provided to the forestry owners. A LOADRITE Pro is also used at the green chain in conjunction with a LOADRITE MMS. Timber is weighed as it comes off the green chain and the weight is converted into a volumetric measurement for timber grading. This information is then communicated to the central computer so that sawmill management can assess the productivity of the mill using LOADRITE MMS. When the wood has been milled it is loaded from the green chain by a forklift, installed with another LOADRITE Pro. This provides the transporting truck with the weight before it goes onto the road.
"LOADRITE paid for itself in less than five months! We now know exactly what comes into our yard so we can pay our contractors correctly, saving us thousands of dollars each year."
When the sawmill started operations trucks entering the mill passed over a weighbridge to determine the weight of the logs onboard. This proved inaccurate because in some circumstances the truck
s would weigh heavier than they were due to mud being caked on the wheel rims. This meant that the mill would be overpaying its contractors. The logs were then graded and sent on their way.
LOADRITE - the Perfect Solution