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SAWMILLING

Reaping the Benefits

The NorSask mill in Meadow Lake has reaped the benefits of equipment and electronics from one supplier. 

By Tony Kryzanowski

The history of the NorSask Forest Products sawmill in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan reads a lot like a pro wrestling match, where the hero gets stomped on for about three quarters of the match, then comes back in a flurry at the end to defeat his evil opponent. Except in the case of NorSask, the battle to survive since 1988 has been real, making today's success all that much sweeter. NorSask produces 112 million board feet of finished lumber annually and until recently was the largest sawmill in the province. It manufactures lumber in dimensions from 1x3 to 2x6, up to nine feet long. NorSask Forest Products is now wholly owned by the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) and is the largest aboriginal-owned sawmill in Canada. 

In fact, this sawmill design and management structure has become the template for several other sawmill ventures in First Nations communities throughout Canada, not only because of its successful use of advanced technology but also because it provides 125 jobs. With the inspired thinking behind the design and construction of the sawmill, former shareholder and general manager Allen Brander and his management team would have done well on the TV series Survivor. When times were tough, they made the alliances and tough decisions to avoid getting voted out of business. "We don't like to brag, but we can make money at this sawmill when other sawmills are losing money," says Brander. "But NorSask is a mill that never should have been. It didn't have a lot going for it in 1988 and probably never should have succeeded. But it did." 

Since Saskatchewan has not been subject to export quotas imposed by the recently expired Softwood Lumber Agreement, NorSask has been free over the past five years to export as much softwood lumber to the United States as it could manufacture. That has been a huge advantage for the company's sales team, as 95 per cent of the mill's production is exported to the United States. However, Brander believes that with the expiry of the agreement the party is over for NorSask regarding open access to the US market and large Saskatchewan sawmills will be subject to any short term countervail duties imposed by the US. He also expects that in the long term, Saskatchewan sawmills will be included in any new softwood lumber a g r e e m e n t . Management is preparing NorSask for this eventuality. "I think that has been one of the successes of NorSask," says Brander. "We have always been able to change with the times. 

We've been able to react to market conditions very quickly because we are such a small part of the lumber industry. If we are on a quota system, then we will have to look at different markets." Open access to the booming US market occurred at a critical time when the company had just completed a $3.5 million upgrade and MLTC had become sole owner. Brander says the Tribal Council's focus most recently has been to pay down debt acquired during the takeover. The purchase by MLTC came as no surprise, he adds, having been anticipated for some time. Management's attention to detail and calculated risks are also paying off for the company. One of the most important decisions the management team made in the NorSask mill design-which runs contrary to trends within the Canadian sawmilling industry, especially when a sawmill operates more than one production line- was to install equipment and electronics almost exclusively from one supplier. 

BC equipment manufacturer Optimil provided all three production lines, electronics, edgers and optimizers. NorSask has a small, medium and large log production line, with the capability of producing lumber from logs measuring 3.5 inches up to 22 inches in diameter. Management attempted to minimize bottlenecks and maximize production output. "The design of this sawmill is high enough and long enough," says yard superintendent Glen Buchta. "In this mill, we have as much iron below the production lines as we have on top." He notes that because all three lines run almost perfectly parallel to each other on the production level, the sawmill achieves a high degree of efficiency in maximizing piece counts through the breakdown units. That is especially important through the small log line where volume is king. The final piece of the design puzzle occurred during the company's last capital expenditure program. It installed a new log sorting system at the infeed as well as the small log line. 

At NorSask, production efficiency begins in the yard where the company uses a combination of two Caterpillar 231 butt 'n top loaders and a New Holland 8492 tractor pulling large capacity transport wagons to maintain regular flow to the infeed deck. This avoids a fleet of lower capacity wheel loaders buzzing around the yard. NorSask's quest to handle volume is further demonstrated in the outfeed area where it uses a single, large capacity Caterpillar 980C wheel loader. The result of this transportation philosophy at both the infeed and outfeed area is less wear and tear on equipment and on yard corridors. 

"Utilizing technology is a priority at the NorSask mill. "We believe heavily in scanning to drive our recovery levels up," says general manager Allen Brander." (Top)

A second innovation that is rather unique yet essential to the sawmill's quality control program occurs at the debarker operator's station. Typically, the debarker operator's booth in most Canadian sawmills is the "low rent" district of the production line, where nothing too exciting is happening as long as the logs are the right length and properly debarked. Not so at NorSask. Prior to the logs entering the sawmill, the debarker operator processes logs for higher value. In a spacious, brightly lit environment, the operator uses a cut off saw to ensure that the logs are a maximum of 52 feet long and that most visually obvious defects such as cat faces, rot, excessive sweep and flare are removed. The decision to remove defects at this early stage is a result of the many challenging sawlogs the sawmill receives and is its way of managing this perennial problem. About 50 per cent of its sawlog diet is jackpine.

Another important decision made during the recent modernization of the sawmill's infeed area, according to yard superintendent Buchta, was debarking the logs prior to sawing them to length and sorting them for maximum recovery based on diameter. Buchta says this log processing sequence allows the company to recover higher quality chips. Installation of the small log line had a huge impact on mill production. It processes approximately 14,000 logs per day, and has increased the mill's piece count by 66 per cent. It also increased the mill's output by 25 per cent. "We have a high volume of very small logs within our Forest Management Area," says Brander. 

"We were looking for a high output, good quality machine where we could get our piece count up." NorSask installed an Optimil four-sided chipper canter with a double length infeed and full scanning capabilities to handle its small logs. "We believe heavily in scanning to drive our recovery levels up," says Brander. "That is very hard to do with crooked, small pine. We do a pretty good job of it, though. Part of it involves scanning to get the right pieces going to the right machine and to choose a machine that does the best job." All three NorSask lines are equipped with Optimil double length infeeds with foursided chipper canters. Vertical edgers are coupled directly to each canter line, leading to a board optimizer line. Brander says NorSask has realized a significant benefit from equipment uniformity. "Parts such as the knives and facing saws are all interchangeable between the three lines," he says. "As far as training millwrights and electricians, it just makes a lot more sense to maintain familiarity with what we have in the sawmill." 

The company also employs a full time electronics technician to maintain its electronic network. At the back end, the sawmill is completely mechanized using a J-bar sorter. It also has three dry kilns and a planer mill on site. NorSask has only two individuals working in its sales, marketing, and transportation department. "They do a good job," says Brander. "We're not into the Home Depot stores, but we do business with some of the major lumber buyers in the States, as well as with our regular mom and pop clients." MLTC is part of the corporate group which will be building an oriented strand board (OSB) plant in Meadow Lake, as the area's hardwood resource is currently underutilized. This potentially represents an additional source of fibre for NorSask because even in largely homogenous hardwood stands, there is also usually a percentage of softwood. As with so many other sawmills in Canada, NorSask must eventually deal with escalating costs of electricity and natural gas. Fortunately, the company only experienced a small electrical increase this past year and still has two years remaining on an attractive natural gas contract. 

So that provides it with a cushion to investigate the potential of constructing a power generation or co-generation plant, possibly in cooperation with other large forest companies established in the community. The OSB plant could add another player to sharing the cost of building a power generation plant. NorSask could provide a portion of the feedstock, as it currently burns its shavings, sawdust and bark. Better use of its residual fibre is among NorSask's future priorities.

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