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Dali Lin, President of T.F. Specialty Sawmill Inc. next to a package of yellow cedar for a Japanese Buddhist temple order.
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T.F. Specialty Sawmill Inc. turns to technology to manage growth, maintain traditions
Respect for every log cut and a focus on extracting high-value specialty wood products are hallmarks of T.F. Specialty Sawmill Inc.'s approach to its business, qualities symbolized by the ancient Chinese carpentry marking gauge that forms its logo.
Today the company is turning to 21st century technology - an integrated sawmill computer information system - to increase its volumes while continuing to deliver highly specialized products to its customers.
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"Our logo is a Chinese-style chalk line, that our ancestors used 3,000 years ago to make a straight line before cutting wood," says Dali Lin, President of T.F. Specialty Sawmill. "That chalk line was very important tool to a carpenter in the old days to ensure a very fine accurate job."
Located on a 50-acre site in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, T.F. Specialty Sawmill has 40 employees and is affiliated with the Tah-Feng Factory in Taiwan. T.F. started production in 1993, filling "cut-to-size" special orders for temple and housing components for the Japanese and Asian markets and later expanding into wood products such timber frame and other housing components for North American markets. The company currently processes about 700 cubic metres a month of yellow cedar, western red cedar, Douglas fir, and Sitka spruce. Most of it is from older growth logs, although the mill can utilize a 10-inch diameter log when it is cutting for timber frame customers.
"We use many of the same cutting techniques that we're used in Taiwan over a 100 years ago," Lin says. The third generation of a sawmill family, he spent 12 years on the head saw at the company's Taiwan mill before leaving to design, manage and grow the Canadian operation. Most of the machinery in T.F.'s mill is custom-made and designed for not for speed but accuracy. The 37,000 square foot mill includes a five-foot Taiwanese bandsaw headrig supervised by a master sawyer from Taiwan who "instructs" the cut, a 48-inch Japanese and two 42-inch Taiwanese resaws, three edgers, a trim saw, and a chop saw.
Less than 20 per cent of T.F.'s business are standard size or commodity lumber products. The main focus is on specialty items such as temple components for the Japanese market that involve any where from 200 to 2,000 different sized pieces. Even its orders for the North American market can require cutting 30 to 40 different size items for a single project. Being able to cut to fill such orders at any time is part of the company's marketing strategy. That means holding a three to six month log inventory that exceeds $1.5 million.
Mill production is anticipated to grow by 50 to 70 per cent over the next year with the installation of another headrig, a high frequency vacuum kiln and Timbersizer-type planer. Completing the automation and integration of the company's office, production, quality assurance, and customer ordering and shipping systems is critical key to achieving higher volumes while maintaining quality standards, Lin says. "Now we are doing very specialized cuts that are very time consuming and becoming more complicated as volumes growth. The new technology allows us to keep our traditional approach as we grow and maintain or improve our accuracy and quality."
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T.F. plans to invest $300,000 in hardware and software to implement its sawmill computer information system. That doesn't include the cost of having full-time computer systems engineer William Yang on the payroll. Yang joined the company eight months ago and is about half way through developing and implementing T.F.'s custom database management and networking systems.
This four stage process will eventually integrate the Office's Information and its log yard, customer order subsystem, lumber inventory, and special order and commodity subsystems, Production Information and Control processes, Packaging and grading subsystems, and E-Commerce ordering, reporting, and accounting.
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The "instructor" (front) supervises the cut at T.F. Specialty Sawmill's headrig.
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Yang says that T.F. decided against purchasing an off-the-shelf log and lumber inventory control system because of its highly specialized orders and cutting programs. Another consideration is that the company's existing computer system could be switched between Mandarin and English. Yang has used Windows 2000, MS Access and Visual Basic to develop the system and plans to install Sequel Server 2000 for office and production line integration.
Integration of the mill's office information subsystems is nearly complete and some of the shipping and packaging modules are in place. T.F.'s log yard is the first area to change to a bar code inventory tracking system. Each log received is assigned a bar code and the scaler uses the numeric code to input information such as species, dimensions, and volumes and boom number into a hand held scaler. This information is then uploaded into the mill's database where prices can be assigned and used to generate a variety of reports, including those required by the Ministry of Forests for stumpage purposes. Handheld scanners are used to quickly and efficiently take log yard inventories. Lin says that means he will have the information he needs to ensure he has the right inventory on hand to meet demand, a crucial in his business where each log is different in terms of species, volume, and quality.
The next stage in T.F.'s sawmill computer information system will be the installation of computer terminals and keypads at the mill's cutting stations to better manage work in progress. These terminals will be networked and will eliminate the need to post cumbersome cutting orders, and enable staff to check on and report on orders as they're coming through their station, reducing the possibility of expensive double cuts on specialty orders. Printers will also be installed at the mill's two grading stations, where bar codes will be attached to lumber that will be assembled into customer orders. This level of inventory control is particularly important in the tallying, packaging and labeling of special orders to ensure the right goods go to the right customer.
E-Commerce Business Integration is the final stage in T.F.'s sawmill computer information system. This will include business-to-business capabilities. Eventually customers will be able to place orders, check on shipments, and even make payments via the Internet and T.F.'s Website.
Having an integrated sawmill computer information system will enable T.F. to grow while maintaining a vision that distinguishes the company from the competition and its peers. The new technology will ultimately benefit the company, customers, employees and the forest resource. By reducing cumbersome tasks the new system will reduce stress and generate greater job satisfaction. The system's new inventory control system also fits in well with T.F.'s imminent chain-of-custody certification through the Forest Stewardship Council.
A member of the Vancouver Island Association of Wood Processors and Director on the Association's Board, Lin says "customer cutting" sets specialty sawmills apart from commodity manufacturers, reduces waste and gives them a better chance of staying in business. "We have big investment here - in land, machinery, and training people. And now we're going computerized, adding a dry kiln and planer, and that's another big investment."
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