Publication Information

Title:	Optimum Edging and Trimming of Hardwood Lumber
Author(s):	Regalado, Carmen; Kline, D. Earl; Araman, Philip A.
Date:	1992
Source:	Forest Products Journal. 42(2): 8-14.
Description:	Before the adoption of an automated system for optimizing edging and trimming in hardwood mills, the performance of present manual systems must be evaluated to provide a basis for comparison. a study was made in which lumber values recovered in actual hardwood operations were compared to the output of a computer-based procedure for edging and trimming optimization. The optimization procedure was based on National Hardwood Lumber Association grading rules and market prices for green lumber. Using a sample of 120 red oak boards obtained from three sawmills in southwest Virginia, it was found that the respective mills recovered only 78, 65, and 62 percent of the value yielded by the optimization procedure. Given the level of value recovery actually attained by sawmills, it was concluded that substantial increases in value can be expected from optimizing edging and trimming. Other aspects of interest were investigated, such as the quality (grade) of lumber that benefited most from optimization, the effect of volume loss on value recovery, and the relative impact on lumber value if each operation were optimized independently of each other.
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