Rules Corner

NHLA Operations Management

by Amanda Boutwell

QWe recently sat down with NHLA Chief Inspector Dana Spessert for a conversation about the NHLA Operations Management Program. A&

Q: What is the goal of the Operations Management Program from NHLA?

A: Our goal is to help sawmills manufacture more lumber out of their logs. It is important to note that the softwood industry has embraced quality control measures for decades, primarily because they had very tight margins—defined as the difference between what they paid for raw materials (logs) and the amount of money they would receive from selling the lumber. With margins so tight, they knew they had to control every aspect of the process. They wanted to maximize their yields throughout the whole operation, and they called that process quality control. But quality control wasn’t their focus. Their focus was to make more money.

The hardwood industry can do the same thing. If we focus on every aspect of the operation, we can improve the profitability from logs to lumber or green lumber to kiln-dried lumber. Every point of the sawmill that produces the end product needs to be evaluated. Those are the points that can cost you a lot of money. Our Operations Management Program is designed to assess those points, measure, and help establish a specific tolerance that the machine or employee should stay within.

Q: What points do you measure as part of the Operations Management Program?

A: We measure everything from log scaling to debarking, including the minimum opening face, lumber size control (thickness), edger operation, trimmer, lumber inspection, and even package quality.

Q: How could packaging improve yield?

A: Well, in that case, it is more about aesthetics – customer satisfaction. Take a tin can, for example. If you have a tin can at