Current Projects
Warm Springs Forest Products Industries [WSFPI]
- Project Background
Atica has been engaged since July 2008 by Vanport International of Boring, Oregon (http://www.vanport-intl.com/) to provide operations management and technical oversight for their leased sawmill operation at Warm Springs Forest Products Industries [WSFPI] in Warm Springs, Oregon.
Warm Springs is noted for its east-side fine-grained Douglas Fir which is highly prized in the Japanese Export market when processed into Squares [Moya&Hashira], Sidecuts [Sujikai], and Dimension [Genban]. Atica Affiliates have provided design solutions, engineering, CAD drawings, project management, fabrication & installation, commissioning, and system start-up training on a multitude of process enhancements and major capital improvements which have elevated WSFPI into the premier producer of high-value Japanese Squares in North America.
- Project Scope
Headrig Double-cut Conversion & Optimization Upgrade
Problem Assessment: Replacement of antiquated and poorly maintained log carriage equipment which was unable to hold precision sawing tolerances. Replace 1970's vintage log scanning system and improve conversion yields. Total projected capital cost is $868,731.
Atica formulated the project scope, implementation timetable, and financial proformas and made the presentation to the WSFPI Board of Directors receiving approval in July 2010. Design attributes cited were;
- 1. Increase throughput efficiency by utilizing the Double-cut capability
- 2. Increase lumber recovery yields by utilizing the improved scanning & optimization
- 3. Improve [reduce] size related defects on finished goods, utilizing the new carriage knees & board dogs
Construction was completed on October 3, 2010 and the system has demonstrated acceptable compliance with all original design criteria.
Attribute Pre-Project
(Original) ValuesProjected Improvement
(New) ValuesProjected Gain DF-Seconds/log 110.09 88.09 20.0% HF-Seconds/log 101.35 81.35 19.7% PP-Seconds/log 160.86 125.86 21.8% DF-Yield (Overrun) 88.7 90.7 2.3% HF-Yield (Overrun) 87.6 89.6 2.3% PP-Yield (Overrun) 95.2 96.2 1.1% DF-Reduce Defects-120 Square 0.80% 2.00% 81.5% DF-Reduce Defects-105 Square 5.40% 1.00% 81.5% - Project Results
Actual performance relating to improved yields and accuracy were evident immediately. Aggregate performance data collected in the 6-months subsequent to startup reveal the following;
Attribute 2011 YTD Actual Gain over Pre-Project estimate Variance over/under estimate DF-Seconds/log 90.1 18.2% -9.1% HF-Seconds/log 79.2 21.9% 10.8% PP-Seconds/log 112.8 29.9% 37.4% DF-Yield (Overrun) 91.3 2.9% 30.0% HF-Yield (Overrun) 92.1 3.1% 35.8% PP-Yield (Overrun) 96.5 1.4% 30.0% DF-Reduce Defects-120 Square 1.30% 88.0% 8.0% DF-Reduce Defects-105 Square 0.65% 88.0% 8.0% 
