The Potential of Computer Controlled Optimizing Equipment in the Wooden Furniture Industry

Abstract

The goal of the wooden furniture industry is to convert lumber into parts by using the most efficient and cost effective processing methods. The key steps in processing lumber arc removing the regions that contain unacceptable defects or character marks and cutting the remaining areas to the widths and lengths of needed parts. Such equipment has been used in furniture mills in for more than 30 years, but it has been difficult to exploit its full potential. Studies have determined the error rate of average furniture-mill workers and the impact of these errors on the efficiency of rough mills. With the increasing sophistication and capabilities of today's rough-mill equipment and software, it is now possible to remove human operators from most decision making roles during processing. Scanning systems are available that can locate defects with a high degree of accuracy, and rough mill simulation programs can quickly process digital board images and determine optimal cut solutions. The inefficiencies of Current wood-processing methods are discussed and potential gains from processing station integration and global optimization strategies and explored. How these goals can be achieved in practice also is discussed.

Citation

Thomas, R. Edward; Buehlmann, Urs. 2003. The Potential of Computer Controlled Optimizing Equipment in the Wooden Furniture Industry. In: Deisenroth, Michael P., ed. Enterprise integration, a production perspective, electronic proceedings of the 17th international conference on production research; 2003 August 3-7; Blacksburg, VA. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Polytechnic Institute.