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NON TECHNICAL SUMMARY:
In the wood products industry, the basic understanding and resulting accumulation of knowledge of manufacturing processes and systems has not evolved as readily as single process optimization tools. In this project, the hardwood products industry will be studied, for the purpose of developing and disseminating information on how to scientifically tap available data sources, turn that data into valuable knowledge, and how to implement that knowledge automatically in wood products manufacturing and decision-making systems.
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| APPROACH:
1. Through studies in the areas of hardwood dry kiln control, lean manufacturing, and multi-criteria system optimization, data collection and analysis efforts will focus on prioritizing manufacturing system variables by the degree of their variability, and their impact on system constraints. Currently, we have three projects underway that will utilize this approach. In current dry kiln process control research, lumber moisture content data will be analyzed for its variability throughout a key portion of the drying schedule. The research hypothesis of this work is that the variability of the moisture content data within a kiln load is the constraining factor in shortening the drying time. As we progress in this and related projects, we will characterize total variation in lumber moisture content by hardwood species at all stages during and after the drying cycle. Data will be generated both from drying experiments using our dry kiln in the Forest Resources Laboratory
and from industrial kiln loads through cooperating companies. In another research project on lean manufacturing for the wood products industry, we will be gathering data from the manufacturing operations of participating companies in order to demonstrate the effect of the natural variation of wood on the resulting outcomes of processing decisions and work-in-process inventory levels. And in multi-criteria system optimization research, we will be analyzing production data from hardwood lumber manufacturers to analyze the effect of variability on traditional management indices. 2. In all these areas of research, the data collected will be used to develop computer models that demonstrate the impact of variability on projected outcomes. Simulation techniques will be utilized to analyze various scenarios under differing levels of variability and uncertainty. 3. The final phase of this research project will be to demonstrate the feasibility of designing the delivery systems of these
resulting models so that previously unachieved levels of utilization may be achieved in the hardwood industry. Issues that will be studied include: employee training and retention, tactical and strategic use of models by industry management, and compilation and dissemination of value-creating knowledge through internet-based resources.
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CRIS NUMBER: 0198519
SUBFILE: CRIS
PROJECT NUMBER: PEN03997
SPONSOR AGENCY: CSREES
PROJECT TYPE: MCINTIRE-STENNIS
PROJECT STATUS: TERMINATED
MULTI-STATE PROJECT NUMBER: (N/A)
START DATE: Nov 1, 2003
TERMINATION DATE: Sep 30, 2008
GRANT PROGRAM: (N/A)
GRANT PROGRAM AREA: (N/A)
CLASSIFICATION
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| 404 | 0650 | 2020 | 2.1 | 33% |
| 602 | 0650 | 2080 | 3.1 | 34% |
| 901 | 0650 | 2090 | 3.1 | 33% |
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CLASSIFICATION HEADINGS
KA602 - Business Management, Finance, and Taxation
KA901 - Program and Project Design, and Statistics
KA404 - Instrumentation and Control Systems
S0650 - Wood and wood products
F2020 - Engineering
F2080 - Mathematics and computer sciences
F2090 - Statistics, econometrics, and biometrics
G3.1 - Economic Opportunities for Growth
G2.1 - Expand Domestic Market Opportunities
RESEARCH EFFORT CATEGORIES
| BASIC |
34% |
| APPLIED |
33% |
| DEVELOPMENTAL |
33% |
KEYWORDS: knowledge; engineering; optimization; hardwoods; manufacturing; process development; variation; simulation; lean; new technology; instrumentation; wood; wood products; research design; information dissemination; kiln drying; wood drying; lumber; moisture content; wood engineering; drying rate; forest industries
PROGRESS: Jan 1, 2007 TO Dec 31, 2007
OUTPUTS: A. Our work in optimizing hardwood kiln schedules through engineering process control (EPC) techniques has been recognized through publication, with a third paper on the topic published this year. B. Research of wood industry-specific lean production techniques and development of related metrics has been accomplished and two additional peer-reviewed publications were realized this year. A well-attended seminar was given to an industry audience at a major state-wide wood processing conference. C. Development of computer models to supplement operational improvement has continued with demonstrated success. A simulation project to investigate the impact on process flow of variation in production schedules of a Mexican furniture manufacturing plant resulted in another successful master's thesis project and a research paper is in preparation. Two other papers on a general-purpose simulation modeling methodology were submitted. Two students received Master's degrees in this area in
2007. D. The fourth cornerstone of the project, laid in 2005, was the completion of a second funded research project in the field of pallet system economics. Two papers were published this year on the results of this study. A third project evaluating the environmental aspects of wood packaging is underway. Graduate students involved in the project in 2007: 6 Graduate student years in 2007: 3.5
PARTICIPANTS: Judd Michael, PSU; Paul Blankenhorn, PSU; John Janowiak, PSU; Enrique del Castillo, PSU; Jose Ventura, PSU; Jan Wiedenbeck, USFS; Amit Pawar, Graduate student; Neelesh Gattani, Graduate student; Vijay Wadhwa, Graduate student; Aineth Torres-Ruiz, graduate student; Satinder Gill, Graduate student; and Atul Laddad, Graduate student.
TARGET AUDIENCES: The US hardwood lumber industry, The US hardwood components and furniture industry, Participating international hardwood companies, and The US wooden pallet industry.
IMPACT: 2007-01-01 TO 2007-12-31
We continue to work with numerous participating companies to realize and quantify the gains demonstrated through the ongoing optimization and simulation projects. Most of the impact on these companies is proprietary, but several companies have commented on the positive impact of the optimization and simulation technology as it has been demonstrated to them. With regard to the pallet research, a leader of the US pallet industry has shared that the evidence of profound adverse economic impact on the solid wood packaging industry and the even greater cost impact on the unit load management of goods being shipped to the European Union as reflected in the highly regarded research clearly contributed to the EU decision to further explore and ultimately modify their bark-free position. Savings to the US wooden pallet industry and the customers they service is measured in billions of dollars.
PUBLICATION INFORMATION: 2007-01-01 TO 2007-12-31
Ray, C.D., A. Laddad, and J. Ventura. 2007. The impact of cutting bill variability and product flow for a hardwood dimension mill as determined through discrete event simulation. Wood Fiber Sci. 39(4):614-627.
PROJECT CONTACT INFORMATION
| NAME: |
Ray, C. D. |
| PHONE: |
814-865-0679 |
| FAX: |
814-863-7193 |
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