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USNR – Introducing EXO Canter
USNR has introduced EXO Canter, their most advanced and adaptable primary breakdown line ever engineered from the ground up using the Paragon Design Standard.
This next-generation system integrates their core design values into every component, delivering a solution that redefines safety, maintainability, configurability, debris control, and piece management.
EXO Canter is the culmination of decades of experience building complete primary lines. It reflects everything they’ve learned, what works, what doesn’t, and what’s next. Designed for mills that demand performance without compromise, EXO Canter offers a fully modular, highly configurable platform that adapts to your specific production goals and site constraints.
With its first installation scheduled for startup in 2025, EXO Canter is already setting a new benchmark for what a primary line can be.
https://www.usnr.com/en/content/mi-57-exo-canter
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Comact Launches the Wide Board Lug Loader — A New Generation of Material Handling for Specialty Products
SAINT-GEORGES, QC, JULY 31, 2025 — Comact, a global leader in wood processing solutions, has announced the launch of the Wide Board Lug Loader, a next generation system engineered to handle oversized boards with cross-sections of up to 4 x 22 inches.
Building on the proven fundamentals of Comact’s industry-renowned lug loader, this new design addresses the growing need for high-performance solutions in specialty product manufacturing.
With a patent-pending design and a speed of up to 70 lugs per minute, the Wide Board Lug Loader ensures precise and efficient board handling, while maintaining the reliability and throughput customers expect from Comact systems.
“Innovation is at the core of who we are,” said Simon Potvin, CEO of Comact. “This new lug loader was developed in direct response to the needs of our customers producing specialty products,
where traditional handling equipment reaches its limits. It’s a great example of how we continuously evolve to provide tailored, cutting-edge solutions that help our clients
stay ahead.”
The Wide Board Lug Loader is the latest step in Comact’s ongoing mission to deliver more flexible technologies that meet the real-world demands of today’s mills, and tomorrow’s.
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Equipment for the leading Japanese wood processing company Chugoku Mokuzai
As a result of long-term cooperation, Hekotek AS has signed a contract for the supply of log feeding equipment, wood chips and sawdust and sawn timber conveyors to the Japanese company Chugoku Mokuzai (Chugoku Lumber Co Ltd.).
Chugoku Mokuzai is one of Japan’s leading wood processing companies with several production units across the country. The new sawmill will be built to replace the production unit destroyed in 2023 by fire in Ibaraki Prefecture on the eastern coast of Japan.
In this new production unit it is planned to saw round logs of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) from North America. The finished sawn timber will be sold by Chugoku Mokuzai mainly on the domestic Japanese market.
The transport capacity of the equipment supplied by Hekotek is expected to be approximately 100 sea containers, the first of which will begin their long sea voyage in the coming months. Production at the new unit is scheduled to begin in early 2027, preceded by an approximately 8-month-long period of installation and testing of the equipment.
The equipment supplied by Hekotek will ensure the feeding of logs at various speeds to the modernmost HewSaw sawline. The entire equipment set supplied by Hekotek is designed and manufactured based on particularly high technological requirements, where the proportion of human labor in the entire production process is minimized.
We would like to thank both the Chugoku Mokuzai project team and our local representative, Oki Kikai Ltd., for their trust and will do everything we can to ensure that the project succeeds as expected.
https://hekotek.ee/equipment-supply-to-leading-japanese-wood-processing-company-chugoku-mokuzai/
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From Log to Lumber: Comact’s Integrated Technologies Drive a New Era of Sawmill Optimization
In today’s sawmilling industry, the difference between staying competitive and falling behind often comes down to how intelligently and efficiently a mill can process every log. Fiber variability, labor constraints, cost pressures, and rising customer expectations are reshaping the way sawmills must operate, and Comact is helping lead that transformation.
With its suite of integrated, high-performance technologies — including the Hybrid Sawline and the TBL4 – Canter, Double Profiler, Curve Sawing Gang Edger — Comact delivers a full-spectrum solution that redefines both primary and secondary breakdown. Together, these two systems form a powerful, intelligent, and adaptable foundation for the mill of the future.
Secondary Breakdown Reimagined: The TBL4
Precision, speed, and adaptability come together in Comact’s TBL4, a high-throughput profiler-gang solution built to meet the demanding needs of modern softwood mills. Designed to maximize recovery and reduce processing gaps, the TBL4 features infeed and outfeed positioning tables that maintain continuous cant control throughout the sawing process.
This continuous flow translates directly into higher throughput and greater yield — exactly what mills need in a high-speed environment.
At the core of the system is Comact’s C2-Scan, a powerful real-time optimization tool that calculates the ideal sawing strategy for each cant. Using both geometric and visual data, the optimizer enables infinite profiling and curve sawing, ensuring every piece is processed for maximum value with minimal waste.
With feed speeds of up to 650 feet per minute and a processing range of 3 to 30 inches wide, the TBL4 offers unmatched versatility. Its fixed-tool design ensures reliability and simplified maintenance, while its compact footprint makes it easy to integrate into existing gang lines, minimizing disruption and capital investment.
The TBL4 also integrates seamlessly with Comact’s digital tools, including OPER8, Smart Vision, and EverBlue services, giving mills a comprehensive platform for tracking performance, driving uptime, and ensuring long-term value.
The Hybrid Sawline: Smarter Primary Breakdown
Paired with the TBL4, Comact’s Hybrid Sawline represents a revolutionary approach to primary breakdown. By combining circular saws and bandsaws in a single, unified system, it eliminates the tradeoffs mills have traditionally faced between speed and flexibility.
Circular saws efficiently handle logs up to 20 inches in diameter with high-speed precision and minimal downtime, while bandsaws kick in for larger logs that exceed circular saw capacity. The result is a line that can process a full spectrum of log diameters without compromise, reducing the need for multiple sawlines and associated maintenance complexity.
But the hybrid sawline is more than just a dual-cutting system. Its design supports multiple cutting modes — including double profiling, quadruple circular cutting, and sideboard splitting — allowing mills to produce a wider range of products on a single line. Whether manufacturing standard 2x4s (100×50 mm) or custom wides, mills gain the flexibility to shift production with market demands, without overhauling equipment or layout.
Intelligence That Runs Deep
Both the TBL4 and the Hybrid Sawline are equipped with Comact’s most advanced smart technologies, turning mechanical cutting tools into real-time decision-makers.
The hybrid system features Smart Vision for log singulation, an AI-powered platform that analyzes each log’s size, shape, and characteristics to optimize feeding and spacing. By dynamically managing log gaps and flow, it maintains consistent production speeds and eliminates bottlenecks, even with irregular fiber supply. This smart control is further enhanced by the C1-Scan, Comact’s primary breakdown optimizer, which determines the best cutting strategy for each log to maximize value from the start.
It also integrates the Primary Breakdown Closed Loop Smart Tool, which automates real-time quality control. Drawing data from the mill’s secondary breakdown scanner, this tool makes precise adjustments during the sawing process to ensure consistent, high-value cuts. With industry-leading response time and dashboard-based alerts, it boosts recovery while reducing operator workload and saw variation allowances.
In the TBL4, the C2-Scan optimizer brings that same level of real-time intelligence to cants. Combined with OPER8TM, this enables mills to visualize production data, track performance metrics, and make smarter operational decisions across the board.
A Cohesive Mill Architecture
What truly makes this combination stand out is how seamlessly each stage connects to the next. Logs enter the hybrid sawline, where they’re processed at optimal speeds using the best-suited cutting method. Cants then transition to the TBL4, where they’re scanned, optimized, and profiled with precision. Downstream, the Curve-Saw Versa Gang takes over, offering accurate curve sawing and adjustable width configurations to extract maximum value from every piece. From breakdown to final gang processing, Comact provides a fully integrated and optimized flow.
The benefits are clear:
- Fewer bottlenecks
- Higher fiber recovery
- Faster product changeovers
- Lower downtime and maintenance costs
- Real-time optimization across every step
And because both systems are modular, digital-ready, and scalable, mills can future-proof their investments while adapting to evolving fiber availability, product demands, and labor realities.
Conclusion: More Than the Sum of Its Parts
Comact’s TBL4 and Hybrid Sawline are more than advanced machines, they are complementary pieces of a next-generation mill architecture that delivers measurable results. When combined, they offer a clear path forward for sawmills looking to increase efficiency, yield, and agility in an increasingly complex industry.
With cutting-edge mechanics, powerful optimization software, and deep integration from log intake to board output, Comact is helping mills unlock the full potential of their raw material and their operations.
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USNR – Major greenfield project in the UK
Trusted technology with a twist
For the first time in many years, an industrial scale sawmill will be built from the ground up in the UK. USNR is the main supplier and its undertaking comprises the saw line and two edger lines – including optimization and controls. All machinery equipment will be delivered from USNR’s Söderhamn facility in Sweden. USNR will also supply controls for the log handling and residue handling equipment.
The new mill is designed for an annual capacity of more than 250,000 m3 of sawn goods. The Taylormade sawmill at Sherburn Hill, a few miles to the east of Durham, came under the ownership of James Jones & Sons when the company acquired GT Timber Ltd in 2021. The mill, built at the site of an old coal mine, was worn but the geographical location was ideal, so it was decided to build a new mill adjacent to the existing one.
USNR got involved at an early stage of the design work. Marcus Säteri, Senior Project Engineer at USNR, recalls the initial process, “We acted as a speaking partner for the customer long before the deal was settled. There was a lot of things that we had to take into account. The site is located on quite a steep slope and there’s a neighboring village overlooking the mill, so we didn’t want to obscure their view with high buildings. Eventually we honed out a solution where the slope worked to our benefit.”
Experience and optimization
The saw line is designed for maximum yield, using the latest optimization technology and curve sawing capabilities. James Jones & Sons has extensive experience with USNR’s bandsaw technology and continues to follow this path for the new project. Tobbe Sandberg, Technical manager at James Jones & Sons, “James Jones & Sons acquired the Durham mill in 2021 and shortly after the acquisition the decision was made to invest in a new sawmill to increase yield, efficiency and extend the product range. We decided to invest in bandsaw technology and with James Jones & Sons’ previous experience with Soderhamn Eriksson/ USNR it was an easy decision to continue the partnership with USNR. From design through to specifications, we have received excellent support from the USNR team in Sweden. Ground and building work is progressing
well, and we start machine installation in August this year [2025] with the mill due to be commissioned in 2026.
Proven solutions
The mill-to-be is designed with James Jones & Sons’ Lockerbie III production line in mind, but with all the new technology that USNR has developed since 2009 when the Lockerbie site was commissioned by Söderhamn Eriksson (now part of USNR). Precision Geometric Log Rotation (PGLR) is one example of the new technology implemented. It continuously monitors and corrects the rotation angle in the Log Turner 750E. To meet the customer’s demands of a modern mill, the Taylormade saw line will deliver more throughput and higher recovery with higher precision compared to its model.
Thirteen bands
Three Sawmaster 1600 quads and an HBS 1500 horizontal bandsaw constitute the core of the saw line, adding up to a total of 13 bandsaw units. The Sawmaster bandsaws are known for their durability, low energy consumption and low maintenance costs. This proven design serves in hundreds of sawmills all over the world. The horizontal bandsaw adds flexibility to the line and allows for an output of ten pieces from the last quad.
The Sawmaster bandsaws all feature the high-precision feed work technology originally designed for the Logmaster high-speed bandsaw. The HBS has also evolved in later years, with a more stable and precise positioning and a high-precision feed work. A great deal of focus is put on the working environment in this line. The three quad bandsaws and both chipper canters are fitted with extra thick protective covers to reduce noise and dust.
Saw monitoring
The bandsaws are equipped with BMS, Bandsaw Monitoring System, for real-time monitoring of the status and the longitudinal position of the bands. BMS detects cracks in the bands before they grow and cause band rupture. The saws also come with SawSight, USNR’s system for continuous in-line measuring and correction of the sawn goods.
The edge
Two Catech XT high-speed edger optimizers handle the side boards. These state-of-the-art edgers are fitted with the latest USNR optimization technology combined with the highest capacity the market has to offer. Both edgers are equipped with additional edger saw boxes to maximize recovery and flexibility.
USNR is honored to be part of this exciting opportunity.
Photo
Left to right: Tobbe Sandberg, Technical Manager, James Jones & Sons Ltd.;
Eddie Balfour, Joint Managing Director, James Jones & Sons Ltd.;
Christian Winlöf, Sales and Marketing Director, USNR;
Sten Jarle Solheim, Account Manager, USNR
June July issue Pages 36 / 37
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/70622971/ifi-june-july-2025-digital-final
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Canada’s Indigenous Groups Demand a Say in Carney’s Race to Build
International Forest Industries Magazine June July 2025
June July 2025 issue now available
Includes
Forwarders
Ponsse / Rottne / Komatsu
Cable Yarders
MM-FORSTTECHNIK GmbH
SYNCROFALKE® Cable Yarders: Revolutionizing Timber Harvesting in Steep Terrain
SAWLINES
USNR
For the first time in many years, an
industrial scale sawmill will be built from
the ground up in the UK
COMACT
AI-Powered Gap Control: How the
Smart Vision System Is Redefining
Log Singulation
SPRINGER
SAWBOX: A Compact, Fully Automated
Sawmill for the Future
MiCROTEC
Woodeye: AHF Products & Automation
that Works
DELTA MOTION
Vaagen Brothers Lumber, Inc. Upgrades
Motion Control for Improved Lumber Stacking
IFI June July 2025 Digital final
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/70622971/ifi-june-july-2025-digital-final
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Trump Administration to End Protections for 58 Million Acres of National Forests
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