Optimizing sawing of boards for furniture production using CT log scanning

Abstract

The inherent variability of wood material together with sub-optimization in production processes means that a lot of potential value is lost. Computed tomography scanning together with simulation models of the production processes could remedy this, and ensure optimization of the entire production process. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate if such methods can be used to optimize the sawing position of logs in a production process including further processing, in this case crosscutting to make a furniture product with strict quality requirements on dead knots. This was done on 47 Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) logs. The results show a potential yield increase of more than 11 % points in the crosscutting operation and more than 4 % points when viewing the process as a whole, compared to sawing the logs horns down and centered.