Boyle sawmill and planer mill set new shift records
On February 22, 2010, Millar Western’s Boyle sawmill set a new production milestone by turning out 526,444 board feet, or 164 lifts, of lumber in a single shift. As always, mill employees focused their attention on safety as well as productivity, and made sure everyone went home safe and healthy at the end of the shift. The new shift record beat one set just two weeks earlier, when 470,825 board feet were produced on February 9.
The day after the new sawmill record, on February 23, the Boyle operation’s planer mill also hit a new high. The planer turned out a shift-record 394,500 board feet of planed 2×6″. The previous record, 363,310 board feet of 2×6″, had been set almost seven years earlier, in August 2003. Like their sawmill counterparts, the planer personnel upheld their safe work standards while setting the new milestone.
Millar Western’s Boyle Operations Manager David Wall was extremely pleased with the results, noting the records reflected a true team effort. “The yard crew got the log trucks unloaded smoothly, the maintenance crew made sure the mill equipment stayed ready and available, and the production crews in both facilities ran the equipment to its potential,” said Wall. “There could have been no new production records without the Woodlands group keeping the mill well supplied, and supporting the efforts of all was the hard-working group in the administration office.”
The lumber industry is continuing to feel the impact of reduced demand and low pricing related to the global economic recession and U.S. housing slump. But, as Millar Western’s Boyle operation is demonstrating, a determined focus on safety, quality and efficiency can help maintain a mill’s competitive position despite an unprecedented stretch of poor market conditions.
As Wall commented, “It no longer surprises me to see Boyle employees achieve ever-higher objectives, but it certainly continues to impress. Their skill, work ethic and dedication are keeping us in the game.”