INTRODUCTION 



Distribution is a major cost in manufacturing industries. Inventory handling, 

 order assembly, and merchandising costs can amount to as much as 35 percent of retail 

 prices in the lumber industry. 



In an attempt to reduce total distribution costs, an increasing number of sawmills 

 are packaging lumber. The first unitized flatcar of lumber was shipped in 1958. In 

 1968 over 40,000 unitized flatcars were shipped. Economies realized by the customer in 

 unloading and storage have forced the rapid growth of lumber packaging. This trend 

 will be sustained by the increasing role that distribution centers are assuming in 

 lumber marketing. 



Although it costs more for sawmills to ship packaged lumber than loose lumber, 

 there is evidence that packaging of lumber is a profitable activity for the sawmill 

 when such factors as improved marketability, reduced recordkeeping, and somewhat 

 improved prices are considered. 



This report presents an economic analysis of lumber packaging that may be useful 

 to manufacturers in evaluating the process for their own operations. It is based on 

 cost information obtained from six lumber mills in western Montana whose production 

 ranges from 30 to 150 million board feet per year. Cost data include equipment instal- 

 lation and operating costs for packaging and handling lumber. Taxes, insurance, and 

 overhead are not included because they are considered as plantwide or departmental 

 operating expenses and are not allocated specifically to the operational procedures 

 under study. 



PACKAGING LUMBER 



The general process of lumber packaging is shown in figure 1. Packages are 

 assembled at the planer sorting chain after the material has been graded and sorted. 

 Pieces of lumber are stacked into homogeneous units. The width of each unit is 

 standardized at a nominal 4 feet. Height is usually 2 feet but varies. Length varies 

 in standard 2-foot multiples from 8 to 26 feet. In this study, a unit 4 feet wide by 

 2 feet high by 16 feet long with a volume of 1,920 board feet is used for illustration. 



Once assembled, the unit is transported to the inventory storage area or to the 

 banding station. The banding operation consists of squaring the unit ends (even-ending) , 

 compressing the load, applying the banding under tension, and sealing it while the unit 

 is still under compression. If the unit is to be wrapped, a laminated kraft paper 

 wrapping is stapled over it. The unit is then loaded onto a flatcar or put into 

 inventory for loading out at a later time. 



MECHANICAL BANDING 



The banding operation starts when the forklift operator places loads onto the 

 infeed conveyor. The banding machine operator controls the infeed conveyor, even-ends 

 the load, operates the compression machine, applies and seals the banding, and operates 

 the conveyor to move the banded unit to the wrapping station or to the outfeed end for 

 pickup by the forklift (fig. 2). 



The rate of production is controlled by the flow of lumber onto the infeed conveyor 

 and off the outfeed conveyor. The forklift phase of the operation is most efficient 

 if the packages can be doubled up at the planer chain; e.g., two 2- by 4-foot packages 

 stacked together with a bolster between each package. The packages are separated and 

 placed on the infeed conveyor to the banding machine separately. 



