Weyerhaeuser’s Grande Prairie mill benefits from automated dunnage sorting solution.

VANCOUVER, WASH – JoeScan, Inc. worked with Weyerhaeuser’s Grande Prairie mill to increase operator efficiency by automating dunnage sorting. Under the old procedure, one of the two operators had to leave the station to manually sort dunnage before the placer set it. Now, cracked and broken pieces are automatically identified and discarded without distracting the operator.

"The system JoeScan designed for us allows us to do all our stacking with one person instead of two, and that’s on a per-shift basis," said Guy Gaultier at Weyerhaeuser Grande Prairie.

The system uses four JS20-SR profiling scanners to map defects found in each piece. The software, running on a standard Windows PC, grades the dunnage according to Weyerhaeuser’s criteria. The decision is sent to a PLC that controls a gate arm to save or reject the piece.

"I’d say things are working very well," Gaultier said. "Including benefits and related costs, the system is saving us about $180,000 a year."