In today's automated and electronic world, there are very few variables manufacturers in the wood products industry can't control. However, there are exceptions to the rule with one of the major ones being Mother Nature. That was the case at CoastlandWood Industries Ltd., a second growth Douglas fir veneer producer in Nanaimo, B.C. The mill is located on the edge of the Gulf of Georgia, which is tidal water and the main storage area for the mill's log supply, most of which arrives at the site in theform of log booms. For productivity reasons, the mill only wants to handle the logs once whenever possible, taking them from the water and hot loading the mill, rather than placing them into inventory. At high tide, that wasn't a problem as the logs would be within easy reach of the mill's excavator style butt-n-top loaders but as the tide retreated every day, the logs would slowly become inaccessible due to the maximum reach available with the loader's boom. The drop in the water level was just too much, resulting in a limited window of opportunity for pulling the logs out of the water.
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