Sawmills face a lot of work and expense to get each bundle of wood that might go into a new deck, fence or building properly prepared for sale. For example, planks have to be measured, cut precisely, grouped by color and accurately graded in appearance from 0-3 based on a complex series of rules taking into account such factors as size of knots, grub holes and cracks. The grading process can be a drain on both human and fi nancial resources, and many of today’s sawmills might be missing out on opportunities for optimizing their throughput and profi tability.
