At 111 years old, FH Stoltze Land and Lumber continually adapts to changes in technology and processes with one of its recent investments being MiCROTEC’s Lucidyne scanner equipped with the QC Assist tool installed in April 2021. The scanner is just one of the MiCROTEC products FH Stoltze Land and Lumber has in use, along with a MiCROTEC Grade Mark Reader, True-Q board tracking system, and M3 Scan Moisture Meter. In late February, FH Stoltze welcomed the MiCROTEC team to Columbia Falls, Montana to chat about the QC Assist tool and how they’ve used it to streamline quality control processes.
FH Stoltze Land and Lumber keeps the production of high-quality wood products as a number one priority. “It takes 70 years to grow a tree. We hope that tree is going to support a home for a hundred years,” comments Paul McKenzie, Vice President and General Manager of FH Stoltze Land and Lumber. With increased production capacity comes a greater need for stronger quality control systems and technology. Speaking on FH Stoltze Land and Lumber’s continuing standard for quality control, McKenzie says, “You don’t get that old without changing with the times. We as a company have our standard, it’s up to quality control to make sure those standards are being maintained.”
With the installation of MiCROTEC’s Lucidyne linear scanner came the value-added tool, the QC Assist. While the scanner alone generates incredible value with its innovative technology, the QC Assist takes the data a step further to improve processes and identify patterns to improve grading results based on the data provided by the auto grading scanner. The team at FH Stoltze Land and Lumber remarked on an instance in their planer mill where MiCROTEC’s advanced scanning technology identified dropped saw mark trends and worked through a solution using the QC Assist tool, “With the QC Assist, we had to make examples and packs, and then it automatically gets uploaded into the MiCROTEC system. The next day they have guys looking at these packs and they ended up developing a stronger system where we can now identify saw cuts. It’s our way of working with MiCROTEC without actually working with them.” Jason Deshazer, FH Stoltze’s Quality Control Supervisor commented on the QC Assist’s mobility and how it leads to efficiency in the quality control system, “We were able to pull up data right there on the floor of why the scanner made the decision it made instead of having to run back and forth and it’s all right there in our hands.”
The QC Assist tool is another way MiCROTEC changes the dynamic of grading technology, allowing mills to focus on specific on boards to support improved grading results. Speaking to MiCROTEC’s innovate systems, McKenzie says, “MiCROTEC was the obvious choice for us as far as having that flexibility to handle the variety of products and everything we wanted to get out of an auto grading system.” Along with the Lucidyne scanner, integrated MiCROTEC Ai, and QC Assist tool, FH Stoltze Land and Lumber is committed to making informed decisions from the data and tools provided by MiCROTEC.
The QC Assist tool is already available in the US and is coming soon to Europe. To see a live demonstration, visit MiCROTEC’s booths at Ligna 2023 Hall 25-Stand F49. Visit microtec.us for more information on MiCROTEC’s scanning solutions.
