Miloptic is pleased to announce the acquisition of Automation Industries Corporation (AIC). This acquisition will allow Miloptic to offer a variety of nondestructive testing technology systems that ensure and improve the quality of building products through its parent company Crow Engineering, Inc. Clyde Steffens, former President of AIC, is serving as President of Ultrasonic Development for Miloptic.

AIC: A pioneering history

In the early 70’s, Clyde Steffens developed a technology that allowed plywood producers to eliminate blisters, blows, and other internal defects that lead to the delamination of panels. Along with American Plywood Association personnel, AIC visited plywood mills all over to demonstrate the first Trienco 506 ultrasonic NDT (non-destructive testing) system. With value demonstrated, installations followed.

Years later, Trus Joist approached Clyde based on his success in the plywood industry.  They challenged Clyde to do   the same for the LVL industry, a thicker and more structurally critical product.  Taking the challenge, Clyde developed a higher strength ultrasonic system for the industry that was a success.

Over the years, Clyde has developed multiple systems using ultrasonic and laser technology to solve similar problems across other industries. These include lumber, engineered flooring, gypsum, and corrugated and web roofing systems.

The present and future

Miloptic will continue to offer the same exceptional high-quality products that have helped AIC build a reputation as the best NDT testing manufacturer in the industry. We will continue to produce and support the existing product lines. We are committed to enhancing our current products while developing new and advanced NDT solutions in the years to come.

About Automation Industries Corporation

AIC has developed and refined ultrasonic technology applications for more than 40 years. The company’s current generation of machines can detect smaller defects and reliably penetrate thicker materials than prior generations.  OSB and plywood defect detection systems have represented a significant portion of sales for AIC. The 5700 series systems are proven to reliably penetrate LVL and PSL300 that are 3.5” thick (the typical maximum thickness of LVL). CLT and other engineered wood systems are next on our list for development.  While ultrasonic systems may not be powerful enough to scan these thicker products, we are already on path to development other systems that do.

“Crow’s goal is to continue to be the first place mills turn to for help with improving their operations.  Traditionally this support has come from capital and maintenance project support.  This acquisition, and the recent addition of PLC and electrical capabilities now allows us to help our clients in optimizing their operations.   We are excited to have this opportunity with the AIC team and the 40+ years of experience they bring to the table!”

Hunter Wylie
Crow Engineering’s President

January 2021

The Crow Engineering Chess Tournament

by Chad Corkern

Two players. One chess board. One move yields a countermove – attack and defend, strike and counterstrike. Warring adversaries fight it out by the rules of an ancient game. There’s a quiet but palpable tension in the room. Then a single word breaks the silence: “checkmate.”

The defeated player lays down his king. He’s not happy to lose but it’s just a friendly competition. Yes, he’s beaten Bob from Accounting in past. He’s sure can beat Bob again. But today he has to accept the fact that he’s simply out of the running.

This is the Crow Engineering Chess Tournament.

How It All Got Started

It began almost as a goof. An employee wanted to teach his son how to play chess. When he brought a board home, the whole family got hooked. Soon he was competing against his wife regularly.

At first, he won handily. But when his wife started winning, he thought it best to get some practice at work. Initially, a couple of employees joined in during lunch or break. But then interest grew. Who knew you could draw crowds with a game of chess? Soon, the Crow lunchroom became the site multiple games a day.

A tournament was probably inevitable. Engineers can be competitive.

Soon, lines were drawn, ranking sorted, and the Crow Engineering Chess Tournament was born. Currently, we’re about halfway through a double elimination bracket. We’d like to go faster, but we do have work to do.

Why It Is Important

It has been a tough year. A pandemic, social distancing, economic troubles – and let’s not forget the murder hornets! We are all adjusting to the times, with a dynamic paradigm shift in how we work and live. Even the definition of normal is currently in question.

But Crow Continues.

Due to the pandemic some of us are working from home. This, of course, makes it hard to play chess – though surely there’s an app of some kind that could do the trick. But even those that still work in the office are forced to keep their distance from one another. The classic pictures of designers hunched together over a set of drawings or engineers clustered around a whiteboard – these seem like images from a bygone era.

But Crow Continues.

Yet. All of today’s troubles aside, customers still come to Crow – and they still expect the best. There can be no excuses. We cannot allow ourselves to let the times get in our way. We must bulldoze our way through any challenge to deliver for our clients.

Which is why, Crow Continues.

The Crow Engineering Chess Tournament is helping us to keep our focus on our clients and get through these hard times. It’s a simple game to learn – but takes a lifetime to master. The competition is fun and it’s helping us to bring together people who might not typically interact. Just beware of the normally demure types – Se sometimes found to be quite aggressive and unreserved competitors.

Bringing people together helps to improve communication. Even if only through osmosis, ideas are exchanged, and conversations had. We at Crow are at our best when we’re communicating effectively –exchanging ideas, having disagreements, and driving toward resolution. But communication takes practice – and the Crow Engineering Chess Tournament has helped get a lot of practice indeed. It’s also been great for morale – which is helping us to keep pushing forward. Because as always . . .

Crow Continues.

At Crow Engineering, relationships with customers last for years. One company – a long-term customer – recently engaged us to review ways to increase the productivity of its lumber manufacturing process. To assess and identify improvement opportunities, we conducted an efficiency study of the company’s log infeed and breakdown systems.

Over the course of a two-day onsite review, Crow engineers studied the production line – interviewing operators, observing critical equipment, and generating a video for quick multi-engineering collaboration. Within seven business days, the team submitted a final assessment report that identified the main culprit standing in the way of improved productivity: overlooked maintenance practices.

The assessment recommended several fast, low-cost remediation actions that were implemented immediately and have helped improve process efficiency dramatically. The company also blessed the design of two additional pieces of equipment expected to be installed in 2021.

Does your company want to improve productivity as well?

Critical areas to continuously review include:

• Log quality (potential gains by minimizing log flair)
• Automation to avoid manual decisions
• Slab recovery
• Controls programming at each station
• Proactive equipment maintenance to avoid unscheduled downtime
• Grading process
• Saw-doctoring (filing)
• Calibration of measuring instruments and equipment

We would love the opportunity to meet you and discuss how we can help you lower your cost while increasing your productivity. Please contact us to assess your operation and identify opportunities for improvement.