If you’re in the lumber business, it’s hardly news that demand has been outstripping supply – largely due to a pandemic housing boom that few saw coming. With new home building reaching a 15-year high, demand for new building materials such as 2×4 lumber is through the roof.

Here at Crow, we count among our customers many sawmill operators who are working tirelessly to support this wave before it’s gone. Many have had to play catch-up. After curtailing production like so many other industries in response to the pandemic, inventory began to fly off the shelves. Demand increased unexpectedly, sending lumber prices to an all-time high.

But these operators are extremely savvy. They’ve been around for years, they know that this current boom is cyclical, and they know how to ramp up. To lend a hand, Crow has been called upon to support everything from small maintenance projects to mill upgrades and expansions – all while ensuring the mills remain running at current capacity throughout each project. At the same time, Crow has helped customers save millions of dollars in capital expenses by re-purposing current facilities and equipment on site.

For example, Crow has been involved in several log yard evaluation and design projects. These have included complete turnkey designs for outdoor log decks that incorporate overhead bridge cranes and hydraulic log loaders. Design packages have included equipment layouts; foundation, building, and machine designs; and the installation of conveyors, debarkers, bucksaws, and more.

Other services during this demanding time are related to equipment relocation projects. Here, Crow works on site for the estimation, design, and construction phases of the project. Our engineers take design input from plant and project managers and floor personnel. We also hold onsite team meetings for client personnel and vendors. In addition, Crow supports mid and long-term planning projects where clients know the goal they want to achieve, and Crow helps them design the best route forward.

All of these services are designed to help sawmills get the most out of their equipment and facilities. In fact, recent data shows that U.S. and Canadian sawmill capacity has increased by 1.4 billion board feet in the past twelve months, with even more expected in the second half of 2021. Certainly, Crow can’t claim credit for this increase, but we’re pleased to be part of the effort. With over 50 years of experience, it continues to be our honor and privilege to serve mills and lumber companies as a resource to help increase productivity and profitability throughout the industry.

From maintenance process improvements
to green- and brownfield opportunities,
no project is too big or too small.

Let us help you achieve success on your next project.
Call us at (503) 213-2013 or send us an email at inforequest@crowengineering.com.

by: Chad Corkern
A Risk Based Inspection (RBI) is a risk analysis of operational procedures for a plant or facility. Other three- and four-letter acronyms tend to be associated with RBI – including Risk Based Asset Management (RBAM), Risk Based Integrity Management (RBIM), Risk Based Management (RBM), and Risk and Reliability Management (RRM).

As should be abundantly clear, the main theme here is “risk” – and at Crow we offer a range of services to help you minimize that risk. The focus is on safety and plant integrity. Minimizing associated risk has multiple benefits. It helps you maintain compliance and avoid fines with regulations from OSHA and elsewhere. It also helps to ensure plant uptime by identifying potential issues before they cause problems – and addressing them without interrupting operations.

Choosing the right partners to support your project often determines the success of that project. What’s needed are vendors with subject matter expertise and a proven track record of success. 

Take, for example, our client (a lumber mill in North Carolina) needed to modernize its log yard. Needing seasoned subject matter experts, they chose to work with Crow Engineering and KM Machine out of North Carolina. The project was to design a new stem processing line that would run parallel to the site’s existing debarking and merchandising line. 

To help ensure success, Crow focused on the following elements: 
•    Smooth, consistent, and synchronized cooperation between partners
•    Direct and honest communication
•    Alignment of all stakeholders to each milestone throughout the project
•    Formal scheduled performance reviews throughout the process

This project had its complexities. Our clients wanted to reuse an existing stem feeder as part of the project. This required Crow to incorporate the stem feeder into its designs and work with KM Machine to produce highly detailed custom metalwork. 

Our clients also had the foresight to have Crow design a debarker and conveyor that would reuse their existing Cambio debarker. One goal here was to produce a design that would make the machine work now while also making it easy to replace at end of life.

Together, committed teams from the client-side, Crow Engineering, and KM Machine completed a design that integrated their existing portal crane layout while also rerouting log truck and traffic flows to optimize space and improve safety throughout the yard.

The result was a customized merchandising system built to maximize the log yard output. 

Ultimately, the key ingredient for a successful project when partnering with several companies is trust. Trust that each of your partners are competent enough to meet your expectations. Crow Engineering is incredibly proud of the reputation we have built throughout the industry over the past 53 years. Integrity, trust, honesty, and a desire for success are the pillars we are built on. We look forward to partnering with you. From maintenance process improvements to green- and brownfield opportunities, no project is too big or too small. 

From maintenance process improvements
to green- and brownfield opportunities,
no project is too big or too small.

Let us help you achieve success on your next project.
Call us at (503) 213-2013 or send us an email at inforequest@crowengineering.com.

As the saying goes, what the customer wants, the customer gets. Here at Crow, many of the great customers we work with want something in particular: protection from the elements. 

Designing buildings to stand up to the elements requires detailed site analysis to determine weather patterns, climate, soil types, wind speed and directions, heat, path of the sun, and more. Solutions involving insulation, vapor barriers, and air barriers will vary radically depending on whether the site is in the cold and snowy north, the hot and humid south, or the arid desert. 

Snow and Wind

Crow has the expertise and experience to help. Take, for example, the structure images featured above and below. These facilities are in a remote locations subject to weather extremes. This is why Crow designed them to withstand conditions such as heavy snow loads, high drifts, extreme cold, strong winds, and more. 

Today, the customer below enjoys a 30,000 square foot facility that supports a staff of 30 employees – including field crew, management, maintenance, and dispatch. The structure includes offices, team rooms, locker rooms, and other personnel areas. It is also a mixed-use facility with ancillary maintenance and storage facilities for rolling stock and the storage of vehicles and equipment. 

And come what may, this structure is designed to hold up against whatever mother nature throws its way.   

Dewatering

Or take the structure below. For this project, the customer needed a dewatering system to remove water from fiber, dirt, and other debris collected from manholes and storm-water operations. Crow came up with a design that allows the customer to remove water from debris so it can separate the dried materials for a landfill. 

After the design was completed, the customer bought some used equipment from a closed facility – equipment that approximated what was called for in the original design. It then worked with a “Design-Build” contractor to install the equipment – while simultaneously completing the concrete for the building so that the entire project works as a single system.  

Fire

Still another example is fire. Crow has worked with many clients on the reconstruction of buildings and manufacturing areas after catastrophic fires. Designs have included pre-engineered metal buildings constructed on pile-supported foundations. 

No organization wants to experience a second fire. This is why Crow uses proven materials, technologies, and engineering practices that incorporate fire resistance into the buildings we design. And throughout each project, Crow takes pains to keep the customer in the driver’s seat. When it comes to selecting equipment layouts and designing material handling systems and foundations, the customer is in control. 

Here to help

Crow has helped many companies stand up to the elements. With licensed structural, civil, and mechanical engineers in-house, we deliver designs that are holistically complete – designs based on input from plant, project, and maintenance managers as well as floor personnel. We also hold team meetings on site with customers and key vendors. This helps keep the communication flowing so that our customers get projects that are delivered on time and within budget with minimal operational downtime.

Freres Lumber Co. Inc. is known for innovation. Take, for instance, its new-to-market patented, engineered wood product: mass plywood panels (MPP).

MPP is a unique product that competes directly with the popular cross-laminated timber (CLT) products – which were originally developed in Europe and are now produced by several manufacturers in the US and Canada. Where CLT utilizes dimensional lumber laminated in layers in alternating directions, MPP uses a thin veneer to fortify the wood and augment it with dimensional stability.

Recently, Freres worked with Crow Engineering to design an open-sided structure using its MPP product. The aim of the project was to infill a space between two manufacturing buildings at the Freres Plant 3 mill in Mill City, OR.

With the project complete, Freres now enjoys a structure that is 43 feet wide by 109 feet long, open on the ends to allow trucks and forklifts to pass between the buildings, while providing weather protection for materials being transferred from one building to the other.

The use of heavier MPP materials gives the infill building greater fire resistance than the adjacent light-framed timber buildings. The dimensions of the MPP materials used in this project would qualify it as a Type IV Heavy Timber building per the IBC code. However, since it is not separated from the adjacent structures by fire separation walls, it is still classified as Type V-B.

After modeling the structure in Revit, the Crow team created 3D files and shop drawings for Freres to import into their system. From there, Freres created the files to control the CNC machine to cut the parts. Freres also sent files to the contractor for cutting steel connection plates – while construction documents were prepared from the Revit model for permitting and construction.

For us here at Crow, this project demonstrates the viability of MPP as a high-quality building material that can serve as an alternative not only to CLT but to concrete and steel as well. We thank Freres for the chance to learn and contribute.

John Bradford. Sr. Structural Engineer

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.

Recently, Crow Engineering completed an engineering design to replace a raw material infeed conveyor at a building products mill. The mill was connected to a mining operation with a single conveyor to deliver feedstock. The conveyor was built in 1962 and worn out. Any interruption or problems with this conveyor caused both mining and mill production to stop. The owner hired Crow to evaluate the situation and investigate possible solutions to replace, upgrade, or rebuild the raw material feed line.

The Crow team researched a variety of new and standard technologies and worked with multiple vendors representing their respective technologies. After evaluating and comparing possible solutions based on priorities, restrictions, and budget, the customer chose to build a new 450-foot long conveyor that rose to a height of 118 feet over existing buildings. Then a split flow would be engineered to separate three process lines via 100 foot long chutes that snaked around existing structures. Sounds simple, right? This project was anything but simple. However, Crow Engineering made this option viable by effectively using modern engineering tools.

Modern Tool No. 1 – 3D Scan

Two Crow engineers went onsite and conducted a 3D scan of the facility, verified the existing support structures, conditions of walkways, and verified missing as-built data not obtainable by the 3D scan.  Crow presented the 3D scans and other field survey elements to the project participants.  This 3D scan was used extensively with the conveyor vendor to avoid interferences and thread the chutes through a maze of structural steel. 

 Crow Engineering imported the vendor’s conveyor model into the 3D scan.  Crow worked the project with real field data from the Crow offices and virtually walked thru the buildings identifying this door, this beam, this roof, and this path.  These virtual reality meetings were more effective than being on-site.  This saved travel time and Covid-19 issues were not a problem.  A snapshot of design as shown below gives an example of what we could see:

Modern Tool No. 2 – Advance Steel 3D

Crow Engineering took the existing structural steel drawings and made a 3D model of the structure using Advance Steel (evaluated as the most cost-effective tool for this job).  This model was then imported into the 3D scan so we could do a structural analysis and see where bracing had been modified or removed,  where conduit and piping were added, how to route our conveyors and chutes, and ensured that we met current building codes. 

Modern Tool No. 3 – SOLIDWORKS 3D

The conveyor vendor designs with SOLIDWORKS.  The 3D model by the conveyor vendor was brought into Crow’s model of the structure.  3D snapshots were presented by Crow Engineering to the conveyor vendor showing where their conveyor and supports would hit existing obstructions.  The conveyor vendor could easily see where the problems were and then modify their design.  This went on for weeks with small modifications being made as their design progressed.

Modern Tool No. 4 – Microsoft Teams

Crow Engineering uses many modern-day collaborative tools.  The conveyor vendor for this job is located in Mexico City, Crow is located in Beaverton, OR, and the owner’s team is located throughout the USA.  Each week we would meet online and look at updated models and renderings to discuss ways to resolve issues.  Crow believes that meeting weekly for one hour ensures that problems stay small, issues are resolved quickly, the project design flows smoother toward completion, and the “things to do” list stayed manageable.  The modern way of doing business has become a new “norm” because of Covid-19 workarounds. Ultimately  Crow Engineering and others have found that this method of collaboration has greatly improved project efficiency.