1. The stud planer at Pineland was experiencing issues where boards would skew after being dipped and fall back into the dip tank, causing downtime as the operator had to stop production and reposition the boards. Downtime over 4 weeks totaled 249 minutes. 2. The author proposed a solution to prevent boards from skewing and falling back into the dip tank, which would significantly reduce downtime. 3. The author designed and installed "hold-downs" under the dip tank to position each board properly as it transferred to the out feed chains. Since implementing the hold-downs on August 14th, there has been zero downtime at the dip tank.

1. 1
Pineland Stud Planer UHMW Hold-Downs
Michael Ford, Process Engineer
Issue:
There isa continual issue withboardsskewingafter beingdippedandfallingbackintothe diptank at
the stud planer.(Ref:Photo#1) Throughobservation,thisoccurs because the boardisnotable to stay
inthe lugproperlyupthe tipple incline. Thisissue createsconsiderable downtimeasthe operatorhas
to stopthe productionline,use apike pole andpositionthe boardbackintoitscorrect lug.
Observeddowntime for Weeks30-33 resultingfromthis issue:
 Week30 - 55 mins. (July19-25, 2015)
 Week31 - 71 mins. (July26-August1,2015)
 Week32 - 50 mins. (August2-8,2015)
 Week33 - 73 mins. (August9-15, 2015)
Proposal:
Finda solution thatwouldpreventlumberfromskewingandfallingbackintothe diptank,
resultingin asignificantdecreaseorend downtime relativetothisissue atthe diptank.
Plan of Action:
The projectinvolvedhoursof studyingthe processandissuesthatoperatorshadtocorrect on a
dailybasis.
I createda specificdesign thatpositonseachboardintoalug andtransfersit ontothe out feed
chainswithoutthe lumberskewingandcausingdowntime. Theyare referredtoashold-downs.
The total projectcostwas roughly$50.
The hold-downswere installedunderthe magentaholdingtankFriday, August14,2015 at the
endof shift. (Ref:Photo#2)
Conclusion:
The hold-downswere installedonAugust14,2015. Since implementation tothe studplanerprocess,
there hasbeenzerotime lostat the diptank. The hold-downshave yieldedanimprovedstud planer
processand increase tototal production.
Observeddowntime forWeek34:
 Week34 – 0 mins.(August16 -22, 2015)

2. 2
Observationof studplanergradersRodneyAdamsandEdwardDavenport:
Note observation done on 2x4x8 (92 5/8)
 Before the hold-downswere installedRodneywasable tograde 14 loadsan hourand Edward
was able tograde 16 loadsan hour.Since implementationof the hold-downs,Rodneyhas
increasedhisloadsanhourby 3 and Edwardby 4.
o Rodney- (+4,815Bf) increase
o Edward- (+6,420Bf) increase
o 1LOAD/208 pcs/1,605.50 Bf= $371.63
The dip tankat the stud planerwasopportunityforme to create long-termvalue tothe stud
line.
Hold-downsinstalledatthe studplanersavesthe companymoneysignificantly byeliminatingall
downtime atthe dip tank relative tothe aforementionedissue.
Hold-downsinstalledatthe studplanereliminate the needof the companytospendfundson
differentmachinerytoimprove the processandincrease total production.

3. 3
Photo #1
Photo #2