SmartMill’s talent recognized in the Forestry Rising Stars Awards of 2023.

Vincent Laplante, machanical engineer

It is with great pride that we announce that Vincent Laplante, our Engineering Coordinator, has been selected in the Forestry Rising Stars Awards of 2023.

 

Having started his career in consulting following his bachelor degree from Laval Universitu in 2017, Vincent was one of our first employees since the SmartMill was founded in 2020. His meticulous work, his attitude of service, his commitment, and his genius in proposing solutions aimed to offer the best equipment to our customers makes him a rising star in the 2023 forestry industry.

To learn more, click here (article in French). To see Vincent LinkedIn profil, you can click here.

SmartMill SLMA Associate Member Spotlight

      SmartMill SLMA Associate Member Spotlight

SmartMill is a team of dedicated experts committed to the success of the wood processing industry. We foster the development of sustainable partnerships with all our customers. We design, manufacture, and install state-of-the-art automation equipment to help customers reach their full performance and profitability potential. SmartMill is present in all Southern Yellow Pine States. 

With our most recent installation in the U.S., SmartMill positioned itself as a robot & automation expert:

 
Here is some of the equipment that SmartMill offers:
SLMA members can see SmartMill as process experts and a key partner in their goal to reach their business achievement. At SmartMill, customer satisfaction is at the heart of their business strategy.

Do you know the advantages of Automated Agriculture in a Controlled Environment?

This type of agriculture allows continuous autonomous production and an automated harvesting in a 100% controlled climate. This means there is no use of pesticides or fungicides, and this results in consistent products as well as more control and predictability in production.

 

Automation technology applied to agriculture and provided by our SmartMill-Agricultural Mechatronics division as part of our partnership with Virgo Technologies, enables up to 6 times more efficiency than greenhouse farming and requires up to 95% less water than field agriculture.

 

Learn more about the advantages of adding high technology, produced by SmartMill-Agricultural Mechatronics, at the service of food autonomy.

SmartMill breaks into the Eurozone with the sale of a Smart Trim system in Germany.

Jean Bérubé, president of SmartMill, confirmed the signing of a new contract that includes the sale and installation of the Smart Trim system to Ante-Holz GmbH, the largest timber producer in Germany.

 

“This innovative trimming technology, a Quebec invention, is already benefiting of a significant success in Canada and the United States. Today, I am very proud to confirm the breakthrough of the Smart Trim in the European market, hand by hand with one of the largest players in the wood industry in Europe,” adds Mr. Bérubé.

 

This new partnership confirms SmartMill’s position as a leader in the forest industry with a unique offer of technological solutions for sawmills. In this regard, Mr. Bérubé confirms “we are currently in discussions with other mills in Europe and we are convinced of its success in this new market”

ABOUT THE SMART-TRIM

The SMART-TRIM combines three pieces of equipment in one: a Lug loader, a positioning system and a multi-saw trimmer. The result of this technology is the capability to produce infinite lumber lengths.    

SmartMill Smart Trim lug-loader fence and trimmer

3-IN-1 INTEGRATED SYSTEM

Lug Loader

Positioning/Fencing System

Multiple Saw Trimmer

SMART-TRIM ADVANTAGES

Smallest footprint

Versatility: all possible lengths

Access to value added niche markets

Eliminates production setup time

ABOUT SMARTMILL

 

SmartMill is a team of dedicated experts committed to the success of the wood processing industry. We foster the development of sustainable partnerships with all our customers. We design, manufacture, and install state-of-the-art automation equipment that is a customizable solution to improve the profitability of our clients. SmartMill is present in all Southern Yellow Pine States. 

For more information, please contact us!

 

SmartMill and Virgo Technologies: high technology at the service of food autonomy.

Aiming to combine a long trajectory of expertise in their respective fields of activity, that of automation engineering and indoor agriculture, SmartMill and Virgo Technologies Ltd., signed a partnership agreement which includes the design and the manufacture of rotary drums intended for indoor agricultural crops.

The technology of rotating drums developed by Virgo Technologies Ltd., allows several functionalities such as: the measurement of crop growth in the drum; measurement of leaf temperature and fluorescence; the collection of data using an algorithm to optimize production as well as the detection of any disease and the inspection of substrates.

SmartMill, a recognized specialist in the design of automated solutions for the forest industry, brings an unparalleled know-how around the manufacture of rotary drums given by its team of experts in mechanical design, automation, and robotics; and for this a new division is born: SmartMill Agricultural Mechatronics. Not only limited to mechanical engineering, SmartMill’s expertise also encompasses its knowledge of the manufacturing supply chain which is extremely necessary to secure the production of rotary drums and to be able to meet the growing demand for this innovative technology for indoor crops.

A unique technology with multiple advantages.

The rotary drums allow the cultivation of homogeneous and controlled products with a consumption of 95% less water than that required in traditional agriculture. In this way, they are 61 times more efficient than agriculture on the fields and 6 times more efficient than greenhouse crops. Production is completely autonomous (without human intervention) and can be done 24 hours a day, which shortens enormously the harvest time and gives the possibility of cultivating year-round products that previously were seasonal or involved a dependence on products from from abroad.

About SmartMill:

SmartMill is a recognized player in the forest industry thanks to its state-of-the-art solutions to improve and optimize the processes and production of sawmills. The SmartMill team is made up of dedicated experts committed to the success of our customers. In this regard, we encourage the development of sustainable alliances with all our customers and business partners.

Virgo Technologies Ltd., was born from the merger of two companies, both of which have been operating for several years in the field of indoor agriculture. Virgo Technologies Ltd. uses new automated rotating drum technology. This technology aims to meet the many current and future challenges revolving around the agri-food industry, all over the world, while promoting the consumption of local foods in various regions while reducing the environmental impact on our ecosystems.

SmartMill’s talent recognized in the Forestry Rising Stars Awards of 2022.

It is with great pride that we announce that Marc-Olivier Lachance, our automation specialist, has been selected in the Forestry Rising Stars Awards of 2022.

 

Having started his career as an intern at VAB Machines back in 2018, he was one of our first employees when this company became SmartMill. His meticulous work, his attitude of service, his commitment, and his genius in proposing solutions aimed to offer the best equipment to our customers makes him a rising star in the 2022 forestry industry.

To learn more, click here (article in French).

SmartMill joins the Grouping of Industrial Automation Companies.

We are very happy to announce that SmartMill has joined the Grouping of Industrial Automation Companies (REAI). This organization aims to promote intelligent automation solutions to accelerate the digital transformation in Quebec’s industrial sector and by this, encourage the production of projects that otherwise could be produced elsewhere.

 

One of the REAI’s objectives is to represent the interests of our industry to government and institutional bodies in order to present the know-how and the leaderships of the companies belonging to the Grouping.

 

The REAI seeks to make of Quebec a model in the automation industry through a collaborative networking dynamic among its members.

 

For SmartMill it’s an honor to be part of the REAI since it is formed by a group of innovative companies that create value through automation, one of the core values of our company.

SmartMill signs representation agreement with Finna Sensors and Dynalyse

SmartMill management team announced the signing of a representation agreement with Finna Sensors and Dynalyse.

 

“We are very proud to have finalized this agreement with Dynalyse and Finna Sensors that allows them to promote our state-of-the-art equipments and at the same time will allow us to advertise and sale their innovative products” says Jean Bérubé, Eng., president SmartMill.

 

“With this agreement, we are able to represent their products in eastern Canada, North-eastern United States and South-eastern US as well”, adds M. Bérubé.

 

The products concerned by this agreement are a true complement to each other’s functionality and are the following:

  • Finna/Dynalyse: Transverse HD Hybrid moisture/density sorting system. An outstanding tool for sorting heavy and frozen lumber by moisture and density.

  • Finna: Planer moisture systems for optimizing grade recovery and yield.

  • Dynalyse: Dynagrade and Precigrader. Two grading tools allowing Timber Strength Grading and wood’s MOE.

  • SmartMill: FLX-400, a test bench allowing to determine the MOE and the MOR of wood boards.

 

In this regard, “Finna Sensors is excited to collaborate with SmartMill and Dynalyse to create an ideal combination of systems and service, providing valuable solutions for customers in (Eastern) Canada,” said Jason Kovacik, Sales Manager at Finna Sensors

 

SmartMill, Dynalyse and Finna Sensors aim to provide high-tech solutions in automation for the wood industry in order to help our clients get the maximum of value of each piece of lumber and maximise their profitability in the process.

 

About SmartMill

SmartMill is a team of dedicated experts committed to the success of the wood processing industry. SmartMill designs, manufacture and install state-of-the-art automation equipment that is a customizable solution to improve the profitability of its clients located in North America. 

New Important Contracts for SmartMill.

SmartMill is pleased to announce the signing of the following contracts: 

  • Smart-Trim 3-IN-1 system sold to MC Dixon Lumber Co, a Southern Yellow Pine Mill located in Eufaula in southeast Alabama, USA.  This new contract covers the sales & installation of a 16 Foot 3-IN-1 Smart-Trim System.
  • SmartFence sold to NorSask Forest Products, a SPF Mill located in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada. This new contract covers the sales & installation of a new 4 Axes Smart Fence system at the Planer Mill.  

About the Smart-Trim

Unique in North America, the Smart-Trim is a 3-IN-1 system  combines three pieces of equipment in one : a lug loader, a positioning system and a multi-saw trimmer in 8 feet space.  The result is the capability to produce infinite lumber lengths.  The Smart-Trim is a technological revolution setting new standards in the wood processing industry. For more information on the Smart-Trim, contact our specialists.

SmartMill Smart Trim lug-loader fence and trimmer

3-IN-1 INTEGRATED SYSTEM

Lug Loader

Positioning/Fencing System

Multiple Saw

SMART-TRIM ADVANTAGES

Smallest footprint

Versatility: all possible lengths

Access to value added niche markets

Eliminates production setup time

About the SMART FENCE

The SMART FENCE system is the most accurate and yet smallest fencing system ever built in the industry.  This system uses the optimizer’s solutions to accurately position lumber boards prior to trimming operation for green or dry lumber Mills. . For more information on the Smart-Fence, contact our specialists.

Chips, Inc., selects SmartMill’s Lug Loader to increase lug-fill percentages – testimonial video.

Chips, Inc. has made several improvements to its southern pine sawmill over the past five years to improve its production and yield at the mill’s location in Troy, Va.  The company’s latest investment, a SmartMill lug loader, has reduced bottlenecks and increased production nearly 5MBF per hour since completing the project in July 2021.

Vice-president Jordan Diehl says a new debarker and gang put pressure on their existing 24-year-old hook-stop board feeder and production outgrew the trimmer infeed. “We knew we needed to do something because the trimmer was backing up and the operator was getting his butt kicked everyday handling way too many pieces,” he says of their lug loader purchase.

Diehl says one of the biggest takeaways was increasing lug-fill percentages and hourly production from 22MBF per hour to 27MBF. (Chips, Inc. accepts no larger than 20 in. logs and its average small-end diameter is 9.7 in.).

The SmartMill lug loader is essentially maintenance free and the operator’s handling job has switched to a process surveillance role. “The lug loader is all electric and air so there’s hardly any maintenance. We haven’t had to work on it hardly at all the past eight months,” Diehl says.

Chips, Inc. was very satisfied working with SmartMill under Berube’s leadership and says the lug loader investment has already paid dividends. “They make a great product and see the project all the way through to the end,” Diehl affirms. “It has really paid off for us.”